Pheasant scent and Young lab

[nater]

I have a 11 month old lab and I trained him over the summer with dummies that had pheasant feathers and pheasant scent on them, but when I am in the field he doesn't seem to pick up the scent.

For example this weekend our group was working a corn field with strips and I was on the edge of the field. My lab was working the grass next to the field (down wind) which was 10 feet away and we walked right by two roosters that got up behind me.

When I take him out he does a good job of working back and forth and seems to be smelling around, but he hasn't flushed many pheasants throughout the summer and so far during the season.

I wondering if they is anything I can do to help him make the connection or if he just needs more time in the field.

Nate

[311Hemi]

Sounds like getting the dog into a situation where you know he will get on some live pheasants is what this pup needs. He needs to associate the smell of live birds with actually finding/flushing them. It takes time and flushes to get this into their head and to flip that switch.....only live birds can do that. A game farm might help that or if you can purchase and plant a few live pheasants and then take him to them that would also help. If he's a pointer DO NOT let him catch any planted or game farm birds.

Old pheasant wings will not train this......and who knows if the pheasant scent in a bottle is even close to the right smell (I stay away from this stuff now). I used it once when I first started but stopped after reading some things. Live birds for me from now on!!!

He may be able to find a dead bird after using wings....but most likely does not know what he is doing out there yet with live birds.

[JDM]

The dog is young. He needs to be hunted as much as possible right now. A game farm would be ideal to insure that he will have birds in front of him so he can learn to trust and use his instincts. Be patient, it will come. With labs, it can sometimes take longer than you would think.

As far as those two roosters, it happens.

[Farmboy1]

There are two types of dogs, dogs that have missed birds, and those that will miss birds. It happens to even older dogs. Don't let that bother you.

I agree with what is said about getting the dog on birds, and as many of them as possible. Also when a bird flushes, bring him back to the area, make him smell where the bird flew from, and they will slowly understand what they are doing.

[nater]

Thanks for the input. That is what I thought since he is still getting used to it. I will have to look into a game farm, but definetely plan on getting him out more. It seems like I need to do quite a bit of walking to get him on some birds on public land around this area.

Nate

[311Hemi]

Quote:

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It seems like I need to do quite a bit of walking to get him on some birds on public land around this area.

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Unfortunately a problem a lot of us face that live in or near the cities.

[dogs]

If possible get ahold of some pigeons and pull their flight feathers. Let him maul a few then start salting a field where you can work the dog best to give the pigeon time to make some tracks so to speak ( put them back in the coop or some kind of cage for they are very resilent). In making a bird dog, birds are needed. Also they can bring a dog back up after a bad day of training.

Be careful in how you live your life for I believe Adolf Hitler has been reincarnated as a training pigeon that is not allowed to die.

[ReelTimes]

I believe your dog just hasn't learned the desired scent at this point. I am not sure how far you're in overall training but before my dogs start training to flush, they usually have retrieved many dead birds in cover. I use pigeons, chuckars, ducks, and pheasants (mostly ducks and pheasant). When we graduate to quartering work, again they find dead birds in cover. Eventually we plant live birds. There are lots of ways to train dogs but I have found this works well for me. I wouldn't worry about it...you just have to give him exposure to the birds. Also, I have seen dogs trained almost exclusively on ducks that later ignored grouse scent until they were exposed to it. Good luck