Kismet
Well-known member
In March of this year, I took in a year-old female German Wirehaired Puppy. It's early days yet, and the (now) 18 month-old puppy has settled down (relatively) and loves retrieving and playing with pheasant wings.
So a week ago, I went to a local game farm and bought a live hen pheasant to introduce the puppy to pointing--a reaction which is bred into the breed; but not always.
An 18 month-old puppy is somewhat exuberant, and heretofore had chased things...tennis balls, wings, dog toys, the occasional sock...but had never encountered a LIVING thing to stalk, which is what the pointing instinct originally was selectively bred for.
So, with the bird with an 10-foot long cord on its leg, attached to a light stick from a tree, the dog on a leash, and me trooping in and out of the shed to hide the bird in the tall grasses and then to the house to get the pup, we went into practice, search, locate, stalk, and point training.
It actually went pretty well. In my opinion only, hunting dogs learn how to express their instincts BY hunting--all the house and yard instruction is just a skeletal structure to which the actual behavior is attached. In the eight or so relocations of the bird, Tinker did the seeking, the locating, and the initial pause which was the "pointing" of the pheasant. I reinforced her point by reassuring her and holding tight to the leash to make sure she didn't pounce on it. When the bird did flush to the end of it's tether, I yanked Tinker back down and reinforced the "point" with her.
It's early days for the puppy, and season doesn't start for about a month, but we had no major setbacks. I think we have a chance.
Professional trainers use barn pigeons extensively for this. I've shot two pigeons and had Tink find and retrieve the freshly killed birds, or their frozen carcasses, but I don't have a lot of access to catching live pigeons, so this pheasant work is really her first live prey. Were my budget larger, or had I some grander plan other than just having a pointer to wander around with during pheasant season, I'd have had her on live birds months ago, but...we have time.
So a week ago, I went to a local game farm and bought a live hen pheasant to introduce the puppy to pointing--a reaction which is bred into the breed; but not always.
An 18 month-old puppy is somewhat exuberant, and heretofore had chased things...tennis balls, wings, dog toys, the occasional sock...but had never encountered a LIVING thing to stalk, which is what the pointing instinct originally was selectively bred for.
So, with the bird with an 10-foot long cord on its leg, attached to a light stick from a tree, the dog on a leash, and me trooping in and out of the shed to hide the bird in the tall grasses and then to the house to get the pup, we went into practice, search, locate, stalk, and point training.
It actually went pretty well. In my opinion only, hunting dogs learn how to express their instincts BY hunting--all the house and yard instruction is just a skeletal structure to which the actual behavior is attached. In the eight or so relocations of the bird, Tinker did the seeking, the locating, and the initial pause which was the "pointing" of the pheasant. I reinforced her point by reassuring her and holding tight to the leash to make sure she didn't pounce on it. When the bird did flush to the end of it's tether, I yanked Tinker back down and reinforced the "point" with her.
It's early days for the puppy, and season doesn't start for about a month, but we had no major setbacks. I think we have a chance.
Professional trainers use barn pigeons extensively for this. I've shot two pigeons and had Tink find and retrieve the freshly killed birds, or their frozen carcasses, but I don't have a lot of access to catching live pigeons, so this pheasant work is really her first live prey. Were my budget larger, or had I some grander plan other than just having a pointer to wander around with during pheasant season, I'd have had her on live birds months ago, but...we have time.
