The weather is so hot that I don’t run the older dogs but I still get the puppies out, usually twice a day. It was getting really hard to catch Babe, to put her back in the kennel, so I started cutting a hot dog into about 30 pieces and feeding it to them. She loved the hot dogs and will usually come to me. Now Mann will refuse the hot dogs because he knows I may put him up.
Mann pointing a pigeon.
Babe pointing a pigeon.
Mann pointing a pigeon.
I have 3 cages to put birds in that have an end to step on that releases the bird. I use the 4-wheeler to take the cages and birds to the training grounds. On both sides of the training grounds I’ve left strips of grass. I hide the birds in some of them as well as in the edge of the bushes.
I’ve been walking the puppies to the training grounds every once in a while with no pigeons hidden. The first morning, that I hid the pigeons, the puppies were expecting me to call them back and give them hot dogs. They stayed close to me until Mann got the scent of the first pigeon hidden in the grass. He smelled it quite away from from it and started slinking toward it. I didn’t do anything or say anything. He pointed several times on the way to the bird. He jumped onto the cage with Babe helping. I went in and turned the pigeon loose. They followed for a few feet as the pigeon flew away.
Both of them forgot about the hot dogs and started hunting. They had found the one pigeon I had hidden on the neighbor’s side and we crossed over to my side. I have left two strips of grass that crosses my open area. I had a pigeon hidden in each strip. They both started at one end and went until they smelled the bird. Mann was in the lead and he pointed. Babe stopped and was standing with style. Maybe honoring. They both moved in and one of them stepped on the release and the pigeon came out. Mann had it. I held his collar and the pigeon flew away. They both chased a few steps.
They went through that strip then headed toward the other. Babe circled the other on the outside and Mann went right through the center. When they got close to the bird they pointed for just a few seconds then jumped in. I stepped on the release and the pigeon flew away. They followed for a few feet. We went back to the kennel.
That afternoon Austin Farley came by to pick up a cage for birds that he had left. I gave him 7 pigeons and he put them in the cage. We sat by the pigeon coop and talked for a while. I decided to turn the puppies out. They saw the pigeons in the cage and tried to get them. Mann is usually the most aggressive but the birds in the cage made Babe a lot more aggressive than she had been.
That evening when I fed dogs and cleaned pens I put two pigeons in a varmint trap. I turned the puppies out and while I fed and cleaned pens they tried to get the pigeons. When I finished with the pens I sat with the puppies. Before putting the puppies up I turned the pigeons loose. They chased with Babe being more aggressive than usual.
I took them for a walk. When we got close to the retrieving bench I put them on the chain gang. I took Mann to the bench and snapped the chain on the pulley system to his collar. I walked him a few feet then gave him some hot dog. As we walked he jumped off the bench. The chain kept him from falling but he was hanging. I helped him back on and gave him some more hot dog. He tried to hop off one more time. I helped him back on. He didn’t try again. I took him off and snapped him to the chain gang.
I took Babe to the retrieving bench and snapped the chain to her collar. I fed her some hot dogs as we walked back and forth. She stepped off one time and I helped her back on. She didn’t try it again. I fed her a few more hot dog chunks then set her on the ground. We unsnapped Mann and went back to the kennel.
Puppies round the pigeon cage.
This morning I rode the 4-wheeler down to the back and hid 3 pigeons for the puppies. When I turned them loose Mann headed for the bird field. He got about 100 yards ahead of me on the way to the first pigeon. He was searching where he had found a pigeon the last time. Babe stayed fairly close to me in case I was going to give her some hot dog.
I hadn’t hid the pigeon where I did the last time. After I walked by the first strip both dogs went to the next strip. As soon as Mann smelled the pigeon he pointed then started creeping in. Babe pointed, also. Then they both jumped in. I stepped on the handle releasing the pigeon. Mann caught it right out of the cage. I held his collar until the pigeon flew away. They chased for a few feet then went back to hunting.
Mann crossed over to my side so Babe and I did too. There was two strips of grass that I had left. The pigeon was in the second but both puppies went through the middle of the first. I watched them go from one end to the other then went toward the next. We got close and both dogs started slinking toward the strip. When they got close they both went on point with Mann in front. They pounced on the caged bird. I stepped on the release and the bird flew away. The chased a few feet then went back to hunting.
Mann pointing.
Mann and I crossed back over to the neighbor’s side but Babe stayed on my side. I called her but she didn’t show up. Mann hit the scent cone but wasn’t sure where the pigeon was. He pointed then moved away from the bird. He came back around and pointed again. Again he went the wrong way. It took him several tries before he finally found the pigeon. I released the bird and he chased a few feet. He went back to hunting.
As we went back toward the kennel Babe joined us. She had stayed in the area of the second pigeon. We went back to the kennel.
When these puppies go on point I don’t say anything or do anything. I just watch them until they jump in. When they jump in I release the bird. I prefer that the pigeon flies away but if they catch it I try to hold them in such a way that the pigeon flies off. I’m happy with the way they are going with me and the way they hunt. For 10 week old puppies they are doing great.
Mann on the retrieving.
Babe on the retrieving bench.
Puppies chasing pigeons that are in a cage.