Something Spaniel

B

bblamo

New member
Hello everyone, This is my first post. This looks to be a great forum for bird dogs.

I've adopted a dog that was supposedly part English Springer. It came through the Springer Rescue Adoption. I have had a couple of Springers in the past. They both were awesome pheasant dogs. My last one died about 3 years ago. I have not been in the fields since. So now I have an 8 month old that has had zero training. We are working on the basics. I walk the fields with him 2 - 3 times a day with a check cord.
I have hope for him to be a bird dog. The problem is that he has a strong instinct to hunt rabbits. I have seen only mild interest in the doves. I have had him for 6 weeks and not got him around pheasant or other game yet.
If I can find a way to get him to hunt birds as hard as he hunts rabbits I'll be thrilled. I don't expect that he will be great for this upcoming season but I will get him out there.
Has anyone had success in turning a rabbit hunter into a bird hunter?

Thanks
Bruce
 
Welcome to UPH. I think its hard to say he even needs to be converted to a bird dog if he hasnt been on pheasants. Lots of dogs chase other game in the absence of birds.
 
Welcome aboard. Your dog probably just needs birds, birds and more birds. Buy them or join a club. Some never get over the rabbit thing if he doesn't put a shock collar on him and break him from chasing them out of sight. If you shock him and he quits hunting, sell the shock collar and live with it. Or train him to stop when the rabbit breaks and shoot the rabbit. Not much better than fried rabbit, gravy and biscuits!! But refrain if there are other dogs around. To dangerous!! Get some birds and have some fun!
 
Oh boy here we go!!
What you have is prey drive..unfortunately right now on rabbits and probably deer if you run into any!
Both can be fairly easy to cure..by a knowledgeable trainer..
Sorry bird dude ….but..the worst possible thing he could do is shoot a rabbit in front of this dog…that would just reenforce the probl‘em..
Get the dog off the unwanted critters..
And rechannel the energy and prey drive to birds..
No way would I “live with it”
Get some help from a pro of local training group.
Do not just buy a collar and attempt your self..
JMHO?.sort of..🙄
Ok…all different opinions..fire away👍
 
david0311 said:
Oh boy here we go!!
What you have is prey drive..unfortunately right now on rabbits and probably deer if you run into any!
Both can be fairly easy to cure..by a knowledgeable trainer..
Sorry bird dude ….but..the worst possible thing he could do is shoot a rabbit in front of this dog…that would just reenforce the probl‘em..
Get the dog off the unwanted critters..
And rechannel the energy and prey drive to birds..
No way would I “live with it”
Get some help from a pro of local training group.
Do not just buy a collar and attempt your self..
JMHO?.sort of..🙄
Ok…all different opinions..fire away👍
Click to expand...
Dave, I don't disagree, just a short version of what you could do. Joining a club would put him in touch with more knowledgeable folks. In other parts of the world spaniels are used for multispecies. Not everyone is a purist or live where there are lots of birds. :giggle:
 
Birddude..
You are correct in your statement..on other parts of world😀
But OPs question was how to turn the dog into a pheasant dog.
He needs help first On simple Avoidence traing ..and then get that prey drive re channel to birds
Sorry if I come on a little forceful..
But…out of control chasing and run away behavior is just something I won’t tolerate…both for the quality of the hunt and probably more important..the safety of the dog..
 
The first thing to do is to get some pigeons. I would give him a clipped wing pigeon, and a 5 minute session with a clipped wing pigeon should get him going on birds then you can move to freshly killed birds. You say you are working on basics. Do you mean sit, heel, and here? I first would establish his drive for birds and then move to basic obedience. Walking the field with him 2-3 times per day is not teaching the basics in anyway. Determine what your goals are for the dog and then pick up a couple of good books or DVD's and follow a program. Don't pick bits and pieces here and there. As far as rabbit chasing, I sure would not encourage it but once you get him on birds and he figures out he can't catch a rabbit I would think the problem would disappear. But I sure would end the walks and begin a training program. That pup will need a solid 3 months of training before going to the field this fall.
 
I appreciate all of the input from everyone.

My question came from no experience training a dog that is older and lived his early months in a shelter. I was a bit apprehensive about a "Something Spaniel" from the beginning. All of my other dogs were new puppies and purebred when I started training them.

I agree that getting him around birds will help me see if he has any potential. So far I am convinced that he is a hunter. We live in a rural subdivision. It's a five minute walk out of the subdivision to the fields where we are training. In the back yard he is good on the come, sit, stay, retrieve but not great on delivery to hand yet.

Training in the fields is a different story. The neighborhood and surrounding fields are loaded with cotton tail. The coyotes are slacking. I take him to the fields on a check cord. When he is on rabbit scent I call him off or at least try to. We work on voice, hand, whistle and then tug on the leash.
I am still working to get his attention when he is smelling rabbit. We do the come, sit, slow, eye contact, hand signal and whistle work in the field environment where he has all of the distractions. There is a lot to work on in the field and It's nice to walk a few miles with him. We are bonding:)

For training guides, I have Wolters "Gun Dog". The other training methods I find online. I enjoy working with the dog and it's rewarding to see improvement in him. If he turns out to not be the best pheasant dog I'm okay with that. I don't foresee him hunting off of a leash this year. He's not going to be ready for that. I'll be good for a couple hours of hunting a day anyway. At 70 years old the legs get tired humping on those plowed fields.

I know that e-collars are a great tool in the right hands but I have no experience with them. I'm old school whistle and I have a lot of patience.
Years ago, I can't believe its been two dogs ago already, I had a Springer born with unbelievable pheasant instinct. My father-in -law had a male from the same litter. Both were great on birds but would occasionally bolt for a jack rabbit. I'd watch my dog and his run a quarter mile chasing the rabbit. The difference was his dog was yipping from getting stung by the shock collar but still chasing the rabbit. I never used the e-collar and he still thinks I should be but I don't want to mess a dog up.

My FIL was supposed to bring me some frozen pheasant wings this weekend but he forgot them. I used to keep some but being without a dog for a few years they were tossed. Do the store bought wings work just as well? I have a contact for some pigeons so I am going to go with those also.

Thanks again for all of the thoughtful feedback.

Bruce
 
No offense and don't want to diminish what you are doing but basic obedience takes place in the yard and not in the field. That dog needs to be efficient in the yard before ever giving commands in the field. You can take him in the field to run around but don't give commands that can't be enforced. Sit means Sit and Here means Here no exceptions. I suggest getting a pinch collar, and heeling stick to begin your basic training. If you want to train more like a retriever and have a flushing dog, I would suggest getting Fowl Dawgs Vol. 1 with Rick Stawski DVD from Gundog Supply. Here is a link https://www.gundogsupply.com/fowl-dogs-1-dvd.html Hand signals would come after basic obedience, force fetch, and collar condition. Unless you mean a "stop sign" when giving a hand signal. Keep bonding and start with the yard work. Treats do wonders for basic obedience. Personally, I would view the chasing of rabbits as a good thing. Seems like a bold pup with prey drive. Good luck!!
 
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