I am planning on getting a Springer in about a year's time and plan on training for bird hunting. But I was just wondering what some of you do with your bird dog when you just go out for a walk (not a training session). I live in the city so there are going to be days where I just take him out for a walk. Do you still turn it into a training session or do you just let him relax and have some fun (but still in control). I know you get out of training what you put in but can you over do it sometimes. I'd appreciate your thoughts
Is there any down time for bird dogs
- Thread starter Rick B
- Start date
IMO, if the dog is still interested, then you are not overdoing it. When i go for walks with my lab in town, i bring his bumper along and will toss it a couple times at a park or open area when the chance arises, but for the most part, i just reinforce good habits and get us our exersize.
- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
Just a little exercise...not training for the park walks...
With bird dogs, instinct is a big thing... so even if you think you're not going training today,..he might want to just for the fun..
With bird dogs, instinct is a big thing... so even if you think you're not going training today,..he might want to just for the fun..
We lived on our ten acres, usually with a pheasant somewhere on it, plus the chickens we raised and the bantams that ran loose and had two boys, one of preschool age, when we got our springer pup. The pup came from a place that also had acreage, with bantams runing loose. Thus, I think you could say he was country pup, from day one, which I think gave him a great advantage in life.
At two and three months old we would walk him around where pheasandts had been. He soon became interested and could detect a pheasant track when he came across it.
We had a game we played, which also taught him and which anybody living in a city could also do. I collected a bunch of pheasant feathers and tied them onto a sponge like ball of material. The two kids and I would go into the basement in the evening. The boys would hold the pup and cover his eyes, while I dragged the ball of feathers around the floor, in and out of rooms, then hide it. We would show the pup my starting point, then let him go. He would follow the scent track of the pheasant feather ball all around, until he found it, then come bounding back, for his praise, petting and treat.
When the pup was six months old I took him hunting, with a friend who had an experienced lab. The lab got onto a bird in thick growth of waste weeds and grass. The lab gave up, the other hunter walked away, I put the young springer after it and he flushed an old, cagey ####!
I don't think you will find my game method of training in any book, but it worked! That springer became a tremendously good pheasant dog, as well as a duck retriever, able to go by hand signs anywhere I asked him to go on a duck pond, to retrieve a duck he didn't see.
At two and three months old we would walk him around where pheasandts had been. He soon became interested and could detect a pheasant track when he came across it.
We had a game we played, which also taught him and which anybody living in a city could also do. I collected a bunch of pheasant feathers and tied them onto a sponge like ball of material. The two kids and I would go into the basement in the evening. The boys would hold the pup and cover his eyes, while I dragged the ball of feathers around the floor, in and out of rooms, then hide it. We would show the pup my starting point, then let him go. He would follow the scent track of the pheasant feather ball all around, until he found it, then come bounding back, for his praise, petting and treat.
When the pup was six months old I took him hunting, with a friend who had an experienced lab. The lab got onto a bird in thick growth of waste weeds and grass. The lab gave up, the other hunter walked away, I put the young springer after it and he flushed an old, cagey ####!
I don't think you will find my game method of training in any book, but it worked! That springer became a tremendously good pheasant dog, as well as a duck retriever, able to go by hand signs anywhere I asked him to go on a duck pond, to retrieve a duck he didn't see.
- Location
- Ontariariario
I've owned several Springers and live in the city so this question hits home for me.
I always try and do some training daily.
Whenever its in town and on leash we do basic obedience.
It doesn't seem hunting related but it is. When your dog will respond to hand signals because of obedience training its a big help in the field.
Playing fetch at a early age helps alot too.
When doing obedience training with a bird dog you will want to avoid what alot of trainers insist on though. They want you to do leash corrections with your dog if he/she insists on "sniffing". With a hunting dog this should be encouraged not punished.
Good luck with your dog, Springer Spaniels are IMHO the best combination bird dog there is.
Eric
I always try and do some training daily.
Whenever its in town and on leash we do basic obedience.
It doesn't seem hunting related but it is. When your dog will respond to hand signals because of obedience training its a big help in the field.
Playing fetch at a early age helps alot too.
When doing obedience training with a bird dog you will want to avoid what alot of trainers insist on though. They want you to do leash corrections with your dog if he/she insists on "sniffing". With a hunting dog this should be encouraged not punished.
Good luck with your dog, Springer Spaniels are IMHO the best combination bird dog there is.
Eric
- Location
- Saskatchewan
My Brittany named Radar and I go for walks in the city all the time but once or twice a week a switch it up and take him to a park on the edge of the city that no one uses. As a result that chickens and pheasants have moved in... and so have the coyotes at night but that's another story.
So that walk will often turn into a little bit of fun finding tracks and such. It was said before, as long as the pup is still interested almost anything goes. As soon as interest is lost, it becomes work and you are now fighting with the puppy.
Just my two cents.
So that walk will often turn into a little bit of fun finding tracks and such. It was said before, as long as the pup is still interested almost anything goes. As soon as interest is lost, it becomes work and you are now fighting with the puppy.
Just my two cents.
beretta boy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Orillia, Ontario
Off-season, I tried to to do about 20 minutes dail training. A little more if the weather was cool, not so much when the weather was hot. For each training period, there should be at leat an equal amount, if not a bit more "free time" and exercise... but some of that can also be used to enforce the basic commands & obedience.
Trained very little during bird season ... but still a bit of daily exercise / walks etc., on days when not hunting.
Trained very little during bird season ... but still a bit of daily exercise / walks etc., on days when not hunting.
The answer depends on your philosophy/approach to your dog's training. In my case, if I knew where all the birds were in the bush, I wouldn't need a hunting dog. So, with my dog, what I want is a talented hunter with an amazing nose and ears and the knowledge and fire in the belly to use them. I do not want a dog that would break off a scent because I'm directing it to another part of the field. Hunters who train well disciplined dogs would not be impressed with my dog.
In the field, my dog is totally free to come and go as she pleases. She works cooperatively with us because she's smart enough to realize that we can bring down what she finds IF she flushes them within our range. Still, she often picks up a scent and heads off on her own to push birds in our direction or bump them into a tree. On many occasions, she has run away while we were looking for a downed bird, only to come back with the bird from an area well beyond our search area.
I subscribe to the theory that the dog's instinct is greater and more important to hunting success than obedience and training. The ONLY training I've ever done with this dog was to swing a grouse wing around on the end of a fishing pole, when she was just a pup. I would let the wing rest if she pointed it, but never let her catch it if she just ran after it or broke a point.
I find off leash walks much better as an outlet for her endless energy. And, walks in the city are recreational - not intended as rehearsals for hunting or as part of her training. She has always and continues to behave completely differently on a hunt than she does on walks in the city. For example: In the city, she fixates on squirrels. On a hunt, she ignores squirrels completely.
In the field, my dog is totally free to come and go as she pleases. She works cooperatively with us because she's smart enough to realize that we can bring down what she finds IF she flushes them within our range. Still, she often picks up a scent and heads off on her own to push birds in our direction or bump them into a tree. On many occasions, she has run away while we were looking for a downed bird, only to come back with the bird from an area well beyond our search area.
I subscribe to the theory that the dog's instinct is greater and more important to hunting success than obedience and training. The ONLY training I've ever done with this dog was to swing a grouse wing around on the end of a fishing pole, when she was just a pup. I would let the wing rest if she pointed it, but never let her catch it if she just ran after it or broke a point.
I find off leash walks much better as an outlet for her endless energy. And, walks in the city are recreational - not intended as rehearsals for hunting or as part of her training. She has always and continues to behave completely differently on a hunt than she does on walks in the city. For example: In the city, she fixates on squirrels. On a hunt, she ignores squirrels completely.
