couple upland training questions.

M

magnum83

New member
MMy first is im having a difficult time get my 14bird month old lab to work cover how can I do this, and secondly he wont retreive a bird only dummies. Also how long can I freeze bird and does freezing them take the scent away from them? Thanks dan
 
Dan I do not have much experience with labs of flushing dogs. I have pointing dogs. But the hunting cover is most likely not going to be a problem long. The more you get your pup out in birds, the more he will go where the birds are.

If you are puting birds out for him to work, put them in the cover you want him to work.
 
I'm not sure what to say about your dog not having interest in frozen birds. Does she get birdy at the scent of a bird? Showing her some live birds might be the best solution.

My golden was hesitant to work into thicker cover at first. I taught her that's where she's going to find them and over time she became less hesitant. When we do dummy work I throw them into thick cover. When I plant birds for her, I put them in thick cover. Over time she's come to learn that she won't find birds in lawn high grass - she'll find them in the tall, thick grass, the middle of large bushes, under the conifers, etc. It's further reenforced once it's actually hunting season and she's finding the wild birds in the cover. IMO you should practice like you it's the real thing.

*However, before you work on the thick cover, I'd first simply focus on retrieving frozen birds. Teaching a dog is allowing them to learn a series of building blocks. Don't expect too much of her too soon and keep it simple before you start complicating things with cover.

Also it's kind of late into the season to be working on some of this and expecting it to carry over immediately to the field - IME the best training comes in the winter/spring, then we're off in the summer with the bugs and heat, reenforcement in the fall, and then it's hunting season again. :)

FWIW, I've got a few birds in the freezer that are 2 seasons old now simply because I didn't get around to using them just yet. The ones I do use for training I just throw out once they get ragged. The scent doesn't seem to become lost if you keep them wrapped up, but I also sometimes add a little liquid bird scent to them depending on what we're doing.
 
Let me suggest something simple to see if the dog is feather shy and not interested in feathers. Take the dummy that the dog likes to retrieve and place two wings around the dummy with a couple rubber bands.

Now throw the dummy and see if the dog will retieve the dummy with feathers attached.

The dog may have issues with feathers not just a frozen bird.
 
OKIEGunner said:
Let me suggest something simple to see if the dog is feather shy and not interested in feathers. Take the dummy that the dog likes to retrieve and place two wings around the dummy with a couple rubber bands.

Now throw the dummy and see if the dog will retieve the dummy with feathers attached.

The dog may have issues with feathers not just a frozen bird.
Click to expand...

Thats what I would do as well. I have a few dummy's that have wings duct taped to them. It will also teach it to use its nose to find birds not justs sight.
 
II saved the wings of the pheasants we shot but missed placed them. Would ordering the ones from cabelas be ok or is there another better place? Same for pheasant scent for applying to the dummies, cabelas or another option? Thanks, dan
 
AAlso hiw should I wrap up birds to freeze them, as of now ive just been putting them in a grocery bag. These pheasant I have are breasted out also bc we ate them. Is that ok?
 
You can order them from cabelas, any good store that caries dog training and hunting stuff should have them. The feathers I think are going to be the important part. I will also just hide them in tall grass and work the dog like I'm hunting and make her find them. That would also help with teaching the dog to get into the thick cover. :thumbsup:
 
He retreives quite well with a dokken duck dummy out of water but I want him to work pheasant and retreive ducks. Would it be bad to take him duck hunting today or no?
 
They are two diffent things but if you shoot some ducks it will get feathers in his mouth. I would go for it.
 
I think I may have hit the jackpot. On my way to a field to plant some frozen pheasants I found I live pigeon and @aught it. Im guessing its hurt but it doesn't appear to be just seems to not fly for to far. Idk I let it go in the field. Should I kill it or keep it alive as long as possible
 
I would suggest you spend some time reading the old posts in this section. When I first joined the site I went back and read every thread in the Bird Dog Training and Main Bird Dog sections. Use the search function if you would like as well. There is a wealth of knowledge on here and it has helped me immensely.

Chuck
 
I'd see how the dog does with the live pigeon. To minimize the chances of him getting spooked, I'd use a rubber band or some duct tape around one of the wings. That will keep the bird from flushing in your dog's face. Then, I'd show the bird to the dog, let him smell it a bit, tease him with it, get him all excited and then toss the bird a little ways. If he goes and picks it up, make a big fuss over him. Don't be surprised if he doesn't grab it the first time and definitely don't get mad at him no matter what he does.

If you get him retrieving the pigeon that way, you can start planting the bird out in the field and letting your dog find it. Once your dog figures out that he's trying to find birds in the field, I think you'll probably see him getting better with "working cover". It's hard to teach a young dog to run patterns in your yard, but once they start truly hunting, a lot of genetics usually helps them out.
 
magnum83 said:
MMy first is im having a difficult time get my 14bird month old lab to work cover how can I do this, and secondly he wont retreive a bird only dummies. Also how long can I freeze bird and does freezing them take the scent away from them? Thanks dan
Click to expand...

I know that some lines of labs called pointing labs apparently have been selectively bred to function as upland dogs, but the breed was developed for the sole purpose of making water retrieves, not upland hunting. They tend to stick by their masters' sides until commanded to retrieve. You may have a lab that is simply wired as the breed was originally intended.
 
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