Wild birds make the dog
I often hear about how well their dogs do on pen raised birds but have a tough transition to ‘gently handling’ wild birds. My reply is that this is normal and you should expect it. Usually a few pointed questions reveals that the dog has some bad habits on pen raised birds, habits that wild birds will not tolerate. These habits include crowding and creeping.
Wild birds are not very forgiving unless it is early season, before they’ve had any real pressure put on them. This is a good time for your young dog to learn. As the birds begin to react more quickly due to pressure, your dog will progress with them. Do expect mistakes on wild birds and do expect to ‘train’ in the field. This is just how it works and there is no way to get around it.
I realize that many folks cannot or do not have time / finances, etc. to travel to where there are wild birds. That’s a tough situation to be in because wild birds DO make a bird dog realize their fullest potential if properly trained and properly / consistently corrected when mistakes are made. Consistency being emphasized.
I tell my clients to not even think about shooting wild birds for table fare the first year afield. The first year is all about doing it right without breaking any spirit in the dog. I tell folks not to shoot anything not properly pointed and held for your arrival. If you just do that much, your young dog will quickly learn to handle wild birds gently so that you have time to arrive and properly shoot game without being rushed. If you run all the time, the dog will expect you to run to every point. Having said that, there are some species that require you to run! But for the gentleman’s bird, bobwhite quail, it’s usually not necessary.
Have fun getting ready for the seasons this year! Dove season is just around the corner in most states so get busy!
Give that dog of yours a treat for me and tell ‘em Dave says “Good Dog!”
Dave
brittanys.com
4 comments
Well I guess I fit in that catagory of not being able to get to wild birds other then the few Grouse coverts we have here in PA.
While I agree about Wild birds a GOOD shooting preserve with STRONG flying man fearing birds will and can produce a pretty darn good gun dog.
Sophie has been able to make the transition back and forth pretty good between our preserve pheasants and wild ruff grouse. IMHO the same applies to a GOOD preserve dog enforce the rules and ONLY shoot well handled and pointed birds and you’ll get a dog that can do BOTH
One thing I will not penalize my dog on the preserve for is self relocating on a running preserve pheasant it take a special dong to do it right BUT, When you have a dog that can do this and pin a wiley running phesant it a real treat to hunt behind and is the ultimate pheasant dog and yea when the UN Gentlemanly phesants are our target I may have to move and even run to keep up JMHO
Were getting ready our preserve season start next month and Sophie and I are READY TO GO !!
I certainly didn’t mean to say that a preserve dog was not a good bird dog but I will say from experience, and I was stationed in Maryland for nearly 10 years, that the difference between a wild bird trained dog and a preserve dog is quite different.
It doesn’t mean that one is better than the other genetically, but it does mean that one will be more careful in how it approaches scent and the handling of birds overall.
I belonged to a prestigious pheasant club in PA and I will tell you that my dogs, ones that I presumed were ‘good’, were taught a thing or two upon returning to Texas. After hunting wild bobs and wild pheasant, they really reached a new plateau. It was quite remarkable.
The point being that if you have a chance to train on wild birds, you should take it because it will forever change your dog. No pen raised bird can ever simulate a real wild bird, one that is spooky from being given fair chase. That is speaking from experience.
I agree Dave that working the dog on wild birds helps bring the dog along. I presently have a young Brittany, but prior to her I had a german wirehaired pointer and we are fortunate to live in an area (Eastern Canada) with lots of accesible wild birds. I could work the GWP everyday on wild pheasant and the strongest skill he had was his ability to track the birds until he finally got them nailed down. With the young Brittany, I believe she has a good ability to track but needs lots of practice on wild birds (grouse, woodcock and pheasant), to learn and perfect this skill. With GWP, when he got on scent 90% of the time you eventually got the bird. This week with the Brittany she produced three solid points, but we only saw one bird (a woodcock). I believe working wild birds regularly is required to help the dog learn and perfect their tracking skills. Like most dogs breed from hunting stock she has all the tools, she just needs to learn how to use them.
Dave,
Amen. Well said. I can’t agree with you more. I’d rather have my dog find one wild bird than hundreds of pen raised birds. There is no comparison.
The sad truth is that for most people, pen raised birds are the only thing they have.
I took wild birds all for granted while growing up. I never thought we would not have them.
I’m dedicating the rest of my life to bringing back habitat to make wild quail hunting something everybody can enjoy again.
I have a picture of my Dad and Granddad hanging in my office I look at every day that keeps me focused.
I also promised my current dog Belle that I’d work tirelessly to that end. I can’t ever lie to her as she is always honest with me…..
Bob
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