Live Bird Help

[murraybd1]

Hello, I have a 7 month old English Setter. I took her to a game farm when she was about 4-5 months old and she was put on some quail. She pointed them fine and they flushed and she held until they flushed. Fast forward to this week , I went and bought some pen raised quail from a breeder in the area. I kept them in an old chicken coop . I planted two in the woods and she pointed them and they flushed decently. On our way back to the fourwheeler she caught one on the ground and chewed it up. So I need help on two things.

How do I get these birds to fly away?

How do I get her to not chew these birds up when she retrieves as I can see it will be a problem??

Help!

[RayGubernat]

Hello, I have a 7 month old English Setter. I took her to a game farm when she was about 4-5 months old and she was put on some quail. She pointed them fine and they flushed and she held until they flushed. Fast forward to this week , I went and bought some pen raised quail from a breeder in the area. I kept them in an old chicken coop . I planted two in the woods and she pointed them and they flushed decently. On our way back to the fourwheeler she caught one on the ground and chewed it up. So I need help on two things.

How do I get these birds to fly away?

How do I get her to not chew these birds up when she retrieves as I can see it will be a problem??

Help!

First things first. Keep the birds in a dark place overnight and keep them in the dark until you stock them. Do not let them fly in as that will tire them out.

They should flush nicely and fly fairly strongly.

On your way back to the four wheeler, put the dog on a checkcord and keep it at heel. Your dog caught a bird on the ground...which means it failed to point a live bird that it should have pointed. You should have corrected the dog....forcefully...when the dog dived in after the bird. That is trainer error.

If it happens again, you need to lower the boom on the dog, not for chewing , but for diving in after a bird on the ground. That is not acceptable behavior for a pointing dog.

As far as not chewing a bird up on the retrieve, you might want to look into force fetching the dog after this next bird season, when the dog is about 1 1/2 years old.

Personally, I don't let my dogs retrieve until I am dead sure they will not tear up the bird. If they continue to chomp on birds... they don't get to wrap their gums around a bird. Period. They get to point the dead bird and that is all.

RayG

[Trekmoor]

I have a different viewpoint on this from Ray . Your pup is seven months old and became wildly excited having managed to catch a live bird on the ground . That catch was your fault, not the pups, it only did what came naturally. Train yourself to be more "on the ball." I cannot comment on the quail, I seldom ever encounter them or use them but birds like pheasants also sometimes sit tight enough for a dog to peg them if I am not paying sufficient attention. I kick myself hard and then do my utmost to ensure the pup never gets another "catch."

To counteract the possibility of hard mouth I'd try training the pup to retrieve at first bumpers, then dead birds inside a lady's nylon stocking. The stocking can have bits snipped from it allowing more and more feathers to protrude from the stocking. I'd eventually end up with a "bare" bird and only when the pup retrieved that with no fuss would I give it a dead but still warm bird.

Try to manage the pups excitement levels during retrieves by building towards a still live bird.

Bill T.

[Sharon]

That's why I don't use quail for a young , not fully -trained dog. I use hard flying pigeons. Quail are great once the dog is farther along in training.

[shags]

The pup is only seven months old and one caught bird isn't the end of the world. It's nothing, really.

I take it that your pup grabbed one of the quail after you had worked it? If so, next time watch the flight of the bird at flush whether ir flies well or not, and heel your dog in the opposite direction. Heel meaning grab her collar and lead her away, or put her on a cc. If you walk your dog through -or allow her to root around the area - where a bird landed, that's your error.
If you want to work a previously flushed bird again, heel your dog out after the first flush and hunt a different area for a while before bringing her back in. If you intend to trial at all, I wouldn't rework birds much at all, but if you're developing a personal gun dog, it won't hurt. Just remember that pen raised coturnix and bobs are good for one decent flush (we hope!) and maybe a halfway OK second flush, but a third is asking for too much. T-Reds might go three if you're lucky.

[Donnytpburge]

get a launcher

db

[murraybd1]

Took her out again and she is starting to crowd the birds badly. I was thinking about a getting a remote launcher. Do you guys think this will help?

[DonF]

A launcher won't help keep her from catching birds Unless you use birds that fly away! Pen raised game birds are not all that great at it. And if they do, chance's are they are a one time use unless you have them you have them hobbled and staked. Even with a helper, the only way you'll get more than one usage from them I hobbled and staked. Same will be true of pigeon's, you meed a helper unless you have traps. best training bird's are hands down pigeons, even if you need a helper with them. They get off the ground and go back to the loft! Of course if you have enough room to use quail out of a johnny house, you should be good to go. Pigeon's are easy to catch, quail cost about $5 ea depending on where you get them. Chukar here start at ten dollar's. Save money from game bird's and get launcher's and build a pigeon pen.

[coveydr]

I agree with some of the answers. Especially the pups 7 mos old! I believe it doesn't hurt a pup to catch a bird. They need to keep the eye on the prize. The pup needs to be taught correctly how to handle birds. A lot of owners think that their dogs train themselves, and a lot of them can. But they need guidance. Not just throw a couple of birds out to see what they will do. Train and set your pup up for success. Don't let him fail. Make sure whatever your doing especially at 7 mos. old? Set him up to have fun and at the same time teach right from wrong without too much pressure. He's a pup he needs to have fun with birds. IMO! Then start a training program.

[Sharon]

I agree with some of the answers. Especially the pups 7 mos old! I believe it doesn't hurt a pup to catch a bird. They need to keep the eye on the prize. The pup needs to be taught correctly how to handle birds. A lot of owners think that their dogs train themselves, and a lot of them can. But they need guidance. Not just throw a couple of birds out to see what they will do. Train and set your pup up for success. Don't let him fail. Make sure whatever your doing especially at 7 mos. old? Set him up to have fun and at the same time teach right from wrong without too much pressure. He's a pup he needs to have fun with birds. IMO! Then start a training program.

"A bird" is the key. Catching birds regularly = trouble and a difficult training future. That's why I use hard flying pigeons and not quail for a young dog.