How much space should be between kennel & bird pens?

Donnerhund GWP · Post by **Donnerhund GWP** » Sun May 07, 2006 8:08 pm

How far away from a dog's kennel should the bird pen be?
I'm concerned about building them too close together, space is an issue though.
I know one trainer who keeps his training birds just a few feet from the kennels and doesn't worry about it. The dogs can't see the birds, but I'm sure they can smell them.
Do you think having them too close can affect the dogs' sense of smell? Or might this make the dog more eager to get birds?
What is your experience? positive and negative

Wagonmaster · Post by **Wagonmaster** » Sun May 07, 2006 9:39 pm

a mile or two.

seriously, i use a johnny house that is out in our pasture. the dogs have free run of the yard. but we have the invisible fence between the yard and the pasture. otherwise the dogs would be out there constantly sniffing the bird pen and looking for leftovers in the pasture.

so making sure the dogs cannot get at em is important. i have a fence about 4 feet high around the bird house, so when we are out working birds, the dogs cannot harrass the bird pen, or any birds that are around the pen getting ready to go back in.

Post by **Ayres** » Sun May 07, 2006 9:56 pm

Out at the hunt preserve the dog runs and the bird flight pens are no more than 100 yards away from each other. The bird pens are made with tin siding at least 5' high though, which might inhibit the wind picking up the scent and taking it over to the dog runs.

When we let loose the dogs to go to the field, none of them run over to the pens to sniff around. They know that if they want birds, they go to the field, not to the pens.

gunner · Post by **gunner** » Mon May 08, 2006 5:49 am

I've known of several dogs over the years that had the disease histoplasmosis. All were destroyed.
It was thought that they they picked up the disease from the pigeon lofts that held training birds.
Might be a good idead to seal the base of lofts and add a perimiter fence.

markj · Post by **markj** » Mon May 08, 2006 8:37 am

the disease histoplasmosis

I got to ask why were they put down? This is a not a disease but a micr organism that hatches in the lungs and eyes then it leaves the host witch leaves a scar tissue that can be seen and
mis -interpreted in X-Rays. I have had this effect my eyes they were lasered to close the scars as they were changing my vision.

I got this from my mom

in utero, in the womb, she drank water from the local taps which did not have chorine so micro organisms lived in the water and got passed on to folk that drank it. Or you get it from the droppings of fowl and birds, chicken farmers get it at times.

So I got to ask, why were the dogs put down? I was not aware this is deadly or otherwise harmful.

gunner · Post by **gunner** » Mon May 08, 2006 9:43 am

These were field trial dogs that could no longer compete due to blindness and lung problems.
I'm sure they have better treatments for both humans and animals today. This was 25-30 years ago.
However the owner of one of the dogs was affected as well and he remains legally blind. He has undergone some laser surgery and took chemothearpies I believe.