When does bird work start? or What age?
When does bird work start? or What age?
I'm a first owner/trainer. I have a 12 week old GSP. I have read a lot of material and read lot's info on here. I have read conflicting info on when to introduce birds. We currently work on all the basics daily in home randomly and in field once daily with directional work and commands. I was thinking a wing on a stick just to see his reaction. But I wonder if a pigeon in the field a couple times just to gauge his reaction? I've also read not until later when he has got all the commands down. I'm looking for personal experiences not qoutes from a book please.
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SwitchGrassWPG
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Re: When does bird work start? or What age?
Now. You can't have a bird dog without birds. This exposure needs to occur regularly, not just a couple times. The more the better. Of course this is all my opinion...
Jay
Jay
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gonehuntin'
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Re: When does bird work start? or What age?
+1. Balance the training as well; work on both pointing and retrieving, but keep the sessions separate.SwitchGrassWPG wrote:Now. You can't have a bird dog without birds. This exposure needs to occur regularly, not just a couple times. The more the better. Of course this is all my opinion...
Jay
LIFE WITHOUT BIRD DOGS AND FLY RODS REALLY ISN'T LIFE AT ALL.
Re: When does bird work start? or What age?
How did you guys do your first introduction?
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RayGubernat
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Re: When does bird work start? or What age?
Camo -
In my mind there is a rather significant difference between INTRODUCING birds to a puppy and working with the pup on birds.
I would agree that for just about any kind of bird dog, an introduction to flying or clipwing pigeons or quail, at 12 weeks is a wonderful ideaecause it will awaken any drive that it is in there and allow you to see "what you got".
I am not so certain that continuing to work with birds, when the dog is a puppy, such as yours, is always a good idea. A lot depends on your abilities as a trainer, your goals for the dog, the kind of facilities you have available for training and the program you have for training your new bird dog.
In addition to working toward field competencies, I feel that it is vital to work on obedience type skills, especially if the dog is a high drive, hard charging type.
Play training in the yard, or in the field prior to field work(ala Maurice Lindley), to get the youngster to listen to you, go with you and learn that YOU are where the fun is at, is especially important for hard chargers.
Keep in mind that there are as many different ways to bring a bird dog along as there are trainers. There are LOTS of good ways to get it done, not just one or two. There are some basic things, but the when and the where and the "exactly" how, vary all over the place, mostly because of the personalities and preferences of the trainer.
The way(s) that makes the most sense to you and that you are most comfortable with... will very likely the best way for your dog also.
Always remember to have fun with your dog...especially when it is a puppy. If it ain't fun for you, it probably won't be for your dog either and that is usually not a productive situation in terms of learning.
RayG
In my mind there is a rather significant difference between INTRODUCING birds to a puppy and working with the pup on birds.
I would agree that for just about any kind of bird dog, an introduction to flying or clipwing pigeons or quail, at 12 weeks is a wonderful ideaecause it will awaken any drive that it is in there and allow you to see "what you got".
I am not so certain that continuing to work with birds, when the dog is a puppy, such as yours, is always a good idea. A lot depends on your abilities as a trainer, your goals for the dog, the kind of facilities you have available for training and the program you have for training your new bird dog.
In addition to working toward field competencies, I feel that it is vital to work on obedience type skills, especially if the dog is a high drive, hard charging type.
Play training in the yard, or in the field prior to field work(ala Maurice Lindley), to get the youngster to listen to you, go with you and learn that YOU are where the fun is at, is especially important for hard chargers.
Keep in mind that there are as many different ways to bring a bird dog along as there are trainers. There are LOTS of good ways to get it done, not just one or two. There are some basic things, but the when and the where and the "exactly" how, vary all over the place, mostly because of the personalities and preferences of the trainer.
The way(s) that makes the most sense to you and that you are most comfortable with... will very likely the best way for your dog also.
Always remember to have fun with your dog...especially when it is a puppy. If it ain't fun for you, it probably won't be for your dog either and that is usually not a productive situation in terms of learning.
RayG
Re: When does bird work start? or What age?
Good post Ray!
When to introduce pup's to birds is little more than opinion. My opinion is they don't need introduced to a bird, it's bred into them. Introduction to birds with me is normally walking and letting them run along with me. What happens is the pup learns to handle cover and finds "bleep" birds to chase. In the process of finding those "bleep" birds the pup is learning to search cover of different types to find them. I strongly suspect that pretty near every pup that goes to a new home, pup from hunting lines, that is introduced to birds early pass's the test. What a surprise! One that might not have passed was a friends dog. She didn't give a hoot until she was about four months old and then she turned into an animal, super little dog. But based on what was seen earlier you'd think the dog had no desire. Nothing farther from the truth! It'll come out when it's ready to come out, trust the breeding.
When to introduce pup's to birds is little more than opinion. My opinion is they don't need introduced to a bird, it's bred into them. Introduction to birds with me is normally walking and letting them run along with me. What happens is the pup learns to handle cover and finds "bleep" birds to chase. In the process of finding those "bleep" birds the pup is learning to search cover of different types to find them. I strongly suspect that pretty near every pup that goes to a new home, pup from hunting lines, that is introduced to birds early pass's the test. What a surprise! One that might not have passed was a friends dog. She didn't give a hoot until she was about four months old and then she turned into an animal, super little dog. But based on what was seen earlier you'd think the dog had no desire. Nothing farther from the truth! It'll come out when it's ready to come out, trust the breeding.
I pity the man that has never been loved by a dog!
Re: When does bird work start? or What age?
Hard to top this stuff good advice. I'm a now guy.
Re: When does bird work start? or What age?
If you don't know how to introduce a dog to birds you probably dont know alot about training dogs.
Buy George Hickocks DVD set and learn about all phases of birddog training.
Buy George Hickocks DVD set and learn about all phases of birddog training.
Re: When does bird work start? or What age?
ranmcc wrote:If you don't know how to introduce a dog to birds you probably dont know alot about training dogs.
Buy George Hickocks DVD set and learn about all phases of birddog training.
You are correct! Hence why the post started with first time owner/trainer. I'm not a dog trainer but I will try to get him where he should be and if need be seek professional help. Thanks for the recommendation I will look it up!