What training drills to do with grouse wings.

gundoglover · Post by **gundoglover** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:48 pm

Great forum and glad to be here!

The question first; I have a few grouse wings I kept from last falls hunts and was wondering what they could be used for as far as backyard training exercises?

Some background info:
I have a 9 month old gsp. I have trained her "come" and she is doing well with it. I am starting " whoa" as well. She has been introduced to .22 gunfire using a grouse wing attached to a bumper and did great, albeit we only fired off a dozen rounds or so. She has not been formally introduced to birds as of yet but I have taken her to a local crp field where she pointed and held steady to flush a nice rooster pheasant...(not bad for such little training!) she seems to have good pointing instinct, but she points at everything, including nothing lol. Also she does have an ecollar.

Ruffshooter · Post by **Ruffshooter** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:17 am

The only thing they are good for is attaching to the bumpers as you have and using them only for retrieving drills. Dead bird smells different than a live bird. You could use them on the bumper and eventually with out the bumper by hiding them in the woods and sending the dog for a retrieve. That is if you have him retrieving on command in a direction.

Buckeye_V · Post by **Buckeye_V** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:10 am

None.

I use a frozen bird for retrieving drills every once in a while, but I use a wing once for a puppy and then throw away.

gundoglover · Post by **gundoglover** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:50 am

Thanks for the replies.

I should mention the wings were clipped off the bird and frozen immediatly. I was hoping to somehow utilize them to focus the dogs attention to sniffing birds so she will spend less time pointing mice, insects etc. I know live birds are best but i can't seem to find pidgeons and if I could I question the legality of releasing them on public land.

RoostersMom · Post by **RoostersMom** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:52 pm

Buckeye_V wrote:None.

I use a frozen bird for retrieving drills every once in a while, but I use a wing once for a puppy and then throw away.

Ditto - live birds are the way to go. Dead birds with the exception of the occassional retrieve, are not very useful. Wings are just a parlor trick to get the dogs to sight point something. It might make you feel good to have the dog "point" a wing, but it is a bad practice - it teaches sight pointing and can start some bad habits with your dog.

snips · Post by **snips** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 7:24 pm

Wings are fine to use, if there is a live bird attached:) Beware of hiding anything that smells like a bird that a dog finds and grabs..Can teach them how not to point scent...Hav gotten dogs in to train people hav done this with and about impossible to get them to point...

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 8:15 am

I don't think the wing does anything that a "bleep" bird won't do better. But I also have to admit that I always fool with it with a pup. Not a lot, but just a little. Most pup's will point it if you do it well but my old Pointer, Kate, never ever pointed it. To excersize her I could get out the wing and a fishing rod and she was willing to chase it long as I would fling it around. With her it became an obsession with me to get her to point it, she neever did! But she would stick the poop out of a bird!

Ryman Gun Dog · Post by **Ryman Gun Dog** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:38 pm

GDL,
I use the wings for retrieving, especially to introduce feathers to the dog, so the dog gets use to having feathers in his mouth as he retrieves. In some cases, especially working with Setters and Pointers this can be important.
RGD/Dave

trueblu · Post by **trueblu** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:38 am

I agree completely, wings and scents are equally useless. Some compound the issue by dragging them on the ground, so then we have a dog that ground tracks and bumps birds. May as well go whole hog I guess!!

Big Dave · Post by **Big Dave** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 8:41 pm

Have you guys seen the cover of the spring hunting L.L. Bean catalog? A pointer pup and it's mother pointing a wing! I am not advocating this as training.

Grousewing · Post by **Grousewing** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:00 pm

I never use a wing only live birds when they are ready.

phoneman45 · Post by **phoneman45** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:30 pm

wing on a string and intro to retrieving (feathered dummy) is a couple I can think of, although these training tips are normally only used on pups.

Ryman Gun Dog · Post by **Ryman Gun Dog** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 9:44 am

GDL,
We do use the wings for one other training operation, we stuff them in a paint roller and duct tape the ends, and use the roller as a retrieving tool. We usually start this in a hall way when the pup is just developing, it does help keep the pups interest and makes retrieving fun for the pup. I also use the roller wing stuffed tool for jealously retrieving, when we have a meak retrieving Setter or Pointer. The Small Munsterlander usually cures our meak retrieving problems with multipule water retrieves as the other young dogs look on. We then play the same retireving game with a couple of the young dogs at the same time on dry land, then we play the retrieving game with each individal dog, adding the water retrieve as we go. Then back to multipule dog jealously water retrieves, usually by this time we have a strong retrieving young dog who also loves the water. There are some decent uses for Grouse wings while training, when used properly.
RGD/Dave

JIM K · Post by **JIM K** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:17 pm

Ryman Gun Dog wrote:GDL,
We do use the wings for one other training operation, we stuff them in a paint roller and duct tape the ends, and use the roller as a retrieving tool. We usually start this in a hall way when the pup is just developing, it does help keep the pups interest and makes retrieving fun for the pup. I also use the roller wing stuffed tool for jealously retrieving, when we have a meak retrieving Setter or Pointer. The Small Munsterlander usually cures our meak retrieving problems with multipule water retrieves as the other young dogs look on. We then play the same retireving game with a couple of the young dogs at the same time on dry land, then we play the retrieving game with each individal dog, adding the water retrieve as we go. Then back to multipule dog jealously water retrieves, usually by this time we have a strong retrieving young dog who also loves the water. There are some decent uses for Grouse wings while training, when used properly.
RGD/Dave

i assume you let wings stick out ends of rollers?

Ryman Gun Dog · Post by **Ryman Gun Dog** » Sat Mar 24, 2012 8:42 am

Jim K,
No we have different retrieving dummies with external wings so the dog gets use to having feathers in his mouth. The dogs can smell
the Grouse scent thru the roller for a very long time, we tape the ends shut on these particular play training tools.
RGD/Dave

Gun Dog Forum

What training drills to do with grouse wings.

What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.

Re: What training drills to do with grouse wings.