r/birddogs

I figured this may be a good reminder to the members of this group with the season approaching or maybe even educate a new dog owner who isn’t aware.

Take the time to research these traps or better yet get your hands on one. It could be the difference between life and death for your dog. A few state game agencies have videos online that show what you need to do to release these traps, which are not as easy to operate as your standard foothold trap. Carry the appropriate tools like a piece of rope to release them and cable cutter for snares.

Body grip ground sets are legal in a lot of popular places like MT, ND, MN, etc. Even with the size restrictions some states have, most hunting dog breeds could get themselves into a lot of trouble in a legal set.

Have a safe season!

—Looking for advice from experienced owners, thanks in advance!
Which do you recommend and why?
I’ve narrowed down my next bird dog between an English Springer and English Cocker. Field lines obviously with proven ability, though desire a more balanced dog who can live well in the home.
Context:
-This will be my first personal bird dog.
I’ve trained several dogs before and lightly hunted over them (well trained but not proper bird dogs, so no long term potential). I’m familiar with spaniels, labs, and pointers, and have landed on spaniels for size, enjoyment, and general preference.
-I will be primarily rough shooting—not hardcore, but decent, weekends or at the least every other while the season lasts. I live in south central Alaska and the main game bird is spruce grouse. Long season from September-March.
-I prioritize a good house dog, good with children, able to hunt well but turn it off indoors (when old enough at least). Wife is sensitive to the lab oily coat and I am not keen on waterfowl (bit brutal even for me in Alaska).
-I’ve heard anecdotal pros and cons for each, but I’m curious about energy level comparison, biddability, general personal experience people have. Some of the springers I’ve seen seem leggier, more intense, and all around bigger/rangier than the ones I grew up with, and it’s pushed me away a bit. I thought I’d go back to springers (grew up with a bench/field mix), but lately I’ve been considering cockers based on size and just what I’ve seen out of some of the springers I’ve run across, some of which look more like a Britany at first glance.
Anything welcome. Thanks again!

Picking up some birds for the first time Thursday to do some training. Have only hunted wild birds, never planted or dealt with live birds. They come in mesh bags. I was planning on putting the bags inside the dog kennel in the back of the truck. The dog will be in the truck with me, don’t use the kennel often anymore.

Any pointer for handing the birds in general and planting them? Getting three chukkar and 3 pheasants. I just needed a couple birds for hold training. Thought this would be a fun way to get them

My wife and I have a 12 week old French Brittany pup and we’ve had her for almost a month. She is driving my us crazy, and we were wondering when folks recommend bringing the dog out of their small backyards and into the field for the first time.

She has had her first two rounds of her distemper/parvo shots, plus first round of lepto. She will get second lepto plus her rabies shot in a few weeks. We spoke with the vet during her most recent visit and they advised waiting until she is fully vaccinated to bring her out into the field/woods, but honestly the thought of waiting a month and a half or so to go out has us worried about our sanity.

We play with her in the yard. She plays with our other dog. We do basic training commands. Yet, she is still a (cute) menace. I forgot about how tiring puppies can be.

My question is: when do you bring a puppy out?

Or: how do you stay sane before bringing pup out?

I’ve got a 17 week old French Brittany, who has more energy than I know what to do with.

He’s from a hunting breeder; I intend to hunt with him for grouse / pheasant and if it’s warm(ish) have him retrieve ducks.

So far I’m just letting him be a puppy, recently I’ve been spending time on some property I have access to and just letting him run through the fields and woods and getting him ( and me ) more comfortable being off leash, trying to see how far he will wander etc.

The kennel he came from introduced them to quail as puppies so I know he has met birds and has a prey drive, unfortunately at the moment his prey drive is focused on chasing butterflies in the meadows like a Disney princess.

I have a garmin GPS collar that is too big for him when he’s bigger but right now it’s more just following him in the woods where I know birds are ( orchard surrounded by aspen & birch with a ton of oak trees )

Should I just keep doing this until he starts stumbling onto them and figures out their scent?

I’d love to take him hunting this October for grouse but I don’t see him making huge advancements in next 2 months.

Looking to get some input on when should I bring him to a hunting kennel, gun training etc.

I hunt quite a bit but have never had a bird dog so I don’t know if I feel comfortable acclimating him to loud bangs. He’s not scared of the vacuum or lawn mower, never really had much reaction when my neighbor set off fireworks, he will bark at thunder when it first happens but then settles down.

Thank you for any advice!

Once collar conditioned, how often are you continuing to maintain/reinforce commands with the collar?

My dog recently finished collar conditioning to fetch, and previously we conditioned here and sit. Next were collar conditioning on force to pile. But on the commands you have already successfully conditioned, how often and to what frequency are you continuing to use nicks?

Hi All,

I stumbled into owning a retriever a few weeks ago. He’s a year old with no bird dog training, he knows the basic commands and is a great fetcher when it comes to sticks and balls. I’ve got some chickens on the property but he mostly shied away from them until today as the previous owner said she gave him a thrashing when he killed one of hers as a pup. This afternoon he plucked one of mine and it gave me some hope. I have no experience training a bird dog despite hunting over them for quite a few years, and am doing my research. I’m curious where guys would start with on a dog like this, at this age. I’ve got some acreage and am surrounded by BLM with a sparse population of Huns and sage grouse, so I do have that resource for field training. My main question is, how do I get this dog obsessed with birds when he’s been trained out of it?