What techniques do you use to introduce your pup to birds? At what age do you start? What commands do they need to know first? What do you do if you don't have access to pen raised birds? Just a few questions running through my head since I got my GSP pup. I'm always curious how people their training.

My lab was introduced to a pheasant the day he came home with me . I raise them , now the birds in the pen get ignored but one that is lose is pointed and retrived if told to and put back in the pen. He is now 4 1/2 years old and thinks pheasant hunting is like "fetch".

First, a dead (frozen - partially thawed) pigeon. Then a live wing clipped pigeon - clip the flight feathers on one wing, wave it around right in front of the dog to get it excited - then give the pigeon a toss (10' or so) and let the dog go have fun.

Personally, I'd never use a cock pheasant for bird introduction - a live cock pheasant is quite likely to fight back and spur the dog -- and if that happens, the dog will "blink" on pheasants forever.

If you join a good Dog Club, they should always have access to birds, which most of the time you can purchase at (or slightly above) club cost.

i would start intro to bird at about 3-4 months of age, and thats just planting the birds, and having the dog find them with no commands, or restrictions. to many people get there dog, and try way to fast, and hard to train them ASAP, and that never works. if anything, it actually hurts you and the dog. first you need to take training slow and steady. how old is the pup? for a pup that is about 7-10weeks old, you first need to have the dog getting use to its souroundings, and having fun. you should play with the dog, and bond with him. during this time he should also be going through crate training, and getting the pup to do is buisness on paper. you could start working the sit command, but remember to keep sessions short, and fun. soon after start teaching stay, heel and here or come. all of these commands should be started once the other is complete. remember to start playing fetch with a bumper and retrieve 3 or 4 times a day, keeping it fun. i would not do any type of force training, or force obiediance, until about 5-6 months of age. you might want to get the pup into a rod and wing method, thats always seems to work, but many people disapprove of the mehtod, its all personal preference. the best thing i can suggest, is renting, or buying as many books and movies you can find. every trainer uses there own techniques in training there dogs, some will work for you, and others wont. i would get about 2-3 of each, and watch and see how its done. also i would look into a local club or training group in the area, you can gets birds from there, and also train with others who may have more experience. just remember to take it slow, trainig wont take a few months it will take a good year or so depending on what you train for. good luck!

I just introduced my 11 week old pup to his first pigeon yesterday. For the past two weeks he has been playing with pheasant wings. He chased and pounced on that pigeon like he had been doing it for years. I did cut the flight feathers. I think he could have chased and pounced on that bird all day. I only let him twice to start with. Always have them want more.
I agree that I would never introduce a pup to a full grown rooster. I raise them and they can be mean with those spurs. If the pup is spurred -Worse case the dog is shyed off of roosters all together, best case- the dog will crunch any fallen bird if it has a ounce of life in it to avoid another spur scratch. Crunched birds don't make good table fair or wall decorations.

-Mathewsconquest2

try the video Perfect Start by John and Cindy Hann

the ONLY video that I have seen or heard of that truly trains you to train your dog

step by step using un-trained dogs that.....make mistakes that's right they all do and this video shows you how to train through it

I sold my other videos on e-bay after I bought theirs!!

www.perfectionkennel.com