At what age can my dog start hunting upland birds?
 

I have a 3 month old English Springer Spaniel pup. I would like him to be my bird dog someday. At what age can he actually hunt, and when should I start training him on hunting tasks? I do not really have much bird hunting experience myself. I hunt big game but have always wanted to bird hunt. I just don't have anyone to do it with, so I got my own partner!

He is at the right age now. Make sure he comes back when called and just take him out and let him find birds. The fine tuning comes later.

Right now he has to learn to have fun and get used to gun noise. He is like a toddler taking his first steps.

I train pointers, so I don't know what's involved in springers. Think I remember, when they are on a bird you make them stop until they are supposed to flush the game.

My pups learn obedience from the day they are starting to wander around. Cookies and more cookies to come back, check cord and at about a year check cord and e collar. And gun shots, start at a distance or with a starter pistol. Two 2x4 short ends slapped together are cheaper. Use them at any situation, if he eats, sleeps or just has fun. This noise has to be part of his life.

The best trained and bred dog will not hunt to his full potential if he dreads the noise of the gun going off. JMO

I also have pointers but a dog is a dog and there is a ton of stuff you can start working on as jack mentioned

I like to wait until the dog start showing interest in birds before working with them in the field. In the meantime, take the dog out alot to different fields to get them use to it. OB training can be done before and during field training..

Get a book on versatile training and join a local club. NAVDHA would be good as they also have a green book for training.

Also, concerning gun introduction, take it slowly and do it properly. Don't push it or you'll end up with a gun shy dog. Get a starters pistol and .22 short blanks. Go to a game farm and use birds to intro the gun. Take a friend with you to fire the pistol.

This is the way I would do it: first couple of birds, get the dog jacked up. Tie the bird using a long chord then tease and play with the dog. Next, plant the bird and let the dog flush. When flushes, shoot the pistol at about 50-100 ft away. No reaction do it again. If the dog reacts, put the pistol away and do it again the next outing. Stand closer with each bird then graduate to a louder sound (.22 popper rounds) or .410. Next time out, back up abit and start with jacking up the dog. During this time in the field, you can use a check chord when you deem necessary for stopping the dog.

Most books will explain the procedure much better than this short instruction. But the principle remains the same, you want the sound of the gunshot to be associated with birds.

I also have a pointing dog (which is what a spaniel should also be).
My advice do not take your dog hunting until the dog knows what it is he is supposed to do. DO NOT fire any weapon around him until he has been conditioned to loud noises at home and in the yard. After the dog understands he is supposed to hunt birds do as posted above with birds purchased for training purposes. Take your time and do it right from the beginning instead of taking your dog out to "see what happens". 3 months is too young to hunt your pup in a real hunting scenario. If you spend your time now training him for 15 to 20 mins twice a day you will have less trouble later on trying to undo bad habits that the dog learned on it's own ( for instance letting him flush birds) once he learns he doesn't have to wait for your instruction it will be harder work to make him steady which is necessary for him to be a great hunting dog capable of being run in hunt tests and NAVHDA. That's my advice to make things easier for you down the road. Also buy a couple upland training books/DVDs by different trainers and find a system or combination of systems that will work for you but without consistency you will not have the quality dog you could have. End very training session on an upbeat note and make your dog do what you command, he has to know you're his master and there is no option other to obey. Patience and consistency will always pay off better than harshness and abuse.

Do you guys ever get any dogs that are used to gun noise? Never seem to be a problem with my pups.

I see quite a few but then I work at a kennel that does offer to fix those mistakes.

Those mistakes mainly caused by banging loud objects with no bird conctact. I also cringe every time I see a pup at several of the local trap and skeet ranges I go to and to hear I am "conditioning the dog!" Again no bird contact. Correct way is with a pup taht is off age that is mature enough that once the bird flushes it is distracted enough the loud bang makes no difference.

Others may see it different and so be it.

I now don't say a word as I am tired of getting bashed. Carry on.

JW

There is nothing like live performance - for people or for dogs.

The key is ---- don't overwhelm the dog during the hunt, by noise or activity or excitement. Keep it fun and exciting.

Didn't mean to bash anybody.

Dumbest thing my ex ever did was to take the Lady to the range to condition her. She never hunted for him, did fine with me.

Pups are almost three weeks old and used to the vacuum rumbling around their pen since day 2, also tv and Uncle Phil yelling (dementia or alzheimers). The react nicely to clapping hands and will come for any loud noise once they are 6 weeks old. Loud noises mean food or treats to them.

And I had the gun shy ones too. Ex boyfriends 2 shorties were scared of birds and gun shoots. Took me two years to fix them with lots of patience and attention.

Depends if it was from Champion blood lines, if not, as soon as he will sit, stay, come and stop on command.

A spaniel, in this case an English Springer, is a flusher not a pointer.

Teaching a bird dog to be an effective hunter is a process. I have a Springer that I have hunted over for 8 years. Since your dog is very young, the very first thing he must be is obedient. Without that, you are wasting your time and your dog's.

Focus on basic obedience training; come/sit/stay/heel, etc. Once that is completed, you can move on to the actual bird training. Books, videos, on-line info are all helpful.

Good Luck!

Spaniels are flushing dogs except for the Brittany, who is a pointing dog.

Yes you are both correct, it is a flusher, but should be only on command after it has pointed and given a command to flush (given the dog has been trained to it's potential) hence my statement "should also be" . The French spaniel is also a classified as a pointer as well as the Brittany. Thanks for the clarification that I did not explain thoroughly enough. The dog is still to be trained as a pointer in regard to marking the bird.after which if desired by the owner it can be used to flush the game as it instinctively wants to do.

Not to sound confrontational but for the Brittany 'spaniel' designation has been dropped. The French spaniel is interesting but if they are ever recognized by the AKC, I believe they will also try to re-designate the name, somehow.

The springer spaniel is not 'officially' a pointing breed. If there ever was a flushing-type dog, the springer would get serious consideration. The reason for that is they are small and very vigoreous in getting at the bird. In areas where normal sporting dogs won't attempt to go, ie. under brush, logs, etc. I would want the dog to go in and flush it automatically w/o any direction from me.

Here in Western Wa., we have thick berry bushes, so thick it is easier to stand on them rather than trying to crawl through. I've only seen rabbits, birds and springers navigate thru this stuff. My little setter was after a bird once which I shot. I have a picture of her standing on this stuff with the bird under her. Hedgerows here can be +10'h x 40'w x length of the field. If a spaniel went in this stuff and pointed, you would have a hardtime trying to get running birds to flush.

There have been times my shorthair has been in some thick nasty stuff and locked up on point and since I have trained mine to be released by touch instead of verbal command I have had to go in after him and physically release him during testing. the other option would be to command "Leave It" and possibly get DQ'd if he then repositioned and pointed the same bird twice. I love watching my Pointing dog work but sometimes due to the training and what it is I am doing with the dog I also must work and get in the briars myself.

Getting back to the topic.... I would spend more time training this pup and getting him to be rock solid in his obedience before actually hunting with him. I stress the steadiness factor because of safety reasons when hunting in the field. A pup who is just left to go on its own and learn to hunt for itself without the basics understood first will become more difficult to control later in training and more time will be spent undoing what the dog learned he can do for himself. If you have a lab that you want to run through a field and locate birds and catch them or bust them out of cover and hope the bird is within range when it flushes that is one thing but I prefer to know the dog understands he is supposed to hunt within range and already have contact with birds in a controlled setting before turning him loose and seeing what he does.