Well I've been putting Louie on pigeons for the last week and a half and took him out to see how he would react with the 20 ga. today.
My first shot Louie was trying to catch the pigeon and didn't respond to the gunshot until after he caught the bird and then he looked up and around and went back to the bird again. I was about 30 yards away.
I figured that was good so I took a few more shots after putting the bird in a spot where he would give chase.
At worst he looks up for a split second but then continues back to dealing with the bird.
I will assume that I should continue doing this until he pays no attention what so ever to me and get closer to him???
Then shoot a pigeon so he can be rewarded???
He is only 5 months old so should I be worried that he will not let me get to close before he runs from me while he has the bird? Or should I just let him have it and build up his prey drive? Will the retrieve come naturally? He retrieves everything else for me but not birds. For the moment when he gets them they are "his". If I walk away he will follow closely with the bird but will not let me close if I turn to take it from him.
At the moment I clipped the wings of a pigeon so he can get to it. Should I continue this way of put them on a string so they can get away from Louie?