When to introduce birds to a puppy.

[surferdave]

I'm sure this topic has been covered somewhere but I was interested in different aspects of it. My lab puppy is 9 weeks old. He fetches my dokken dead fowl quail trainer really well. He also enjoys fetching, but not always retrieving pheasant wings. I have a frozen quail in my freezer, when should I introduce him to that, or live birds, and how should I go about it. Thanks!

Dave

[Sprig]

the earlier the better. as soon as you can, get the dog playing with live pigeons. i have had dogs as young as 12 weeks old retrieve live pheasants and as early as 6 weeks old fetching bird wings. you cant start too early to build the prey drive and birdiness in a bird dog.

[surferdave]

Sooner the better definitely sounds good. When introducing dead or live birds, how do I go about getting him started. Short retrieves with a check cord? Also he seems to NOT want to give up the pheasant wings so easy, he'd rather take them to a corner and chomp on them, what can be done about this? The dokken trainer gets brought back to me without hesitation.

David

[Calisdad]

He's ready- you can see it in his eyes.

I used to hide bird wings all over the house so my pup would learn to trust his nose. If he keeps it just take it back and do it again. I would be interested to see how he reacted to a wing fastened to the trainer. A wing tied on to the line of a fishing pole is supposed to teach them that can't catch the bird but they catch on really quickly and you can't keep it away. Tons of fun tho.

[gonehuntin']

You can't start them too young. Get them on birds and get them in WARM water; that's where he'll make his living.

[Ken Lynch]

Take a look at the thread in this forum "Let That Pup be a Pup"

[owen]

Our puppy program includes early introduction to birds:

6 weeks - wings

7 weeks - dead bird (quail or pigeon)

10 weeks - live wing clipped pigeon

All retrieves are done in a control area (retrieving chute) where the pup has no choice but to come back to me. All of our dogs (shorthairs) finish as natural retrievers, but we treat is as a game until the pup has learned to consistantly come when called (usually after 6 months of age). ANd here's the kicker. We never throw more than ONE retrieve per session. Many people bore the pupil with several retrieves and end up with problems. More is not better.
The live bird work in our puppy program goes a long way toward getting our pups "bird crazy".

www.oakridgeent.com

[EddieF]

My Lord, what an adorable puppy.

[Sharon]

Excellent article on this subject in the "Gun Dog" magazine this month.

[surferdave]

I took a look at that article, thanks. Wow, only 1 retrieve at a time. I guess keeping them excited about it is key! Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely keep retrieves at a minimal to keep drive and fun up. When you use the chute, do you still need a check cord to control the puppy if he doesn't want to bring it back right away? Again, he has no problem retrieving the dokken trainer, but when it comes to real feathers, he is more hesitant to bring it back right away.

David.

[gonehuntin']

Always keep a small, 1/8" cc on the pup for control.

It is ok to give him more than one retrieve. at 10 weeks, start working on his memory, trowing him 90 degree doubles and tripples if he'll do them. I would never throw him more than six retrieves at that age, all fairley short and hand thrown.

As he gets older, four months to six months, stretch him out on bare ground to 50 to 75 yards. Just take it slow and keep it fun for him.

Whenever you do something with him, do it so he learns something. That's the whole secret of dog training.

[CherrystoneWeims]

If this give you any indication as to how old pups should be when introduced to birds..........



Pups were about 5 weeks old......

[acfil]

hi im new to the forum and new to hunting, and even newer to hunting with a dog. i just a got a chocolate lab, ive been reading on it for about 6 months, the dog is 12 weeks old and catches on quick to basic commands, i have a book, the one i believe that is being referred to as the Dokken book on this forum i almost have it memorized. but anyways, im really enjoying the forum topics and hope to update you all on the progress ill make with "Cole"

[surferdave]

Acfil, I feel that you and I are in the same boat. I'm really new to the whole thing as well. It's good to know that there is a lot of great advice on this forum. My lab Raglan (pictured) is around the same age as Cole, 10 weeks. It never cease to amaze me what you can train them to do, and how it applies to hunting, and their persistence to please. Today Raglan retrieved his first frozen dove down my side yard, he followed my stay command, waited for me to command him to retrieve (his name) and brought back the dove to my hand with no issues. When things go right, it's such a fulfilling feeling. The first time I let him play with the dove, he started to chewing it, tearing away at it and I was afraid he wouldn't be able to differentiate play time vs. business time. Either way, how much longer should I work with the frozen dove before introducing live birds. His mouth is still pretty small, I don't think it could handle a pigeon. Also, I've heard that you don't want to let the dog catch the bird, does that relate to retrieving, or is it something completely different? Thanks.

[Sharon]

For inexperienced trainers of labs I recommend you buy a tried and true training programme. Google Mike Lardy or Evan Graham for some excellent resources.

A 10 week old puppy's biggest need is for thorough socialization.I wouldn't be concerned about birds. Pup is still a baby.

[Shadow]

nothing wrong when you feel like it

[Dave C]

Nice looking pup David.
My Lab bitch is 7 months now & i have trained a few, i always just do basic obedience, let them play about, find there feet and build there confidence in life until they are 4 months old, then i introduce dummy work and play hunting games with Pheasant wings, get them steady and on the whistle.
At 6 month introduce them to cold game and master the blind retrieve, at 7 month i reduce the amount of retrieves in a week and get them hunting live birds.
If you have any setbacks (which you will) just go back to basics.
The most important thing with labs is, don't over do the training as they will get bored and start looking for trouble, 10 minuets a day is enough and keep it fun.

Good luck with his training.

Dave.

[surferdave]

Thanks for the advice Dave, yeah, I'll keep training to a minimum, and make sure his enthusiasm for it stays up. Sharon, I'll definitely pick up some tried and true training books. I guess everyone has different results from different techniques, but the general rule of thumb with puppies seems to be keep it fun and enjoyable for them. By the way, when I start using live birds for retrieving, how do I go about removing flight feathers? I probably won't start this for another few weeks.

David.