Training w/ pheasants in a pen?
 

Hey everyone,

I'm getting a GSP in a couple of months and am really considering raising a few (<10) pheasants on my 1 acre lot. I would be building a pen for them, but was wondering about having them around when I am trying to train my puppy. Will having pheasants around him for his whole life ruin his nose for them? Will the puppy get too accustomed to the smell to not know that pheasants are what he is supposed to hunt?

Any imput from fellow trainers/dog owners would be great.

RE: Training w/ pheasants in a pen?
 

Not a professional traininer, but I do know of a few GSP's that live on a preserve that are near the pheasant, chukar and quail all the time and they still point the birds in the field.

RE: Training w/ pheasants in a pen?
 

Will not affect there ability to point. The only thing you have to think about is once he learns where the pen is he will head that way when you let him out of his pen.

RE: Training w/ pheasants in a pen?
 

Will be no problem at all. You should check with the DNR in your state though as you might need a permit to do that.

Would be much easier just using pigeons.


JW

RE: Training w/ pheasants in a pen?
 

I raised 100 quail in a 20x50' flight pen last summer for my large munsterlander puppy.I was told by a trainer that it is a benifit for the dog. A pointing dog points as part of a juvinile pack trait. They can't catch the prey so they point it for the older members of the pack. the pen as long as it has see through wire sides allows the puppy to gain intrest and prey drive but never lets the puppy catch a bird. Thats why they say never let a pointer catch a bird. long story short I think it was the best move i ever made.

RE: Training w/ pheasants in a pen?
 

It is written that bird dogs that are around there prey are better at there jobs.. being a pointer flusher or so on..The scent is implanted into there heads and it is fun for them to run back and forth chase and so on.. but it is true never let a pointer catch a bird

RE: Training w/ pheasants in a pen?
 

I have a pheasant pen up here and it has not been a problem at all. I do find the fact that they need to be put on wild birds as soon as posable though. In the pheasant pen the dogs get used to the smell of raised birds. Meaning they get scent from the bird food as well as the birds walking around in droppings more so than with wild birds. This gives the dogs a stronger scent than they would have in the wild. But I have had no problem with it. It was just a little harder to get them to hold point as not being sure of the wild birds. They would stop and point it out and then move on. So I had to get them to hold on the wild birds that was all. It was not a real big problem but one that I had faced. Last year all they got was wild birds as feralhouse cats cleaned my pen out while I was at work. [:@]They wife did get a pic of one of them in my pen though.. So the proof was in the pudding, needless to say we have less of those feral cats around now..

RE: Training w/ pheasants in a pen?
 

You cannot give a bird dog (Labs)enough pheasant, to fullfil his instinctive drive. This is why trainers keep pheasants on hand and we save the wings off dead birds and put them in with puppies at five weeks old to play with. The sooner you give it to em the better. They will like to raise hell with your penned birds though, so be ready. I can only speak for Labs, but I know a trainer of shorthairs that does the same as us. You will need a training permit to have game birds, from the DNR. Not a big deal!

Good luck