What to do?

I

IsThisHeaven?

Member
I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the dog training forum so here goes. I am getting a springer in February. I would like to have a small flock of live birds at my house for training purposes. I am also a member of a training group in the area where I can buy live birds. The group meets every 2 to 4 weeks depending on the time of year. I also belong to a preserve, where I can hunt, train, and buy birds if needed.

I want to get the dog exposed to birds as much as possible. Do you think I need to have birds at my house? I think that I do, but I'm open to the alternative if that's the best option. If I do get birds, which birds should I get? I have read about and am considering quail, chukar and pigeons. I live in town, so whatever I have will need to be small. I have googled plans for whatever type of containment (coop, pen, hutch, etc.) I will need given the bird choice.

Any thoughts or idea would be appreciated. Thank you.
 
IsThisHeaven,

I got my GSP last february (2014) over the spring I built a johnny house from plans on http://www.qualitywildlife.com/ and got the automatic waterer/feeder and predator proof funnel from them. I have my setup at my fathers farm about 10 min from my house. I got quail about 8 weeks old in August and still have them to date. Worked my dog on them this weekend. They seem easy to take care of and not much hassle. They have really done me good. Everyone told me in order to have a good bird dog he needs to be on the birds. buying birds all the time gets extremely expensive IMO. This way they recall and you can use the birds over and over. The only downfall i see is i don't shoot them so you don't get that quality retrieval work on a dead bird. On retrieval i work with my dog with a pheasant dummy and i zip tie wings to it so its kind of like the real effect (feathers, etc.) Hope this helps. PM for any other details.
 
From your message, it sounds like you have lots of resources at hand. I tried the birds- at- home routine many years ago ... never again. Go to the preserve and use theirs.

I strongly suggest using a trainer for the two-week puppy class (intro. to birds) Well worth the investment.
 
Just a heads up, lots of townships have rules/regs on keeping birds. At least they do here in the land of 10,000 laws.
 
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