Many of our pups have been a bit worried about the beeper at first but I think the key is gradual introduction. I wouldn’t strap a beeper on a pup that hasn’t heard it before. Our young dogs typically hear beepers while they’re on other dogs we are hunting, at the same time watching the excitement the noise generates with the rest of our older dogs. I think they learn to associate the beeping with fun while in the truck on hunting trips. We’ve also carried a beeper for a while during yard work, then placed it on the pup after they seemed comfortable with it and had no adverse reactions. Another approach we’ve taken with success is just hanging a collar in the kennel building or yard for a while before trying to place it on a pup. In our experience it doesn’t take much to get them over initial apprehension about the noise, especially if they only hear it during otherwise positive experiences.
We first used beepers to improve our ability to find dogs on point in grouse cover but we feel there are other benefits as well. I’m sure the bell clanging all the time impairs the dog’s ability to hear commands at a distance. Timing a command between beeps is simple and effective – the dog hears you every time. Another thing we’ve discussed is the possibility a beeper is easier on a dogs’ hearing. A loud bell constantly ringing seems like it could cause more hearing loss than the intermittent beeping. Not sure about this but it seems likely. I’ve also come to enjoy hearing the dog running through cover and hearing their breathing, strange as that still sounds. The electronic sound may not be for everyone but I’ve really come to appreciate the benefits of a beeper.
As far as birds being spooked we haven’t noticed a problem (yes we’ve looked for it) and we both feel it has less effect on birds than the bells we used to run. It certainly isn’t as effective at flushing birds as yelling or talking – I’ve seen countless birds flush exactly when they hear a voice, whether it be a command to the dog, narrative of the situation, calling someone’s attention to the dog on point, etc etc. We’ve learned to keep quiet when we know (or suspect) birds are present limiting communication to hand signals whenever possible and it makes all the difference. One thing I would not do is run the beeper in point only mode. I think the sudden noise at close range is more likely to flush birds than the gradually approaching beeps, which actually might serve as a way for the bird to keep track of the dog and make them more comfortable sitting tight(?).
Cliff