3 year old Lab/Shorthair decided he wants to point now

[John B]

Hey everybody, I have a three year old Lab/Shorthair mix I hunt with. He's my first dog I've ever had, so I'm not very experienced. As this last season progressed he started pointing fairly consistently. He randomly pointed a few birds last year, but they were all holding very tight in thick cover. I took him out and planted some roosters and chukar last weekend and he pointed every one of them, then proceeded to break on the flush and catch three out of the air. I'm not sure where I should go from here, he hunts close like a flusher, but I'd like to get him pointing reliably so I can let him out further to cover more ground. Does anybody have experience working on whoa training with an adult dog? Or is the training the same? So far my plan is knock the dust off the check cord and do some yard work, then plant some birds in a few weeks to test him out.

[lokidog]

That sounds cool.  I've always wondered what crosses like that would be like.

I would just start out like he was a pup.   

[Ruger]

John

Start using whoa for things like before you let him outside at the door, to eat, standing there...  just don't let him sit...

[NW-GSP]

It will be tough now that he knows that he can catch birds, have someone else go with you when you plant birds next time and attach a check cord  to his collar and a half hitch around the dogs midsection. If the dog breaks point the check cord will be an instant punishment. Also do not shoot birds that he has flushed and not pointed cause it will teach him to just flush instead of point.

look into whoa training but I personally do not use that command very much, if you follow the above steps you shouldn't have to cause the dog should be holding his points because he wants to and not because your telling him to. For me whoa is more so used for emergency situations like stopping your dog from crossing a road ect.

[John B]

Took my dog out to Cooke Canyon today with a friend and his dog, he did great! Pointed every bird, he did go in and grab one out of a slash pile after it wouldn't flush for me. He also honored the other dog when she pointed first. It's exciting watching these traits emerge after hunting him as a flusher for the last three years, I had no clue he had it in him.