Question: I'm training my eighteen-month-old German Short-haired Pointer to be steady on birds. My problem is that he appears to want to crow the bird. I don't own a launcher so I've been using plastic milk crates to contain the birds. He seems to lose his intensity as he gets closer to the crate..

Question: My sixteen-month-old Brit is giving me problems during bird work. She tends to crowd my launchers and when whoaed, loses all intensity and just stands there..

Question: My German Wire-hair seems to be losing interest in the pen birds I'm using in training. I've been attaching a weight to a piece of twin tied to the bird's leg so I can reuse the same bird..

Answer: Here are a few samples of people trying to train a bird dog without spending money on birds. I was in Illinois competing with a dog once, and a handler proudly proclaimed that he'd used the same quail for over a year in training his dog. He claimed the bird and dog has so much contact that they grew to knew each other. The point I'm trying to make here is that you have to spend money on birds.

Of course, if you live in an area that has a large population of wild birds, your bird costs can be greatly reduced. But for most of us, pen birds are a necessity. I talk to quite a few people who are trying to save costs on the bird end by not releasing plenty of birds for the dog. The other problem I see is a lack in intensity in dogs who realize they're being set up in a training situation, or dogs who have figured out that the bird is contained and can't escape. The threat of a flush, the threat of a bird escaping, helps to keep the dog's intensity up. The possibility of the bird flying away helps to remind the dog not to crowd the bird. When using a launcher, do your best to prevent the dog from seeing it. I'll usually release the bird if the dog is crowding. None of this will work if you don't have strong flyers that will elude the dog. A short hop by quail can draw the dog off point in an attempt to catch the bird. Pen quail will test their wings by popping up for maybe twenty feet and setting back down. Usually, the second flush in this instance will be a good, strong one.

Wild birds setting on a nest will do this little hop-flight to draw a predator away from the nest. A wild bird will also go into a cripple act, with one wing dragging in an attempt to draw attention away from the nest. Those of you who band woodcock will attest to this. A finished dog should remain steady, where as a young do in training can be drawn into chasing the bird.

My philosophy is to give a young dog plenty of bird contact in as realistic a fashion as possible. If you're competing with a dog, it's equally important to have a dog learn to handle birds in a wild setting. The spring competitions are notorious for having birds that are weak flyers or even worse, birds that won't launch. On more than one occasion, I've had a judge ask me to catch the bird and throw it up in the air for the gunners. During the course of my trying to catch a running quail, my dog is expected to stand his ground. If all you ever do is launch quail from a catapult-type launcher, your dog will not be prepared to stand and watch as you chase the reluctant bird around.

The fellow using the milk crates to contain his birds isn't giving his dog any credit for realizing that the bird isn't going anywhere. The threat of the flush has been eliminated.

Charlie Linblade

Mighigan Wing Shooters Hunt Club

Michigan Pheasant Hunting

Michigan Bird Dog Training