Pups first quail encounter
Pups first quail encounter
So i got a dozen quail, a cage, 18 week old gsp and nothing to do tomorrow.
So i transfer all these birds from box to cage in the driveway. First time trying to grab live birds btw. I have em in the cage, my daughters and friends are giving each quail names. All the while im telling them to not get attached.
So I want to introduce the pup to a bird. I remove one frome the big cage to smaller cage. My daughters somehow remembered the birds name. I release the pup into the yard to check it out. She points then runs in circles and points again. Pretty much what i expected. So i take it out of the cage for the pup to get a better look. She sniffs and jumps around. I put it on the ground ans she points a little, the bird takes off, pup takes off after it.
Wife and daughter start cheering that the bird is free and watch it fly in to the front yard headed for a tree.
The quail didnt make it across the street when a hawk swooped in and nailed it mid flight. Wife and kids start saying "oh nooo" im saying check that out thats cool as heck.
The quail somehow got loose and was uninjured and i was able to snatch it back up a couple hundred feet away.
So that is my first atrempt at birddog training.
So i transfer all these birds from box to cage in the driveway. First time trying to grab live birds btw. I have em in the cage, my daughters and friends are giving each quail names. All the while im telling them to not get attached.
So I want to introduce the pup to a bird. I remove one frome the big cage to smaller cage. My daughters somehow remembered the birds name. I release the pup into the yard to check it out. She points then runs in circles and points again. Pretty much what i expected. So i take it out of the cage for the pup to get a better look. She sniffs and jumps around. I put it on the ground ans she points a little, the bird takes off, pup takes off after it.
Wife and daughter start cheering that the bird is free and watch it fly in to the front yard headed for a tree.
The quail didnt make it across the street when a hawk swooped in and nailed it mid flight. Wife and kids start saying "oh nooo" im saying check that out thats cool as heck.
The quail somehow got loose and was uninjured and i was able to snatch it back up a couple hundred feet away.
So that is my first atrempt at birddog training.
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Re: Pups first quail encounter
sounds like things went about normal except for the hawk. now what are your plans
Re: Pups first quail encounter
That is too funny.
Re: Pups first quail encounter
Don't over do it. Chased one today and one tomorrow would be enough and I sure wouldn't go over two. Always quit while you are ahead.
Re: Pups first quail encounter
Don't let her catch too many.................Cj
Re: Pups first quail encounter
Did you get the birds from the guy I mentioned? I bought some a couple weeks ago to do bird intro my new pup. Wait until your pup finds a rabbits nest and continues to destroy a family of rabbits while your kids look on in horror.
Last edited by whatsnext on Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- Rank: 2X Champion
- Posts: 410
- Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2014 7:10 pm
- Location: jellico tn
Re: Pups first quail encounter
try and not let the dog catch the bird.. soon you will be planting birds for the dog to point and to use his nose.. again don't let the dog catch the birds some of the quail may not fly to good
- RoostersMom
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Re: Pups first quail encounter
What the guys said - don't let her catch ANY if you can avoid it. And guess what, you can avoid it. Keep the dog on a checkcord if needed to stop her from grabbing a bird. It makes it ten times harder and you have to really hammer on a dog when you're whoa breaking it if it has already caught birds. Make it a goal to not let her ever grab up a bird. It's likely going to happen, but be really concerned about it as you can avoid it most of the time by proper handling of the dog into the bird scent and keeping the dog on the checkcord so she can't jump in and grab the bird. Sounds like you had a fun day!