[chopperroscoe]

I own a 17 month old Chesapeake Bay Retriever. She upland hunted for me last year at 5 months with an older dog and she really did a great job for a young pup. This summer I spent alot of time working with her and we hit the fields flying in September. In early October she came down with Cellulitis(Puppy Strangles) and was pretty sick for about six weeks. In mid November my vet thought she was well enough to start hunting again but suggested starting out slowly. Since mid November we have hunted two to three times a week and while she still has a great nose and can find the birds, her overall desire, level of excitement or "birdieness" is really lacking and when I push or encourage her a little she becomes even more reserved and has even frozen in the field. If I don't encourage her, she will cover ground thoroughly but at a snails pace. Prior to getting sick, this dog was a real field machine and was very keen on finding, flushing and retrieving birds. Any suggestions on how to increase her desire to hunt or birdiness would be much appreciated. I know it is not her health by the way she chases and retrieves training dummys and balls around the house. Thanks, Dave