quailgunner02

does anyone know how often i should expose my 9 week old pup to live birds if any at all(when to start)? i have a contant supply so birds are not a problem just when to use them?

thanks

tailcrackin

There is no set time as to when to start, myself will not expect much at first, exspecially a younger pup. What I do with the new dogs that come here, is to take couple homing pigeons, and keep a hold of wings and body, then kinda get the pup chasing it in btween my legs, making a chase game out of. Then I will drop it and let it fly off, let dog chase it, when it peels off and comes back to me,I will grab nother and redo, usually after about 4 birds, I will take a wild caught pigeon, card board it, and the dogs will usually either root it up and then catch, or they will point shortly, and then root it and catch. Then it all starts coming together after that. Just couple birds everyother day or, even two or three days without be fine. To much to fast, on some dogs, makes it not a game, and they dont seem to enjoy as well, as skipping day or two.
Cya Jonesy

Mite

Slow down. For some pups, nine weeks is just getting weaned offthe mother. Don'tthink live birds until thepup is ready for it.Put a live bird in a cage and see what yourpup does. Make sure the bird is much smaller than the dog and use only one bird.Ifhe sniffs itlooks away, he's not ready. If he shows real excitement then you can introduce birds. By excitement, I mean tail wagging, barking, biting at the cage. This won't happen until four to six months. Three months if the doghas exceptional drive.

quailgunner02

ive had him since seven weeks and he was not so sure at first but now at around 8 and ahalf weeks he about rips the cage in half. also he will chase birds for about 15 seconds wherever they are and then kinda gets side tracked and does somthing else.

is that normal?
and should i give him as many oppurtunities to find birds as possible? or just one a week?

tailcrackin

Dog training isnt what ya do, it when, and howyou do.....meaning in this situation, your pup sounds to get very excited about birds, so if you cram the birds to it, is it gonna point and start getting right, or is it going into brain overload, and root them all up. Ya, see when a dog starts loosing control, and goes into overload......it all falls apart. First bird- dog points let say 1 min. then next bird points 30 secs, next is 10 seconds, next is screw you dad, I am rolling. Even though we pick and choose the battles with the training and its program, when the dog is getting bird work, you watch and figure out what and why. So dog lets say is retrieving great on birds its catching as a pup, but yet wont point as well as it should......the point is more the factor at this time to focus on, because its not keeping its head........you use one bird once in a while like I said before, the dog will start to savor that moment.....and it will start getting right.
I have dogs that come hear overloaded with desire....but fall apart on each bird.....so I break it on one bird at proper age, when the dog shows me that its understanding what I have shown, and it gets steady with no or very little correction, then shortly after that, I will start adding a bird, I have control of the dogs head, its already proved it to me, now we teach it to keep control. Make sense. This is where a hot puppy can go, or a league that it can fall into. Just lil bit of patience, it will or should all work out fine. Jonesy