ILBOW

I just got a little lab pup,
I also just started pheasant hunting as well
I have been hunting pheasant by myself, we have alot of wild birds in my area. I have no clue how to train him. I was wondering if there are any tips you guys could give me. I can't afford to have him schooled yet, but he does a great job finding dead birds i bring home. I hope I haven't broken any golden rules but I'll share what I've done so far.
I will put a dead bird on a string and drag it through my field in the back of my house, then leave it. My problem is getting him to pause when he gets to the bird. he just lunges at it. I've trained him so far to basically hunt them up but he is still side tracked by other smells in the field and I'm not sure when to bring the gun out to get him acclimated to the sound. any Ideas??

axp117crow

labs are great dogs for pheasants, but you have to make him stop if your not close enough to the bird. labs just chase the scent and flush the birds. when my lab gets out ahead of us. we call her back and she comes back or slows down.just keep at it, they are pretty hyper dogs as pups, they don't get much calmer as adults tho. the bird on a string thing is good, we do the same thing, but we us the wing of a pheasant. honestly though, one of the best things you can do is to get him out in the woods, a lot of it is instinct you just have to fine tune him. good luck

FreeHunt.net

here's the system i've been using to turn puppies into hunting machines.

1.get them fetching
2. throw into cover so they have to hunt for it
3.get a pheasant pelt and wrap it around dummy w/ rubberband - play fetch - eventually into cover
4. hide the pelt in cover, walk the pup close to it and let him find it. make sure you reward him when he finds it
5.keep hiding it and start commands like"hunt em up"
6. he will soon be going out on his own

that gets em huntin. later you can add a shock collar to train him not to get out too far.

i've used this on expensive and basically no genetics pups, and had success with all

SDarcher

i would suggest you make sure he knows his basic obedience(sit, here, heel, no,) then teach him hold, then go into force fetch. you have to build off each thing and not try to teach to much at a time. And be sure to keep the sessions short(10-15 minutes/a few times a day) I would highly suggest Evan Grahms books smart fetch, smart work, etc. ( http://www.gundogsupply.com/evan-graham-smartwork-smartfetch.html) actually, the DVD's would be even better because you actually get to see how things are done. I've got the books right now and am thinking of getting the DVD's too. But, always be sure to make it fun for the dog.