7 week old Poodle takes on Chuck

[Bluemoon]

[h20hunter]

Get em!

Is this just getting them used to scent? The chase? Play to lay the foundation of later work?

[Bluemoon]

H2O,
It is about cranking up the prey drive so later in life they have a very strong flush on birds.  I also believe it makes for stronger retrieves.  We don't  train with bumpers or old dead frozen birds we like them on live birds right from the beginning.  Out hunting I have never flushed a covey of bumpers nor called them into my decoys.

A few years back we took a bunch of Tollers to a Labrador clubs working certificate test it was a real eye opener.  They were shooting Mallards and the gunners were not quite on with their shooting.  I watched over a dozen Labs race out to the bird then the bird would flap, quack or move those dogs tucked their tails and ran.  Turns out most of those dogs had never seen a real bird before and did not know what to do.

I do not mean to offended anyone training with this next observation.  Our kennel has a very good reputation for turning around Bird shy and Gun shy dogs.  Most of them have come from kennels where they use bumpers for the first few months to make a dog steady. The dog then gets his first real bird shot for them breaks at the line and gets toasted for breaking.  Guess what Birds then hurt why should I go get them?

I sometimes get criticized by some other trainer friends of mine because of the amount of birds we go through. (roughly 300 a month) but in my opinion it takes birds to make bird dogs.  On a side note the gentlemen that come out to shoot for me have a blast.   

[h20hunter]

Right on. I have shot over excellent dogs but am clueless on what it takes to get them there.

[DOUBLELUNG]

I had the good fortune to acquire a 3/4 border collie 1/4 English shepherd pup from a ranch in Wyoming April 1991.  The pups were born outside in February and had never been inside.  I was doing telemetry research and was in the field every day, and it was a bumper grouse year in the Bighorn mountains.  Once the broods could fly I started putting her on them every chance I got, and in September 1991 we shot over 100 grouse over that 7 month old dog.  Her hunting drive was ferocious her entire life, and she was a joy to hunt with.  She would hunt a cripple relentlessly, rarely lost a bird no matter how poorly hit.  She retrieved ducks fearlessly and would dive for cripples. 

I've had four good "bird dog" breeds, two of which were good hunters, but never a dog with her drive and desire.  I'm in total agreement with Bluemoon on the benefits of getting a pup on lots of birds young to create a driven hunter.