Gun Dog Forum

Hey All,

What'd y'all think of putting a pup in a pen or room or something with a live quail as part of his "intro to gamebirds"?

For those who think it's a good idea...would you let him kill the bird?

Thanks!

Mike

I wouldnt if the quail takes on a run in his direction and he cant get away he might get too scared. just take him into the backyard and velcro the quail's wings.

I hear ya there Ryan but I'm talking about a puppy 3 months and up that are already excited about quail wings and scent...to this point, I haven't owned a puppy that would be scared of a little quail in that setting...I believe that any puppy that I've owned would likely kill that quail although I can't say that for a fact because I haven't tried it...

Batter safe then sorry. Why risk it?

I havent had alot of pups but I have always let mine catch a few birds eat them what ever it takes to get them fired up about birds.

My first question would be "Why?" I cant think of any reason to do it if you know the pup likes the wings and wouldn't be scared.

Ezzy

my experience all though limited is that the dog may seem really fired up about birds but could be affraid to mouth and pick up the bird. my setter was this way but after letting him chase a few and play with a few he learned it would not hurt him and that he had control over the bird. I do this at the same time i am g\conditioning him to the gun. once he shows that then I wouldnt let him catch anymore.

Make the game simple for you and the dog. Take some of these Quail and let the pup bump and chase them. Pull some feathers on the bird and let this bird react to the pup chasing them. The bird will do everything possible to get away and the pup will do everything possible to catch his game. As the pup matures I would take this game to some stronger birds that will not be caught. What ever make it possitive for the pup. Some pups need to catch a bird or two to wake up the demon inside, some don't. Once you have him wanting birds more than anything else I would take the chase away.

I take a worn out quail that i used to train an older pup, put it into the kennel with the pups at 4 weeks or so to see what they do. Never had one get hurt and some show a huge prey drive.

At 3 months I would be planting quail outside, let pup get downwind, see if the smell invokes any responce, build on that.

Too much work on pen raised isnt a good thing for wild bird dogs IMHO. get them onto something that will fly away.

I had our 10 week old pup yesterday, down in the marshes and had a quail my sister gave me from work (they feed them to the big cats at the zoo) I handed it too him and he went crazy, started jumping and dancing all around it and then decided to chomp down on it and give it the "death shake" It's nice to know he isn't afraid of them at least, but we need to work on the hard mouth. Rex was not too happy when I took it away from him.

Michael

I am a little concerned with some of the advice given here. You don't fix one problem by starting another.

birddog wrote:I am a little concerned with some of the advice given here. You don't fix one problem by starting another.

With what part? I am guessing the catching of the birds? So pups or even dogs need to have a "Real Boost" to gain desire for the game. Just as some things go, do it to much and you will have a problem, but a little won't hurt as bad as if you don't.....

birddog wrote:I am a little concerned with some of the advice given here. You don't fix one problem by starting another.

I'd like to add - to show a little bit of compassion for the animals we "hunt" and be careful what you write on lists because you don't know what may be used against you at some future date.

Marg

birddog wrote:I am a little concerned with some of the advice given here. You don't fix one problem by starting another.

sometimes the only way to fix a problem is to create a new one.

Wouldn't your pup tear the bird up while you are gone and you would have one heck of a mess to clean up. not to metion your dog would be all bloody.

I think we want our gundogs to learn to bring 'em back not rip 'em up

PheasantHunter wrote:Hey All,

What'd y'all think of putting a pup in a pen or room or something with a live quail as part of his "intro to gamebirds"?

For those who think it's a good idea...would you let him kill the bird?

Thanks!

Mike

On my pups first bird, I taped one wing of a pigeon. When she cought it I let her carry it around and play with it for a good 10 minutes. Much to my suprise she never did kill that bird. You might get lucky like I did and have a pup with a naturally soft mouth.