He caught a bird!

Vizsla Vince · Post by **Vizsla Vince** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:21 pm

Last week, Zoomie(6 mos old) & I were afield, & he caught a young kildeer! I didn't know how to react! I didn't scold him, but I didn;t make a huge deal out of it. I managed to get it from him w/out any fight, & he kept wanting it back. I gave it back a couple of times, just to make sure I could get it back, then I ditched it.
Did I handle this right? Anything I can change next time?
BTW, I have never trained him on planted birds, just let him chase wild doves, pigeons, & kildeer, & kept my mouth shut!

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:27 pm

Sounds like the only thing you did wrong was give it back. I wouldnt do this if I were you. He needs to know once its in your hands its your and not to ask for it again.

Had the same thing happent o me with my 6 month old and I just took the retrieve and sent him on ditcing the bird when he wasnt looking.

ohiogsp · Post by **ohiogsp** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:20 pm

Is the dog a perfect retriever? If not I believe giving the bird back is not a bad idea. I do it all the time with pigeons. It encourages the dog to fetch it to you. I would have done the same thing you did. My thinking behind giving the bird back is if the dog thinks he can give you the bird and get it back anytime why not give it to you. Plus you get the dog to give you the same bird 3-4 times and you just did 3-4 times the training. You can fix the dog begging for the bird later by giving a command to send him on. I use the command "Lets go".

Vizsla Vince · Post by **Vizsla Vince** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 5:26 am

ohiogsp wrote:Is the dog a perfect retriever? If not I believe giving the bird back is not a bad idea. I do it all the time with pigeons. It encourages the dog to fetch it to you. I would have done the same thing you did. My thinking behind giving the bird back is if the dog thinks he can give you the bird and get it back anytime why not give it to you. Plus you get the dog to give you the same bird 3-4 times and you just did 3-4 times the training. You can fix the dog begging for the bird later by giving a command to send him on. I use the command "Lets go".

He's not a perfect retriever, & this was kind of my logic with giving it back, so I could praise him for returning it to me.
But, perhaps to play it safe, I'll just get it back once in the future.

LSKGSPs · Post by **LSKGSPs** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:59 am

Vince....Just something you might want to keep in mind in situations like that, especially at a young age. At that age he brings it back to you as a "trophy" of sorts. He might even do a little "parade" with it before getting back to you. It sometimes is better to not take the bird from your pup. Let him keep it, share it with him, have fun with his "trophy." Sometimes we watch young pups bring "birds" and toys etc back to us and we tend to immediately think.."A natural retriever." Then we take the bird or the ball or the toy away from the dog. Pretty soon the dog figures out that if they bring this "thing", their "trophy" to us......we take it away..........So, they quit bringing it back. There will be plenty of time later on to refine the retrieveing process. Don't worry, you did just fine.

Vizsla Vince · Post by **Vizsla Vince** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:42 pm

LSKGSPs wrote:Vince....Just something you might want to keep in mind in situations like that, especially at a young age. At that age he brings it back to you as a "trophy" of sorts. He might even do a little "parade" with it before getting back to you. It sometimes is better to not take the bird from your pup. Let him keep it, share it with him, have fun with his "trophy." Sometimes we watch young pups bring "birds" and toys etc back to us and we tend to immediately think.."A natural retriever." Then we take the bird or the ball or the toy away from the dog. Pretty soon the dog figures out that if they bring this "thing", their "trophy" to us......we take it away..........So, they quit bringing it back. There will be plenty of time later on to refine the retrieveing process. Don't worry, you did just fine.

Okay, cool.
The trophy concept may have been in the back of my mind, as well. I know I've read about it.
That's the trouble with being excited about a new experience & reading EVERYTHING about the subject. The ol noggin gets so full, I forget what's in there! :roll:

Post by **ezzy333** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:22 pm

In my opinion you did just fine. I have learned to never take the bird or whatever from the pup but rather let it hold it while you praise the pup for bringing it. If you can see he is getting tired and wants to drop it then you can take hold and take it if and only if he is ready to release it. Think you are ok, and your job is to make the pup think you are ok too.

Ezzy