Gun Dog Forum

Is a puppy ever too young for wild birds (assume no shooting, just finding them, figuring out where to look, etc...? Would 3.5mos old be too young for pheasants?

no, never in my opinion. I would not think twice of bring a puppy into woods/field and letting them go to town and have fun. Just try to keep from smiling as you watch them learn. Also I have tried to not handle my dogs in the field at all. Just let them figure it out, let the birds be the teacher.

14 weeks?
Yes, depending upon conditions.

dugger13 wrote:no, never in my opinion. I would not think twice of bring a puppy into woods/field and letting them go to town and have fun. Just try to keep from smiling as you watch them learn. Also I have tried to not handle my dogs in the field at all. Just let them figure it out, let the birds be the teacher.

+1. I would limit the outings to reasonably short periods of time though.

Charlie

My pup is right around 14 weeks or so, I would say as long as they are acclimated to birds flushing (aka possible getting hit in the face with a wing) go ahead.



I might be too green to be a real help, I have tons of confidence in my lil girl, we go into bird territory every day though.

imo it is too early if the dog can't be called in with some sort of expectation that it will come. besides that, which is more of a safety concern, wild birds will make a better bird dog than i ever will

natetnc wrote:imo it is too early if the dog can't be called in with some sort of expectation that it will come. besides that, which is more of a safety concern, wild birds will make a better bird dog than i ever will

On thousands and thousands of acres + GPS and ATV - won't be too worried about losing him... It will be intro'd to birds before wild ones of course - don't need a rooster scaring the crap out of it.

natetnc wrote:imo it is too early if the dog can't be called in with some sort of expectation that it will come. besides that, which is more of a safety concern, wild birds will make a better bird dog than i ever will

I took my 5 month old wirehair out to the sagebrush to see if we could bump into some grouse. My 9 year old GWP went on point and I called the pup in, but the bird flushed before I could get the check cord on her. Well, I thought she was pretty darned good at coming back when called, but apparently birds flying off prove me wrong! She pretty much dissapeared over the horizon, but returned before I could get too concerned.

Lesson learned: Don't bring a pup into a situation you cannot control!

I was going to wait to introduce the training collar, bu this dog is a fireball when it comes to prey drive. A little work on obediance before the next bird encounter is in order......

Sounds to me she did what I would expect her to do and would be disappointed if it didn't happen just that way except I would not have tried calling her back. She had more important things to do than listen. At least I hope she felt that way. The training and call back can wait.

Ezzy

ezzy333 wrote:Sounds to me she did what I would expect her to do and would be disappointed if it didn't happen just that way except I would not have tried calling her back. She had more important things to do than listen. At least I hope she felt that way. The training and call back can wait.

Ezzy

+1...in my experience, which is minimal, with the birds in the air and clearly unattainable, the pup with return on it's own fairly quickly and start looking for more birds. It's the deer, squirrels and rabbits that you want to watch out for (mostly the deer IMO.) The only times I've had my heart go up into my throat was when I saw my young pup disappear over a ridge after a couple deer without his ecollar on because I was just getting him used to it. Took me 15mins to find him and get him back :roll: Not a fun first time experience but one I'm sure a lot of people have had.

ezzy333 wrote:Sounds to me she did what I would expect her to do and would be disappointed if it didn't happen just that way except I would not have tried calling her back. She had more important things to do than listen. At least I hope she felt that way. The training and call back can wait.

Ezzy

Funny you should say that, as I called after her, I knew it was pointless and was not going to work! I try to not talk at all when they are out but it is tough not to be a bit worried when they appear to be GONE over a vast horizon. She was gone a good while, this was huge country with lots of distractions, including deer, ground squirrels antelope and Coyotes.....

I know the feeling but maybe it will make you feel better to remember the pup isn't lost just because you don't know where it is. The chances are very good that it knows where you are, so who is really lost???????????????????????

Ezzy

DogNewbie wrote:

ezzy333 wrote:Sounds to me she did what I would expect her to do and would be disappointed if it didn't happen just that way except I would not have tried calling her back. She had more important things to do than listen. At least I hope she felt that way. The training and call back can wait.

Ezzy

+1...in my experience, which is minimal, with the birds in the air and clearly unattainable, the pup with return on it's own fairly quickly and start looking for more birds. It's the deer, squirrels and rabbits that you want to watch out for (mostly the deer IMO.) The only times I've had my heart go up into my throat was when I saw my young pup disappear over a ridge after a couple deer without his ecollar on because I was just getting him used to it. Took me 15mins to find him and get him back :roll: Not a fun first time experience but one I'm sure a lot of people have had.

I was fortunate enough to catch Kona in the act twice at the club. She had got on a few fawns. I let her get right on there A$#. She was close enough to say hi dog style and then I let it rip with the juice. I didn't say a word, just kept motoring along on the quad. That was all it took. She has seen a few since and turns the other direction. Now, those big looking quail that like to gobble are a different story. Can't get her to stop thinking she can catch em. She has been close a time or two.

Joe

DogNewbie wrote:

ezzy333 wrote:Sounds to me she did what I would expect her to do and would be disappointed if it didn't happen just that way except I would not have tried calling her back. She had more important things to do than listen. At least I hope she felt that way. The training and call back can wait.

Ezzy

+1...in my experience, which is minimal, with the birds in the air and clearly unattainable, the pup with return on it's own fairly quickly and start looking for more birds. It's the deer, squirrels and rabbits that you want to watch out for (mostly the deer IMO.) The only times I've had my heart go up into my throat was when I saw my young pup disappear over a ridge after a couple deer without his ecollar on because I was just getting him used to it. Took me 15mins to find him and get him back :roll: Not a fun first time experience but one I'm sure a lot of people have had.

Only 15 minutes! I would be happy if it was only 15 minutes! My pups first deer experience was a 3 hour detour.

Elkhunter wrote:

DogNewbie wrote:

ezzy333 wrote:Sounds to me she did what I would expect her to do and would be disappointed if it didn't happen just that way except I would not have tried calling her back. She had more important things to do than listen. At least I hope she felt that way. The training and call back can wait.

Ezzy

+1...in my experience, which is minimal, with the birds in the air and clearly unattainable, the pup with return on it's own fairly quickly and start looking for more birds. It's the deer, squirrels and rabbits that you want to watch out for (mostly the deer IMO.) The only times I've had my heart go up into my throat was when I saw my young pup disappear over a ridge after a couple deer without his ecollar on because I was just getting him used to it. Took me 15mins to find him and get him back :roll: Not a fun first time experience but one I'm sure a lot of people have had.

Only 15 minutes! I would be happy if it was only 15 minutes! My pups first deer experience was a 3 hour detour.

I would have been a mess!