Buck Boy

hey guys
i've heard of people buying pigeons or quail to help train their dog. Have any of you done this and do you know where i could purchase some? Thanks

Buck Boy

ShortHair

I know a good place in Waynesboro where you can buy quail. Waynesboro GA that is.Just kidding, I threw that in because there is a place in Waynesboro GA that raises quail and I was born in Waynesboro PA(dad was in the Army) and thought you be familar with it.

I have seen live quail for sale in Herters catalog, they have a website too. I use pigeons myself. I used to buy the pigeons from the local feed and seed. I bought a pigeon trap from Herters and catch my own now. Pigeons work just as good as quail if you clip the wings or bind the wings.

Mr. 16 gauge

Buckboy;
Give your local pest control business a call if you don't have anywhere you can trap pigeons. Some cities (stupidly) have ordinances against live trapping ANYTHING...even pigeons! I bought mine from the local pest control guy; $1/bird is a lot cheaper than any quail I could find (although I like eating the quail more than I do the pigeons). Also, check and see if you can find a pigeon fancier around your area...sometimes you can get them to part with their culls. These birds are great, because they are homers, and you can use them again and again. I have seven that keep coming back after our backyard training sessions. They don't require much space, and all they need is a little cracked corn, some clean water, and grit. I prefer pigeons to pheasants or quail for a number of reasons: they are cheap & plentiful, they usually stay where they are planted, there is generally no season on them, and they usually take off and climb right away, helping to decrease the desire for the dog to chase (quail, I've found, like to fly low to the ground and not very far....the dog suddenly goes deaf when you blow the whistle to get her to stop!) Good luck.

Buck Boy

thanks guys, i'll keep you posted on if i get any or not. You did trick me Shorthair lol.

I have one more question though. When you use these birds do you just put them in a field ( in a cage or anything ) and let the dog find them? Do you ever shoot the bird when it tries to fly away?

Buck Boy

HOSS

Like shorthair said clip there wings so they can't fly and dizzy them up by putting there head under there wing and swinging your arms in a circular motion while holding the bird with it's head tucked then you can place it in the grass or weeds and it should stay put then you can work you dog thru the field and up to where the bird or birds are and do your training up to the flush and yes by all means as the dog comes along on it's training take a bird or two and don't clip there wings and blast a few. plus the clipped wing birds feathers will grow back out

ShortHair

I like what HOSS said to do. Here is something I do in addition during the early stages of training. This trick will help them steady to wing.
I get my wife or daughter to help with this part. I take a footlong piece of garden hose and drill a small hole through it. Run a piece of string through the hole. Here's the difficult part, tie the string to the pigeons feet. This will weight the bird down just enough that it can fly but not more than 50-70 yards.
You get your helper set up with the bird in the bushes. You turn out pup on the leash with the pinch collar on. Let pup find the bird and point it. You give the WHOA command. The helper shows the bird to the pup and trys to excite the pup with the bird. Do not let pup break point. Then the assistant releases the bird and the bird flies but not to far.

Buck Boy

thanks for the great adive everyone........but yet i have another problem.

He wont lock on point. He goes to the bird, will point for a second then goes and grabs it. And today he wouldn't obey my commands.....eventually he started listening some more again but i dont know what got into him. Did i mention to you that he's 4 years old? Is this way too old? because he sniffs out the bird fine but just grabs them and doesn't lock on point like i said before.Also the pigeon i am using right now is one i shot because i haven't gotten any live ones yet.

P.S Whats a pinch collar? And when we hunt quail or dove will he follow their scent just as a pigeons scent or will i have to train him with those birds? Thanks again

Buck Boy

ShortHair

His age would not be an unfixable problem if you had not let him catch a live bird. Now the dog knows he can catch the bird.
Thats why I use the trick with the hose on the bird. The dog figures out he can't get the live bird.
If you are willing to dedicate 15-30 minutes a day everyday you maybe can train this one. But I would find another dog myself.

A pinch collar is similar to a choke chain. It is made of leather and slips like a choke chain. It has nails on the inside facing the dogs neck. The first thing you do is file the nails smooth before pup ever wears it. The spikes will grab pups skin as it tightens and pinch rather than choke the dog and possibly hurt his airway like a choke chain.

HOSS

another thing you can try to steady the point is take a long piece of rope tie a clip to the end and putthe end between the dog and it's collar, take the end on down and make a loop around the dog at the rear of the belly in front of the hind legs. lift the line between the collar and the loop so you have a lift point between the two ends of the dog put a hook up on a tree trunk or somthing to run the rope over so that when you pull the over end it will lift the dog off the ground. have the dog strung up like this and give it the whoa command and slowly pay out rope if the dog moves swing then walk over and pick the dog up by the collar and the rope loop at the rear and return him to his origanal pos. and recommand whoa firmly they start to back away and pay out rope again if the dog moves same thing they hate being lifted like that and they learn in a hurry it won't hurt the dog and they will learn whoa in a hurry i couldn't believe the results with my dogs believe the results when i did it to my female. once they have the whoa down use the same set-up but omit the hook so that when you pull the rope abit it feels like the sensation of when they would get pulled up of the ground. i could take my female whoa her throw a retrieving dummy just past the end of her nose and fire a cap pistolk as i did and she wouldn't break whoa till i told her "dead" or walked over and touched her on the head then she would make the retrieve.
sorry about the long reply but there is no short way to discribe this tech.

kshunter

Gamefarms, poultry raisers, they're about everywhere around here. If nothing else, go to a farmstead and ask the farmer if you can shoot some pigeons for him. But they'd be dead and you may want live. Go to the poulty auctions nearby. There's a bunch around here and they go for around $3 each, which isn't too bad.
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