Posted By: AfghanHunter
Got my pup introduced to quail today (Awesome experience) - 03/24/14 12:22 AM
Hello ya`ll,
I've posted about my pup before, but in short, his name is "Nice", he's a chocolate lab (male), he's 6 months old, and I have been training him since he was two months old. Most of the training has been obedience, so, Come, Here, Heel, Set, Stay and Fitch. He has been doing amazing with retrieving bumper. And I took him by the pond the other day to test him in water, he did amazing, i.e. he hesitated first, not like my other dogs (that jumped in without fear), but with a few retrieves he was gaining boldness (not worried about it all, I'm a very patient trainer).
Anyways, so today, I got a hold of two farm raised quails. This would be his first time associating training with live-birds. My only fear was lack of interest etc. But no, I got shocked. I had never seen Nice in such energy before. I let him sniff around the box (that had the quails) for a little bit, once he got familiar with the smell and recognized they were birds. I took one out, and boy! the minute I took it off the cage, he got into this shivering-mod (that most hunters know about crazy enthusiastic dogs), it's that whine and shivers that come as a result of high energy/excitement. Anyways, the quail had it's wings disabled so they couldn't fly. I would throw the quail about 30-40 yards and let it hide in the bush (yes he did great with obedience) I didn't have to use a leash today, and he would wait until I would give him the command for fitch. Gosh! the way he quartered the area, the energy, his style, was just beautiful. Today is when I fully realized I've got the right dog for both upland and waterfowl hunting. I think he is going to be a monster full of energy. I have never seen him this hyper and out of it. Anyways we repeated the drills. He wouldn't move a muscle without my command, and once he would get the command he'd sprint as hard as he could towards where we threw the bird, and retrieve (with care, not damaging the bird or playing with it).
Just wanted to share this with fellow hunters, or those that are training currently (or will get into it in the future). Patience and hard work will pay off. My advice is obedience, obedience, and obedience. It makes a different. The rest is instinct, i.e. what the breed was bred for, and we cant change that.
Here are some photos of him:
Thanks,
I've posted about my pup before, but in short, his name is "Nice", he's a chocolate lab (male), he's 6 months old, and I have been training him since he was two months old. Most of the training has been obedience, so, Come, Here, Heel, Set, Stay and Fitch. He has been doing amazing with retrieving bumper. And I took him by the pond the other day to test him in water, he did amazing, i.e. he hesitated first, not like my other dogs (that jumped in without fear), but with a few retrieves he was gaining boldness (not worried about it all, I'm a very patient trainer).
Anyways, so today, I got a hold of two farm raised quails. This would be his first time associating training with live-birds. My only fear was lack of interest etc. But no, I got shocked. I had never seen Nice in such energy before. I let him sniff around the box (that had the quails) for a little bit, once he got familiar with the smell and recognized they were birds. I took one out, and boy! the minute I took it off the cage, he got into this shivering-mod (that most hunters know about crazy enthusiastic dogs), it's that whine and shivers that come as a result of high energy/excitement. Anyways, the quail had it's wings disabled so they couldn't fly. I would throw the quail about 30-40 yards and let it hide in the bush (yes he did great with obedience) I didn't have to use a leash today, and he would wait until I would give him the command for fitch. Gosh! the way he quartered the area, the energy, his style, was just beautiful. Today is when I fully realized I've got the right dog for both upland and waterfowl hunting. I think he is going to be a monster full of energy. I have never seen him this hyper and out of it. Anyways we repeated the drills. He wouldn't move a muscle without my command, and once he would get the command he'd sprint as hard as he could towards where we threw the bird, and retrieve (with care, not damaging the bird or playing with it).
Just wanted to share this with fellow hunters, or those that are training currently (or will get into it in the future). Patience and hard work will pay off. My advice is obedience, obedience, and obedience. It makes a different. The rest is instinct, i.e. what the breed was bred for, and we cant change that.
Here are some photos of him:
Thanks,