Training with pigeons question

[rinker]

I have an issue that I have never ran in to before. I have a young pointer female that I think has all the tools to make a good dog. The problem is that she has no real interest in pigeons. She has found and pointed quail on her own and looked good on them. I do not have enough access to wild or released quail to completely finish a dog. Has anyone ran in to this? What did you do? Did it work?

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

I have owned a couple dogs that were just simply bored with pigeons they would stand them but not really point with any intensity.They would turn their head & look at you like this is stupid.I just quit training with them try quail or chukar,wild birds are the best answer IMO if you can find them.One of these same dogs was a dog that lived to retrieve birds shot over her but totally ignored dummies,balls etc.again giving you that this is stupid look.

Good Luck!!

[rinker]

There is no question that wild birds would be the best answer, I just do have access to them in abundance. This dog isn't bored with pigeons, I could understand that. She was never interested in pigeons from the beginning.

[Iowa]

How old is the dog? How many times have you used pigeons? How are you using them?

[rinker]

The dog is approximately 18 months old. I have check corded her in to a pigeon tied to a pigeon pole, and I have also tossed pigeons while running her. She has shown no interest.

[Nutmeg247]

Have you tried shooting a few pigeons over her, to let her know that they are game birds, or at least birds that can be fun for her to point?

I haven't encountered this with pigeons myself, though. Certainly I can smell the feral pigeons I use, so to the dog they've got to be very pungent and different from quail. Maybe she doesn't yet realize pigeons are different from crows or other birds she doesn't get to hunt?

[bonasa]

How many quail has this dog been on? What does the dog do when they flush? What do you do when they flush? Is the dog gun conditioned?

[ezzy333]

How many quail has this dog been on? What does the dog do when they flush? What do you do when they flush? Is the dog gun conditioned?

Dogs are taught what to hunt and what not too. They have no concept of what is game and what isn't since that is a term we use that just says we hunt this.

[mask]

Some dogs tire of pigeons and some rather quickly. You just have to switch to a different training bird. Some dogs catch on to training games and a person just has to be smart enough to see it. Use chukar or quail.

[bonasa]

Ezzy, it sounds like blinking. A young dog cc'd into a pigeon in a pole!? Tell me there was no pressure involved with a young dog. How much exposure has this dog had? No wild quail or planted birds? Sounds like blinking of pigeons to me. Please let the OP respond.

[RayGubernat]

Have you tried shooting a few pigeons over her, to let her know that they are game birds, or at least birds that can be fun for her to point?

I haven't encountered this with pigeons myself, though. Certainly I can smell the feral pigeons I use, so to the dog they've got to be very pungent and different from quail. Maybe she doesn't yet realize pigeons are different from crows or other birds she doesn't get to hunt?

Shooting birds for the dog might well do it. I would toss a pigeon with the dog running and hunting , holler whoa to cause the dog to look in your direction and then drop the bird out of the sky. Might just light that fire.

You could also knock one in the head and toss it for the dog to retrieve while it is fluttering around. That also tends to get a dog wound pretty tight.


RayG

[ezzy333]

Ezzy, it sounds like blinking. A young dog cc'd into a pigeon in a pole!? Tell me there was no pressure involved with a young dog. How much exposure has this dog had? No wild quail or planted birds? Sounds like blinking of pigeons to me. Please let the OP respond.

I agree but decided to wait and let some one else say that.

Ezzy

[rinker]

I will try to answer the questions that have been asked.

-This dog has never been shot over. I introduce the gun by tossing pigeons and when the pup is in full pursuit, I fire the gun. This dog has never chased a tossed pigeon, so I never fired.

-The dog had 10 to 20 wild or pre-released quail contacts last fall. She pointed and looked great for about 30 seconds and then knocked and chased. I was never closer to her than 50 yards or so when she pointed, so I never flushed, shot, or did any thing else.

-I have always used a pigeon pole to introduce puppies/young dogs to birds. I have no expectations when I do this, they can point, or rush in, I just have them on a check cord so the dog can't catch the bird. I have done this with 50 to 100 puppies over the years and it isn't unusual for a puppy to have little interest the first session, but usually after 4 or 5 sessions of this, they are bird crazy.

-The weather has finally broke here, so yesterday afternoon I tied about 4 feet of twine to a PVC 'buddy stick', and then tied a pigeon to that. I used this to tease the dog with the pigeon, made it flap around just out of her reach. She actually did show a little improvement, she lunged at the pigeon a couple of times and did point the pigeon when I laid it down, although not with great intensity. I think letting her catch the pigeon would have helped, but I didn't want to sacrifice a homer at this point, I will find a few ferals as soon as I can.

-I fully understand that 'pressure' can come in different forms, but I have made no effort to make this dog point, or do anything really. I have ran her a lot and just let her do as she please as long as she is going with me. There has been no whoa breaking, and no shooting. She does wear an ecollar and I have used it a little just for recall reinforcement, it has never been used in conjunction with birds.

-I really like this dog and think that she has all of the tools to be a good one, If I didn't think this she would already be someone else's yard/house pet.

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

I would try just letting the dog have a pigeon to do what ever it wants with it chase it,catch it,play with it,eat it,you have to wake up the desire before anything else.Take off the CC & let the dog have at it once you have built that desire then worry about the training if the desire is not there then the house pet idea comes into play.

I probably would already have done the house pet thing because there are too many dogs out there that don't need the extra encouragement.The couple dogs I had that didn't like pigeons,I don't think it was the pigeons they didn't like but the human sent & the set up planted birds because they were bird hunting & retrieving fools.

[DonF]

Sounds to me like you've turned the pigeon into nothing more than a training bird. I would take the dog out with remote traps and not give it a chance to point. Probably take more than a few birds but when the training bird stop's acting like a training bird the dog often mistakes it for a real bird! Sounds like your dog is bored to pieces.