from bumpers to birds?

[big drift]

Have a 11/2 yrold male black lab that has a come a long way in training he is better at staying and heeling and swimming for the bumper. Needs time to improve on holding but i usually get the bumper right away and praise him. my question is what is the transition from bumpers to birds just experiance or is there a step i am missing. we played with dead ducks last falling just throwing around the yard but this will be his real serious first season out. he does not seem to be gunshy and he will start training w/ decoys out in the water and a bumper tonight. THought of going to use a dokken dead fowl w/ scent but not a lot of confidence w/ them yet. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[FOOT]

Get some LIVE pigeons and clip there wings or tape one down so they cant fly.
The first dog I trained I thought I had perfect until that first bird was a cripple. She went out to grab the ducks and it flopped and quacked and bit her ear. That was it she wouldn't go near it. Ended the day and took her back. Worked all the next week on pigeons and she was fine by the weekend but it took a long time each of the first 3 days to get her to pick up a pigeon that was flopping around.

[jlm]

Absolutely! Work the dog with live birds before you go into any hunting situation or you may come away very disappointed. Most dogs will get the bumper but will be scared of live birds! I started with frozen pigeons and worked my way up to live birds. Worked great! Good luck!

[idratherbefishing]

Where does a guy buy live pigeons and at what age do you start working with them. My yellow lab is about 10 weeks.

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"Fishing is a condition of the mind in which one cannot possibly have a bad time."
idratherbefishing

[jlm]

I am not sure where you can buy them in your area and I personally have never bought them. I go out and catch them, they are easy to catch at night. Get ahold of someone who has been infested with these nasty critters and ask them if you can catch them...they will beg you to get rid of them. Get a flash light and grab them off their perch or out of their nests. They will not fly away if you spotlight them! If you can't do that, shoot a few and freeze them to start with. When the dog gets good with frozen birds, take him/her to a shooting club and buy some pheasants, huns, or whatever and shoot 'em! This can be very helpful for the dog! Good luck!

[duckbuster]

It's never to early to start working with ducks, pheasant or some kind of bird with your puppy. The quicker you get them on birds the better.

Good Luck