Ideas on tiring out bird dogs when you can’t hunt them

[shedfinder7]

Can't thank everyone enough for all the feedback, several great ideas. We did try her on a bicycle but she hurt her foot a little so will need to wait on getting her back in that routine. Tried the rc car that was mentioned and she will chase that until she collapses. Best 40$ spent.

 

[Centralcoastca]

With my Pudelpointer I found that I couldn’t wear her out enough physically to make a difference with her energy since she recovered so quickly even on bike rides. She just got stronger. I found that she would only really wear out if she was mentally worked. Hiking worked better than running since she is using her nose and hunting the trail. I also would hide things in the yard for her to find like antlers in the tree just low enough she could reach or drag a quail wing around the yard and stick it in a bush. Now that she’s older she hunts the wood pile for rats and patrols the fence for possums and cats enough when I get home from work that she’s done at night. She’s a ninja with getting treats out of a Kong so that doesn’t last for more than 10mm. Funny enough she gets really worn out from a days fishing on the back of my kayak since she has her nose to the water or is watching for ducks etc… good luck!

 

[Button]

Glow in the dark Frisbee and a volleyball keep my dog burning energy. A beef hoof will keep them gnawing and busy for hours.

 

[TonyG]

Best bet is planning your morning a little earlier and heading out for a walk bright and early. Still being at that age, she’s just being a puppy.

I used to be in the same situation and that usually helped calmed my pups down until later in the day when I’d get home.

 

[Dos Perros]

I’ve always owned big running bird dogs and I think the best exercise for your dog when you can‘t run them off leash is to run them off a bicycle.

Get a skijoring harness, and condition your dog to run and pull you while you’re on a bicycle.

URL unfurl="true"]https://www.neewadogs.com/collections/running-belts?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Products&ActivitiesUSA&gclid=CjwKCAjws8yUBhA1EiwAi_tpEXu8uxIiacSgaw8ncfYrD25nNyvBTXBFc9YazksNPNiMkhYkhAsEHBoCUFMQAvD_BwE[/URL]

All dogs inherently love to pull, and your dog will start to look forward to the workout. Be careful you don’t overdo it - especially because your dog is only 4 months old. Ideally, try to run your dog on grass next to a sidewalk you‘re riding your bike on or a gravel path, and pedal as much as you need to allow your dog to pull you, but not strain to do it.

You also don’t need to worry that your dog will become a puller while you‘re walking it on a lead. Dogs will learn quickly that you allow them to pull when you’re on a bike and not while on a walk. They will also learn to listen to you or adjust to your corrections via their lead while you’re on your bike. Initially, it’ll take a little bit to get in synch, but within a few runs, you guys will have it figured out.

There‘s a product called a springer that allows you attach your dog’s lead to your bicycle, if you think you need it, but it’s really not a big deal to hold the lead in one hand over the top of your handlebar.

This!

I used to bikejor my two setters on gravel roads in the country.

The dogs are now dead and I'm pretty sure I still have the harnesses. If I find them, I would send them to you for the cost of shipping. They are quality black leather harnesses. My dogs were 48-58 pounds.

 

[zion zig zag]

How much is too much? I have a 6 month old WPG and I struggle to find balance. I don't want to damage his joints/tendons etc. but man, I sure like to tire him out.

 

[Dos Perros]

@zion zig zag I used to hunt my young setters 6 hours a day. I didn't know any better. Later I learned that 2 hours per day, 3 hours max was much better. On a week+ long trip, ideally we'd have enough dogs to hunt 2 dogs on the ground at a time, for 1.5 to 2 hours, and rotate through the dogs during the day, and then give each dog a rest day after two work days.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

My Griff is a little over 11 months now, and I'm blessed to have 14 acres of running room. I let him out at least once a day to run, twice when I can, and he is in dog heaven. He will chase birds endlessly from one end of the farm to the other if I let him. This dog sprints non-stop for 10-15 minutes, and by the time I bring him back up to the house he is good and tired. I've never seen a dog that is "always on" like Oscar. When he's outside he's hutning and chasing. When he's inside he's hunting flies, moths, or any other bug that makes the mistake of flying in the house. He doesn't like the taste of spiders, but he sure likes stalking and killing them. LOL!

The one thing I'm a little concerned about is keeping up his running this summer in the heat and humidity. He's the first Griff I've owned and he seems to get overheated fast, but maybe that's just the way they are. He is about 65 pounds of solid muscle so I know its not that he's overweight.

We've tried to get him to swim in a buddy's pond a few times, and although he is capable, he is too timid to just jump in and go for it. The other day we tried baiting him with some popcorn and that didn't work. Any ideas on the best way to get them to love the water?

*Edit- i don't swim personally due to chronic ear problems as a kid. Would it help for me to float out in a life jacke to see if he'd follow? Looking forward to any ideas.

 

[Huntindog45]

i am so lucky to live in a place where I have millions of square miles of public land, river levees and open space to run Leopold. we go for a "walk" every evening, it is good for Leopold and Me. I dont know how people can raise a dog in a city. Shit I dont think it is fair to to the dog to raise them in the city. My dog and I would both go nuts.

 

[KurtR]

My Griff is a little over 11 months now, and I'm blessed to have 14 acres of running room. I let him out at least once a day to run, twice when I can, and he is in dog heaven. He will chase birds endlessly from one end of the farm to the other if I let him. This dog sprints non-stop for 10-15 minutes, and by the time I bring him back up to the house he is good and tired. I've never seen a dog that is "always on" like Oscar. When he's outside he's hutning and chasing. When he's inside he's hunting flies, moths, or any other bug that makes the mistake of flying in the house. He doesn't like the taste of spiders, but he sure likes stalking and killing them. LOL!

The one thing I'm a little concerned about is keeping up his running this summer in the heat and humidity. He's the first Griff I've owned and he seems to get overheated fast, but maybe that's just the way they are. He is about 65 pounds of solid muscle so I know its not that he's overweight.

We've tried to get him to swim in a buddy's pond a few times, and although he is capable, he is too timid to just jump in and go for it. The other day we tried baiting him with some popcorn and that didn't work. Any ideas on the best way to get them to love the water?

*Edit- i don't swim personally due to chronic ear problems as a kid. Would it help for me to float out in a life jacke to see if he'd follow? Looking forward to any ideas.

Just wade in don’t have to go float. Get a live duck and shackle it or even a pigeon the prey drive will take over. Biggest thing is let the dog make the decision it took a little bit to get my lab sure of the water but now he dives in.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Just wade in don’t have to go float. Get a live duck and shackle it or even a pigeon the prey drive will take over. Biggest thing is let the dog make the decision it took a little bit to get my lab sure of the water but now he dives in.

Thank you so much for the advice, I will try that!

 

[Kevin_t]

A roading harness and a bicycle ...

 

[Wellsdw]

I have a Belgium malinois that I trained then had sent off for “advance work”. About as driven and crazy as any breed. The trainer recommended NOT trying to wear them out but rather 15 minutes
Give or take a few of unstructured no obedience work, no rules justplay. (Fetch, swim, tug). They will learn within a couple weeks how long they have to get energy out. This puts you in control. Also at some point during the day we will go on structured walk, (very important for dog/master bond) 15-20 minutes. This is off season work. Towards the fall we start tracking a few days a week

Best of luck.

 

[2ski]

My Griff is a little over 11 months now, and I'm blessed to have 14 acres of running room. I let him out at least once a day to run, twice when I can, and he is in dog heaven. He will chase birds endlessly from one end of the farm to the other if I let him. This dog sprints non-stop for 10-15 minutes, and by the time I bring him back up to the house he is good and tired. I've never seen a dog that is "always on" like Oscar. When he's outside he's hutning and chasing. When he's inside he's hunting flies, moths, or any other bug that makes the mistake of flying in the house. He doesn't like the taste of spiders, but he sure likes stalking and killing them. LOL!

The one thing I'm a little concerned about is keeping up his running this summer in the heat and humidity. He's the first Griff I've owned and he seems to get overheated fast, but maybe that's just the way they are. He is about 65 pounds of solid muscle so I know its not that he's overweight.

We've tried to get him to swim in a buddy's pond a few times, and although he is capable, he is too timid to just jump in and go for it. The other day we tried baiting him with some popcorn and that didn't work. Any ideas on the best way to get them to love the water?

*Edit- i don't swim personally due to chronic ear problems as a kid. Would it help for me to float out in a life jacke to see if he'd follow? Looking forward to any ideas.

Are you wanting to hunt him? I saw a dead bird not work once this weekend and barely work another time. So do try the live bird thing. I would go with pigeon first. My dog will swim for a bumper but will watch ducks and geese swim by. The flapping of the pigeon would help.

If that doesn't work but try want to cool him down, try a kiddy pool filled with water. Throw some toys in and see if he'll start splashing around.

 

[grossklw]

Run them. My field bred golden does 25-30 miles/week with me, it doesn't completely tucker him out but it certainly helps and keeps him in shape until it's time for roosters to die in the fall. Keeping a lean healthy dog helps as they age as well, I'm hoping to hunt him until the day he drops dead.

He's 6 now and does sleep a little bit more on running days, but he's still in phenomenal shape. I ran a couple marathons when he was around age 3 and he did all my training runs with me, it's really hard to completely wear them out. 40-50 mile weeks were the norm with a 20+ miler every weekend. We did a 22 mile run one day and when we got back he grabbed a ball and wanted to play fetch, they're amazing.

Water work for puppies is great too, low impact high cardio activities that wear them out. If he likes fetching swimming is about as good as it gets at that age, couple months you can begin running with him. Another positive with running in the summer is it conditions their paws for fall. I've never had a cracked paw with mine, and a lot of that is from running on asphalt and gravel all summer.

 

[Windigo]

My aussie thinks he’s a bird dog. On trail, it takes him about 8 miles to get tuckered, and that’s with his pack on, and with sticks thrown. In town, making him retrieve by swimming upstream is the next best thing.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Are you wanting to hunt him? I saw a dead bird not work once this weekend and barely work another time. So do try the live bird thing. I would go with pigeon first. My dog will swim for a bumper but will watch ducks and geese swim by. The flapping of the pigeon would help.

If that doesn't work but try want to cool him down, try a kiddy pool filled with water. Throw some toys in and see if he'll start splashing around.

Yes, he was born and bred for hunting and the breeder and I selected him out of the litter for his drive. He has that in spades for sure.

It's funny you mention the dead bird not going over so well. I have a frozen rooster pheasant from last fall that worked great for retrieve training early on, but now he just isn't too interested in it. I think it needs to be fresh and lively or something.

I appreciate the advice fellas, and is there a good place to pick up some pidgeons? Are they easy to take care of for future sessions? I have plenty of space in my machine shed to set up a hutch or something.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

My aussie thinks he’s a bird dog. On trail, it takes him about 8 miles to get tuckered, and that’s with his pack on, and with sticks thrown. In town, making him retrieve by swimming upstream is the next best thing.

LOL, we have an aussie too and he's a maniac at 10 years old. He was a stray that just showed up at the farm. Long story short, he was up to date on shots, house broken, and loved our place, so he got to stay. Crazy little brick of a dog.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Run them. My field bred golden does 25-30 miles/week with me, it doesn't completely tucker him out but it certainly helps and keeps him in shape until it's time for roosters to die in the fall. Keeping a lean healthy dog helps as they age as well, I'm hoping to hunt him until the day he drops dead.

He's 6 now and does sleep a little bit more on running days, but he's still in phenomenal shape. I ran a couple marathons when he was around age 3 and he did all my training runs with me, it's really hard to completely wear them out. 40-50 mile weeks were the norm with a 20+ miler every weekend. We did a 22 mile run one day and when we got back he grabbed a ball and wanted to play fetch, they're amazing.

Water work for puppies is great too, low impact high cardio activities that wear them out. If he likes fetching swimming is about as good as it gets at that age, couple months you can begin running with him. Another positive with running in the summer is it conditions their paws for fall. I've never had a cracked paw with mine, and a lot of that is from running on asphalt and gravel all summer.

I have a retired golden that didn't have any pedigree whatsoever. However, he was the first dog I ever trained and the best one I ever hunted behind. Biased, absolutely, but performance and drive were incredible. He often hunted 2-3 full days straight in the hills and switch grass without skipping a beat. Some of my fondest memories are of Calvin chasing down crippled roosters for a quarter mile, pouncing on them and bringing them back to me still alive. He is a special dog and was an accomplished hunter.

Unfortunatley, he developed severe arthritis in his front wrists after his 8th season. I cut him back to half days max at 9, and retired him afterwards. He's 11 and will be 12 this december. He's on 100mg of Rimadyl in the am and before bed. His rear end is starting to fail him now too, but he can still climb/descend the steps in our old two story farmhouse, and he still has that big, goofy golden smile and amazing personality. We're hoping he can hold out for a few more months so we can get through my daughter's senior pictures with him.

I read an interesting article last summer before we got our Griff about when to neuter male dogs and the impacts to bone disorders late in life. According to the article, and my vet agrees, to help prevent arthritis in male working and hunting dogs, they shouldn't be neutered until 2 years of age if at all. Calving was cut at 6 months or whatever the old standard was, and I wonder if we had left him intact if he would still be hunting. Oscar may not ever get cut.

 

[grossklw]

I have a retired golden that didn't have any pedigree whatsoever. However, he was the first dog I ever trained and the best one I ever hunted behind. Biased, absolutely, but performance and drive were incredible. He often hunted 2-3 full days straight in the hills and switch grass without skipping a beat. Some of my fondest memories are of Calvin chasing down crippled roosters for a quarter mile, pouncing on them and bringing them back to me still alive. He is a special dog and was an accomplished hunter.

Unfortunatley, he developed severe arthritis in his front wrists after his 8th season. I cut him back to half days max at 9, and retired him afterwards. He's 11 and will be 12 this december. He's on 100mg of Rimadyl in the am and before bed. His rear end is starting to fail him now too, but he can still climb/descend the steps in our old two story farmhouse, and he still has that big, goofy golden smile and amazing personality. We're hoping he can hold out for a few more months so we can get through my daughter's senior pictures with him.

I read an interesting article last summer before we got our Griff about when to neuter male dogs and the impacts to bone disorders late in life. According to the article, and my vet agrees, to help prevent arthritis in male working and hunting dogs, they shouldn't be neutered until 2 years of age if at all. Calving was cut at 6 months or whatever the old standard was, and I wonder if we had left him intact if he would still be hunting. Oscar may not ever get cut.

I've heard the same thing with early neutering. Our's knock on wood still looks great and has no signs of really slowing down (sleeps a bit more on heavy activity days). We decided to leave ours intact, but we've also studded him out on occasion. My next one will be a female, one thing that drives me nuts is we need to go mark every bush within 1/4 mile before we start paying attention to the task at hand.

Sorry to hear about the arthritis, my uncle's golden's have been lucky on the arthritis front, but with cancer as young as 6 and had others that hunted to 14 blind and deaf but still had a nose that knew the game. Unfortunately his latest really high buck field golden has hip displasia at age 2, he's sick as you'd expect. Hoping for the best but he may need to get another pup.

I've shot 146 roosters over him and I always wanted to hit 250. Hoping for another 4-5 years afield with my buddy. Glad he's still acting like a golden, my uncle says when they quit acting like a golden retriever its time...