hey! i need help with my mini schnauzer. i've been trainin him with a canvas decoy with pheasant scent. He is pretty good...i have him sit at my left, and go get the "shot bird" after i've thrown it in the air, on the command "HUNT!" and, he can aslo get it out of the bushes, and from obstructions. plz give me any and ALL advice! thanks so much!

I know quite a few people who use non-typical dogs for upland hunting...one of the best dogs I ever hunted pheasants with was a Jack Russell Terrier! Basically, if a dog has the drive they can do a formidable job of helping you out. If nothing else, it's something fun for the two of you! Plus, he's got a better nose than you do!

The most important this in training a bird dog is exposure to birds. There's no substitute for that! Also, work on obedience so that you can have complete control out in the field. Using real pheasant wings attatched to a dummy will also help.

And don't listen to what some others will tell you about it not being a hunting dog. I saw quite a few embarassed German Shorthair owners after a little terrier found AND retrieved twice as many birds as their thoroughbred!

hehehe, well thanks for all of your help...but i still have a few questions. how should i go about training him? pretty much all i've had him do so far, is (as i said) sit at my left, and retrieve after i throw it on the command 'hunt'. i've tried to teach him tracking...but he just can't, or won't, do it. and, if you can, where would i find all of the supplies? GI Joes has some dummies, qail pheasant and duck scent, but that's about it. please help me! thanks a bundle

Well, where do I begin? First of all, I would go get a book or video. There are lots of good ones out there. If you can't find them in any stores you can order them from Amazon or other online sellers. Everyone has their preference, but I like George Hickox. I have the book 'Hunt 'Em Up' and the video series 'Training the Upland Flushing Dog'. I like Hickox's style because he puts a lot of emphasis on using live birds in the field.

The biggest tip I can give you is to get your dog on some real birds, starting with pigeons, then working up to quail, chuckars and pheasants. If you don't have access to these, one method would be to hide the dummy in some tall grass when you dog doesn't know it's there, then get him in the general area, tell him to 'Hunt', and praise him lavishly when he finds it.

As far as equipment goes, the only things you really need (besides birds) are dummies and a check cord. You could get pheasant wings from someone you know who hunts pheasants quite a bit. Good Luck!

What I do when training a dog to track that doesnt have much interest. I wait until feeding time and drag a hot dog a few feet and let him find it. Each day I increase the distance you would be amazed how fast they learn to use there nose