I have been training young dogs for quite a few years and thought I knew what I was doing but these two have taught me some things. When I started them on pigeons, in release traps, I put the traps out in the yard and worked both young dogs close then released the birds. I have done a lot of young dogs this way. A lot of friends have brought their young dogs over to work on my pigeons. Some friends of friends brought dogs. Every young dog that is brought to my place, to be worked on pigeons, is started this way. I’ve never had a problem, until now.
Mann pointing a pigeon.
Babe is laid back on the chain gang.
Mann’s head when he is on point.
I have 4 DT release traps that I have used for several years. Before I got these I had another brand. With them if the dog pointed close to the bird and the dog was fast they could catch the bird. From the time you pushed the button it took about a second for the trap to open. The DT”s were faster and worked well. They made some noise opening but I never had any trouble.
In the yard, when I worked Babe close she showed no fear. I, also, placed the release traps close to her kennel run. She would rear up on the wire at the end of her run when the traps were near. I would release the birds one at a time and she never showed any fear. Continued to stand with her feet on the wire. I thought I had both young dogs acclimated to the release traps.
Babe hunted hard. I could see her poke her head in every spot I had ever hidden a bird for her. She wanted to find them. When she did find them she would stop, back up and sometimes come to me. She would try to get me between her and the bird. Because I had never had a problem with the young dogs I had started, as I started her, I didn’t recognize the signs of fear.
I should have. A friend of mine had a young dog become gun shy after having been started right and even hunted for a while. She had been shot around several times but something happened on one hunt that caused her to become gun shy. One of the dogs pointed and he and I both shot on some quail and the young dog got behind him. He recognized the problem immediately and took her to the truck. With a lot of time and a lot of birds she came out of this but if he hadn’t put her up when he did it would have been real bad. We still don’t know why she got fearful.
I thought that Babe was just not as aggressive as Mann. I turned pigeons loose when the young dogs were playing close to the pigeon coop. She chased and would even point them when they were on the ground, near the coop. Mann would rear up in the pigeon coop doorway when I was getting a pigeon out. Babe would come near but sit waiting. When I came out with a bird she would come toward me then chase as I let the bird fly.
I tied a string to a release trap and to the legs on a pigeon. She pointed the pigeon when I flushed it, it flew to the end of the string and hit the ground. She pointed the pigeon then ran in and grabbed the bird. I did this two or three times thinking this would build up her enthusiasm.
Once when I had her out by herself I turned a young pigeon out, that didn’t fly, near the pigeon coop. Instead of grabbing the pigeon she ran circles around it. Finally, the bird went under the pigeon coop. Babe tried to get under the coop and get the pigeon but she was too large to get under.
A friend, Vince Dye, ordered some release traps. He wasn’t going to be home when they were to be delivered so he had them delivered to my house. He told me to put them together and try them. They were Dogtra’s. They were smaller and Vince said they were quieter than the one’s I had.
Mann pointing a pigeon.
Not much to putting them together. Plug in a wire and they were working. I took them out the next morning after charging them the evening before. I tried one and it was real quiet. I put two pigeons out and ran Babe down the field. She hunted good but when she smelled the birds she stopped then started to back up. Before she could hardly move I punched the bird out. There was almost no noise of the trap. She went toward the trap. The pigeon flew away and we went hunting the next trap.
When she pointed the next one she again tried to back away. I flushed the pigeon and I could tell that she wasn’t as bothered by this trap as she was from mine. She wasn’t a lot better but some. That was when it finally got through to me that she had a fear of the traps. I put her on the chain gang.
I worked Mann on them and he was fine. The first trap he came to he started to point then moved. I flushed the pigeon and he chased. These must have smelled a little different from my traps. The next pigeon he pointed and let me go in front of him kicking the cover. When he took a step I flushed the pigeon. I was close to this pigeon and could hardly hear the trap. I went to the chain gang but Mann wouldn’t come to me so I went back to the pigeon coop. When he reared up on the doorway I caught him and put him in his kennel.
I put two more pigeons out for Babe. She still hunted hard. When she smelled the pigeons she still wanted to move. Sometimes she moved to the side sometimes back. She hunts so good that it’s still hard to see that she is afraid of the sound of the trap. She worked these two pigeons and I put her back on the chain gang.
Mann pointing.
I put out two more birds. She hunted harder and faster than she had been. I can tell each place where I have hidden a bird for her in the past. She checks every one. She pointed the first pigeon and went to circle it. I flushed the pigeon. She chased then went back to hunting. The second one of this series when she pointed and I started toward her she wanted to get behind me. I carried her to where she had pointed from and styled her up. She would stand there as long as I would stroke her sides and push on her back end. I flushed the pigeon and she never flinched. She did chase. I put her back on the chain gang.
Again, I put out two more birds for her. This time I rode the 4-wheeler. She hunted hard. Each time I put out birds for her I moved the release traps to a different location. The first pigeon she pointed, she again tried to get behind me after I got off the 4-wheeler. I set her back where she had originally pointed and styled her up. I stroked her sides and brushed her tail up. Normally, I don’t touch them or brush their tail up. But this is a special case. I flushed the pigeon and again she didn’t flinch at the sound of the trap. She chased then went back to hunting.
We were moving back up the training grounds when she hit the scent cone on the next pigeon. She went on point. I sat on the 4-wheeler watching her. She was standing up with a high head but her tail was about level with her back. Some times her tail was wagging but it was a real point without her trying to bail out. After about 30 seconds of her point she took a step toward the bird and I flushed it. The bird came out low and she chased it. I let her play a while before taking her back to the kennel.
I know she’s not cured but she’s on the way. I put 4 pigeons out for her this morning in a light rain. She hunted harder. I tried to walk with her the first time and she was too far ahead of me. On the first bird she was maybe 65 yards ahead of me when she went on point. As I walked toward her she took a step toward the bird and I flushed it. She chased the bird and then went back to hunting.
The second bird she was pretty close to when she pointed. I started toward her and she took a step toward the bird. I flushed the pigeon. She chased then went back to hunting. On both of these birds she paid less attention to me and more to the pigeons. Because of the light mist I put her in the kennel.
Mann again.
I put two more pigeons out and worked Mann on them. He’s even faster than Babe. We went down on the neighbor’s side but he crossed over to my side. I crossed over after jogging a ways. I almost put that I ran but most people wouldn’t even call what I did jogging, probably. I didn’t see him on my side but I went all the way to the back. He wasn’t in the tall weeds or brush. I went back toward the front and crossed to the neighbor’s side. When I got almost to the back I saw him on point. About the time I saw him he took a step and I flushed the pigeon. He chased then went back to hunting.
We went back and crossed over to my side. He was quite a ways from the next pigeon when he pointed. I took some pictures then walked closer. I stood off to the side and kicked the cover. I kicked one time and flushed the pigeon. Some of the time I kick several times and sometimes only once. He chased a short way then went back to hunting. I took him back to the kennel.
The mist had let up so I moved the traps and hid two more pigeons. I turned Babe out but this time I rode the 4-wheeler. We went toward the back on the neighbor’s side. She went on point and I got off the 4-wheeler. She wanted to come to me. I carried her back to where she was on point. I stroked her sides and brushed her tail up. She stood as proud as she could be. I stroked her for a minute or two. I flushed the pigeon and she chased then went back to hunting.
We crossed over to my side and she wanted to point where the pigeon had been before. I encouraged her to move. She went just a few feet and went on point. She was 30 yards from the pigeon but we had a good breeze blowing. When I got off the 4-wheeler she wanted to come to me. I carried her to where she had been on point. She was far enough away that I wanted her to get closer. I tapped her head and said, “okay”. She moved about 10 yards and went on point. I stroked her sides and brushed her tail up. After a few seconds I flushed the pigeon. She chased then went back to hunting. I took her back to the kennel.
I worked Mann on two birds and he did fine. I ordered some Dogtra release traps. If that’s what it takes to make a bird dog out of her, we’ll do it. I should have recognized that as fear to start with but she hunts so hard, for a young dog, that it’s hard to see. If I heel her anywhere and there is birds in the air she watches the birds. Every time she gets close to a pigeon she tries to catch it. That’s not the sign of a fearful dog. But I really believe the other release traps bother her.
Babe watching the pigeons.
Babe after a pigeon under the coop.
Babe after I’ve styled her.