Introducing Puppies to Birds

For those of you interesting in hunting, and for those of you interested in pursuing a Junior Hunter or field trial title with your pointer, one of the most important things you do is introducing your puppy to birds.




The first questions is, at what age is it appropriate to begin putting birds in front of your puppy? We feel that no dog is really too old, having done some beginning training with rescue pointers as old as six years, but if you have a puppy, you'll want to put birds in front of him as soon as possible. We try to at least do a few brief introductions while the pups are still with their dam - starting between 6 and 7 weeks. You may wish to wait until the pup has had most of his puppy shots before venturing anywhere that might have ticks, rodents or other germ-carrying critters. Basic introductions, however, can happen in your own backyard.


The next question is, what kind of birds? Tweety birds (robins, bluejays, chickadees and other common yard birds) do not have the same type of scent as gamebirds. Gamebirds include: quail, grouse, chukar (these look like largish pigeons) pigeons and pheasant. All of these (altho pigeons are not normally hunted, they work well for training a pointing dog) are the types of birds for which we'd like our dogs to be looking.



The best birds to introduce to puppies are quail. They are small, don't fly as far as other gamebirds, and not particularly scary or dangerous for a puppy. They also have a very good scent which is easy for a puppy to find. Pigeons and chukar would be a second choice for a puppy, being slightly larger than quail. Grouse are hard to find and very flighty, not an easy choice for puppies. Pheasant is not a good choice for a puppy as often they are bigger than the puppies and might scare them as they take off to fly away - they can be quite loud.


We always try to introduce puppies to birds along with a trained adult. Puppies spend a lot of time learning from their adult family members and housemates. The interest, enthusiasm, behavior and security of a trained adult can all contribute in a positive way to your puppies first experience. Generally, if we have an adult available, we will plant a bird (more on this) put the puppy on a leash nearby, and then bring out the adult. The adult will quickly find and point his or her bird, which we then flush (make fly). All this in view of the puppy who sees: dog using its nose, dog getting excited, dog pointing, and WAHOO! birdy fireworks as the bird flies away. If enough birds are available, it's useful to have the adult put up two or three birds to really spark his interest. At this point, we bring the puppy, still on lead, over to where the bird was, and let him investigate, encouraging him as he smells the area. If he saw the bird fly, if he smelled it before or afterward, he's already got a pretty good idea of what his little nose is telling him. Let him rummage around until he begins to lose interest.


Now, if you haven't an adult nearby who can "demonstrate" the fun and excitement of birds, you want to work a bit more carefully. It's important not to startle the pup. What we generally do is take a quail in our hands, pinning the wings, and, with the puppy on a lead, show it to him and allow him to check it out thoroughly. Often there will be some grabbing, which you may wish to gently prevent so your bird is still intact. Sometimes the puppy will show minimal interest in this fuzzy thing in your hand, after all, it's not particularly palatable and he's never seen it before. Don't worry about it. Next, at some distance from the puppy, we will tie the bird to a string, or tie the bird to an empty 2-liter soda bottle (this is just to weigh down the bird so it cannot fly far - saves on quail) and bring the puppy into an open area where the bird is. Generally the bird will run or fly at sight of your and the pup approaching. Hopefully, the puppy will give chase and show great interest. Again, if the pup shows little interest, keep trying.


Now, many pups will begin pointing at first sight or smell of any gamebird. This is not uncommon, and of course is desirable, altho we've had many dogs who chased their first few birds before ever pointing and grew to become nice hunting dogs. If the puppy is pointing from the very beginning, this is great. You can VERY QUIETLY encourage the puppy. Do not walk between the puppy and the bird. Normally the puppy will eventually break his point and head in to pounce on his quarry. (Again, you may want to prevent the puppy from doing too much damage to the bird, but there is nothing better than a proud pointer puppy, strutting about with his first bird in his mouth.) We will allow this for the first few times to build his enthusiasm.

If the pup is steadily pointing, you can slowly move towards the bird until it flushes. You may have to kick the bird, or even pick it up and toss it into the air. At this point, nearly all pups break and chase. Again, let him go for now. Let him have his fun.


Now, once you've shown the pup what a bird looks and smells like, and established his interest, it's time to begin allowing him the chance to find the birds on his own. Again, controlling the situation as we've done already will go a long way to building his enthusiasm. Making sure that he sees plenty of birds as a baby will ensure that he knows what his job is as an older pup and adult when he's turned out to hunt. Dogs who see few or no birds as pups can take much longer to build interest and will spend more time running then actively HUNTING. If you learned as a child that gold nuggets were to be found under mailboxes, you'd spend a good amount of time as an adult checking under mailboxes. If you had never heard of finding gold under mailboxes, you'd just walk right past them without a look. You might once in a great while find a nugget by chance, but you wouldn't be actively hunting for them.


So, what comes next is planting a bird or two for the puppy to find. Planting means placing the bird in some kind of cover: grass, bushes, a depression in the ground with leaves covering, whatever you can do to conceal the bird. Giving the bird a good shaking, tucking his head under his wing, all these help to settle the bird so he stays put. It's helpful to place the bird several minutes before you bring the puppy into the area. This gives the scent of the bird time to waft out from the bird itself to some of the surrounding area and help give the puppy something to follow. Dogs hunting regular gamelands with wild birds will have a trail to follow, and there is often a good deal more scent, so leaving the bird a few minutes can help the puppy have more to find.


Bring the puppy (again, on a lead - the purpose of the lead is to control where the puppy goes, not so much to prevent his freedom) into the area where the bird is planted and allow him to investigate. He may not even notice the bird or its scent. Give him some time to figure it out for himself. If he's gotten very interested in field mice, digging or playing with something he finds in the brush, you can walk him in a circle around where the bird is planted (careful of flushing the bird yourself) until he notices it is there. Usually he will pass it, pause, and go back to investigate. As a last resort, you can crouch down, bringing the pup with you, and rustle the grass near the bird, even expose the bird for the pup if necessary.


Following these steps a few times for your pup as soon as you can possibly do so will usually give him a good start for hunting. He will know what a bird is, what it smells like (most game birds have a similiar scent and most dogs will easily translate what they learn on quail or chukar to any game bird including pheasant) and will be beginning to learn how to follow his nose and locate game.


You will notice that AT NO TIME was there any mention of gunfire. This is not the time for gun training. Gun training comes after the dog's interest is solidly established. This topic will be covered at a later date.



Good luck and happy hunting!


(Photos: Scarlett, Ch Corwyn's Flame JH CDX VA at 3 months pointing probably her 2nd or 3rd bird and, later, Scarlett's first litter: Corwyn's Wizard, Corwyn's Illusion and Corwyn's Mystic at 7 weeks - two pointing, one pouncing - on their first bird. This scenario in our own yard. Notice the bird is on a string)