Getting Puppy Interested in Birds

bmumph · Post by **bmumph** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 11:23 am

I have a 7 month old GSP. When she was about 5months old, I got her some quail and threw them in front of her. She was pretty interested in them and picked them up and brought them back to me. I even released a few in a small field and she actively hunted them. I was finally able to get my hands on some pigeons. I threw some locked winged pigeons in front of her and she has a little interest, but is hesitant to pick them up. She nips at them or picks them up by their wings. I worried that she isn't too interested in them. How do I get her more bird crazy?

birddog1968 · Post by **birddog1968** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 1:10 pm

fly the birds in front of her, not sure why you would lock the wings.....

polmaise · Post by **polmaise** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 1:28 pm

A very experienced trainer of gundogs once told me '' If it doesn't know the value of a $20 bill it ain't gonna want it".

Once it knows the value ! It will go through fire to get it.
.........................................
Perhaps you assume because it's a bird dog it must be?

A day with a trainer would be well invested .

Trekmoor · Post by **Trekmoor** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 3:37 pm

Like Birddog I don't understand why you would lock the pigeons wings. Pups learn to point when birds fly away as the pup approaches them. Encouraging a dog to grab lock winged pigeons would not encourage pointing . I have never used lock winged pigeons so maybe I am wrong about this ?

Is there something I am missing about this situation ?

Bill T.

bmumph · Post by **bmumph** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 6:07 pm

I was just following the George Wilcox way of bird introduction. He says a lock winged bird first just to make sure it doesn't scare the dog. Then a clip winged bird that is flapping. Birds are hard to come by here. I don't have an unlimited supply of birds to release in front of her.

AZ Brittany Guy · Post by **AZ Brittany Guy** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 6:22 pm

Annie 10-13-17.jpg

I have a 7 month old pup I am doing this with right now. I let her catch a quail and let her have it. She eventually brought it to me. From that point on it has been homing pigeons and launchers. She went in on the first launcher and I launched the bird and she chased. 3 days later I did the same thing and she pointed for about 5 seconds and ran in on the bird, I launched and she chased. I fired my starter pistol. 3 days later she pointed and held a let me walk to the bird and launch it then she chased and I fired the pistol. From here on out, my plan is to do this exercise once a week with free running dry (no birds) for the next 3-4 months. I will see how she does and maybe get her out to hunt a few times. I will start doing my yard work with her about 15 minutes each day ending with a short play session. I am sure their are at least a dozen different ways to bring a pup along but this is how I do my informal training.

Bluesky2012 · Post by **Bluesky2012** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 7:07 pm

Trekmoor wrote:Like Birddog I don't understand why you would lock the pigeons wings. Pups learn to point when birds fly away as the pup approaches them. Encouraging a dog to grab lock winged pigeons would not encourage pointing . I have never used lock winged pigeons so maybe I am wrong about this ?

Is there something I am missing about this situation ?

Bill T.

I use them for bird intro and building retrieve desire in the beginning, then later to complete FF (use them in walking fetch). They have a use, but it's short for pointers.

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 10:26 am

polmaise wrote:A very experienced trainer of gundogs once told me '' If it doesn't know the value of a $20 bill it ain't gonna want it".

Once it knows the value ! It will go through fire to get it.
.........................................
Perhaps you assume because it's a bird dog it must be?

A day with a trainer would be well invested .

Boy, lot of truth in that! Quit trying to get the pup to grab the bird and teach it to point the bird. Pigeons and launcher's. Set out several. Pup get's into where the scent cone should be, pop the bird. Keep her from pointing. Two thing's will happen, she' should gain a desire to get the bird and she'll find out if she stops fast enough, the bird will stay there. If she point's before you pop, let it be. Then start walking up to the bird and if she bats an eyelash, pop the bird. She'll learn that what is causing the bird to move is her movement! I've had a lot of shorthairs and I can't recall even one that wouldn't retrieve or point a pigeon with the same intensity as a game bird. Little trick there. That pigeon is gonna be what YOU make it, training bird or relatively wild bird. You turn it into a training bird and it's gonna become same ole same ole to the dog and intensity and desire will go right out the window. Use the bird like a game bird and she won't loose interest. She'll be what you teach her to be! I've heard from a lot of people that claim their dog won't point pigeon's. Has nothing to do with the pigeon and everything to do with the trainer.

bmumph · Post by **bmumph** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 11:54 am

The reason I was trying to get her really interested in birds was to introduce her to the gun. I wanted her chasing birds really well and thinking about the bird as I shot guns around her. Once I knew there was no issue with shooting a gun around her, I was going to work on the pointing. Is my thinking wrong on this?

bmumph · Post by **bmumph** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:27 pm

I was trying to get the dog interested in the birds so that I could introduce the gun. I wanted her to get excited and chase the bird. Once excited and chasing, I was going throw some birds in front of her. As she was chasing, I was going to start shooting around her. The idea being that she would be too into the bird to worry about the noise of the gun. After I knew she didn't have a gun issue, I was going to work on the pointing bird with the launcher. I'm new at this, so tell me if I'm got this wrong of if there is a better way.

Thanks,

Pepper · Post by **Pepper** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:21 pm

bmumph wrote:I have a 7 month old GSP. When she was about 5months old, I got her some quail and threw them in front of her. She was pretty interested in them and picked them up and brought them back to me. I even released a few in a small field and she actively hunted them. I was finally able to get my hands on some pigeons. I threw some locked winged pigeons in front of her and she has a little interest, but is hesitant to pick them up. She nips at them or picks them up by their wings. I worried that she isn't too interested in them. How do I get her more bird crazy?

You have a young dog...Be patient and let her mature.

RayGubernat · Post by **RayGubernat** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 10:01 am

bmumph wrote:I was trying to get the dog interested in the birds so that I could introduce the gun. I wanted her to get excited and chase the bird. Once excited and chasing, I was going throw some birds in front of her. As she was chasing, I was going to start shooting around her. The idea being that she would be too into the bird to worry about the noise of the gun. After I knew she didn't have a gun issue, I was going to work on the pointing bird with the launcher. I'm new at this, so tell me if I'm got this wrong of if there is a better way.

Thanks,

I was never one to have puppies or young dogs mess with lock wing or flight impaired birds. I also do not like putting a puppy in a situation where the bird will assert dominance. A young dog and a planted cock pheasant is an invitation to disaster, as an example of a situation to avoid.

Take the dog for a walk in some short grass with a bag of pigeons. As the dog is crossing in front of you, let one fly. If the dog sees the bird it will almost certainly chase, at least a little way. When it comes back toward you, toss another one for it to see and chase.

A bird in the air never scared even the smallest, youngest puppy. It wakes up the bid dog that is in there.

Your concept about shooting when the dog is in full out chase is dead on.

One thing...if you do not have enough birds to get the job done, do not try to make do by figuring out ways to re-use them. you will only teach the dog bad habits. If you only have enough birds for a short session...so be it. Do a short session, put the dog up and that is that.

RayG

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