Anyone have a bird dog?

jonaspolaris · Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:03 am Post subject: Anyone have a bird dog?

Does anyone have a bird dog or has anyone hunted with one? I have always wated to get a dog to help out with the search for birds but have never gotten to serious about it. Anyone know any good breeds or have any tips on dog choice?

elkaholic · Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Posts: 41 Location: Regina,Sask.

Jonas, you know the answer! A chocolate lab! Haha remember when we took Max bird hunting for the first time? He knew just what to do and he was never even trained as a bird dog. Smile

jonaspolaris · Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:03 pm Post subject:

Ya he was a good dog, needed some refining though, a little to energetic. I would like a femail too probably just because I think they are normally a calmer and more obedient dog. I could be wrong though.

elkaholic · Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Posts: 41 Location: Regina,Sask.

Well you are right..... but males do calm down alot after they get fixed. Max was pretty wild untill he got fixed then he calmed down. Id say stick with a lab....but thats just my preference Razz

bearNaked · Joined: 05 Mar 2007 Posts: 23 Location: yorkton, sk

I have a brittany spaniel. This year was her first year hunting, she did ok. I still need to do some work with her, but she has a lot of natural ability and birdiness.
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bigbuckhunter13 · Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 66 Location: Balgonie Sk

I recently heard of a dog the was fed antlers (not sure how?) and now it can find sheds anywhere. Has anyone else heard of that?
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bearNaked · Joined: 05 Mar 2007 Posts: 23 Location: yorkton, sk

I would think you could train any dog to hunt for sheds, I don't know how feeding antlers would be of any help.

Maybe that's how they get dogs to find drugs, get them hooked on coke and turn 'em loose in the airport Laughing

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jonaspolaris · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:18 am Post subject:

lol! That would be something to see! I would agree that I'm not sure that feeding a dog antlers would allow him to find sheds but that would be pretty cool. You could probably get yourself a few nice sets of sheds. thumbright

Prairie_dog · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 5 Location: Regina

I have a border collie/lab cross. Loves to play fetch, or did anyway. Now she hears the gophers and can't care about bringing back the ball. I got her last fall. Now I just need to train her for the upcoming fall. Oh and I need a new shotgun, decoys and the list goes on and on.

BigBurk · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 1:09 am Post subject:

i got a female black lab that i take small game hunting and she is a great dog, she is a farm dog so she knows how to track them and gets a nice treat after i take a gopher, rabbit or whatever rodent she scares up. i got a female elkhound for free last year and she is a great dog, helped me track the yotes that attacked our sheep within 2 hours after the attack and she takes care of all the rodents around the farm, taking them both bird hunting this fall but have a feeling that the elk hound still might be to energetic but the lab is one of the nicest behaving dogs i have seen. i will try to get some pictures in a few weeks when i go back to my farm. labs are some of the smartest dogs around but the elk hound is gaining alot of my respect lately as she is maturing.
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all_about_ducks · Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 64

I haven't been on the site for awhile, but noticed you were looking for birds dogs. I met a girl at SIAST who trains the dogs for you and has created her own "special breed" specifically for birding. As far as I remember she used to live near Quill Lake and charged about 500 bucks for a trained dog...it would save you having to train it yourself!

TeamMcGillicky#2 · Joined: 12 Mar 2010 Posts: 10

I have two hunting dogs. A chocolate Lab and a black. Both are excellent hunters. I agree that a female is a bit more obedient and likely to please. I have also owned a wirehaired pointing griffon. She was a great hunter too, however a person had to run her for a bit before she would hunt. She was high strung. The black is my first lab and I would never want anything else. Not only are they great hunters but wonderful companions and family dogs as well. I am not ashamed to say "Benelli" aka "Nelli" my lab is my best friend! She was easy to train and learns quickly. Our chocolate who is the male is a bit more strong headed and tends to do his own thing. Nelli loves to please. Labs are the way to go! I should mention that I have also hunted under other Labs, chesepeaks, and springers. Smile

Good luck.

TeamMcGillicky#2 · Joined: 12 Mar 2010 Posts: 10

This post is in reference to the deer antler topic. I too just recently heard of dogs that have been trained to find sheds in Tennesee and they travel to Saskatchewan every spring to hunt. Cool Idea I think but feeding them antlers in my opinion is not. That would be the equivelent of feeding your bird dog a bird-Bad Idea, the dog needs to realize that whatever it finds belongs to you or they may not let you know that they have found it. wanting to keep it to themselves of course-to eat. I realize they won't eat an antler in the field, but they won't learn that the reward comes AFTER they bring you whatever it is they are trained to find. That is part of the training, game and fun. Just my opinion.

jonaspolaris · Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:42 pm Post subject:

A lot of great information. Thanks to everyone.