Q

I am training my first waterfoul dog and would like to get him training with birds as soon as possible. I am using Richard Wolters' book " Water Dog" to train and am very happy with my pup so far. My pup, Scout, gets more attention and exercise than any other pup I' ve ever known because I work at a tackle shop full time and my boss is a dog lover. So Scout comes to work with me four days a week. At the end of each of those days we go for a half hour swim/training session. In his book, Mr. Wolters suggested " shackling" ducks to retrievein the water. If I do that in connecticut, we' ll have a heard of Game Wardens crawling out of the wood work( ducks out of season)! So I caught a few pigeons tonight. What a circus!! Anyhow, whats the best way to introduce him to them? Oh yea, Scout is almost six monthes old. Thanks, Q

Doc E

Clip the primary feathers off of one wing. Toss the bird out and have the dog retrieve it just like a bumper. DO NOT let the dog run off with it and eat it. Use your check cord.

In modern training books, this is covered very well, however Water Dog only touches the basics.

Q

Doc E- Throw the pigion in the water? If I throw it on land, wont he run like hell? If I throw it in the water, will it right itself like a water bird would? What book would you sugest? Thanx, Q

caveman22

It might be to late now, but if you haven' t already, I would introduce the pup to wings first and slowly graduate to live birds. Last year I saw a 9 mo pup that retrieved dead birds beautifully freak out when sent to retrieve an alive downed duck. She swam back and crawled back into the boat. She eventually got over it but it would have been better if her owner had conditioned her better.

Doc E

Q

Start on land -- WITH A CHECK CORD -- that way when the bird is in the mouth you can call/reel him in. At this point of your training, he should always be on a check cord anyway.

As far as books, see the thread down below titled " Training New Lab Puppy" . My thoughts are posted there.

Q

Okay, thanks for the advice. I think I' ll have him retrieve a wing for the next couple of weeks until I have more information. I' ll order the suggested book, " The ten-Minute Retriever" . Maybe that' ll provide me with a better understanding. I hate to go about it not feeling educated and realizing later that I' ve made a mistake and caused problems that we' ll have to work through later. Thanks again, Q

huntal

I HAD TROUBLE GETTING MY PUP TO RETRIEVE BIRDS ALSO. I TAPED THE WINGS TO HER DUMMIE,TO GET HER STARTED, THAT WORKED GREAT. THEN I BOUGTH A DEAD FOWL TRAINEER, TO GET HER USED TO THE SIZE OF THE BRID. AT FIRST SHE WOULD NOT PICK IT UP. NOW SHE IS A GREAT DOG. KEEP WORKING YOUR DOG, SOUNDS LIKE YOU SPEND ALOT OF TIME WITH HIM,THATS GOOD. WHEN HE RETREIVES HIS FIRST BIRD YOU WILL BE THE HAPPIES HUNTER ON THE WATEER.
HAPPY HUNTING
GOOD LUCK

t-roy

if you got alot of birds you can kill one and freeze it, and have him retrieve the dead bird a few times. taping a few wings to his dummy is good to. you can tape a wing of the live pidgeon, that way you can take the tape off to use the bird later. after he get a feel and taste for the birds, try throwing a live on over a pond, and shooting it down, into the water for him. unless he isn' t used to gunfire yet, if not, that can wait. you can go to a field with some medium high grass, dizzy up a clipped/taped wing bird, hide it in the grass, and let him find it, and chase it. if he catches it, have him bring it back, maybe let him play with it the first few times. that will help build his desire to find birds