Seattle,
I hope you can help me out.

1. I did not whoa him as he came on the birds. He is not completely trained on whoa yet.
2. This was the first time he had worn the e-collar. (Is that a mistake?)
3. No, yardwork was not done with an e-collar. (not finished with the yardwork yet, we had a break in training for the entire spring and summer. Work schedule, I am in the military. Been a busy year)
4. Yardwork not yet complete.
5. Yardwork done at home, bird work at a hunting club training area.

I took him out again the following day and put out two chukars and he had no problem finding birds, but he would again only point for 4-5 seconds before going after the bird. He gets very excited when the bird flushes, the second bird when released only flew about 30 yards and the dog caught it and retrieved it to hand (again, I hope that was not a mistake to let him chase and catch the bird). The first dog I worked with almost trained himself, this is proving to be a little more work. I hope that I am not ruining him with my own inexperience. He comes from a good background so I hope he can overcome my mistakes. He is only the second dog that I have training experience with and the first was with the help of the breeder. So this is my first solo attempt. Any help from you would greatly appreciated.