Tips on getting dog to handle birds better

[43rd State Armory]

My pup retrieves dummies and everything great. Put a bird in his mouth and he get as it would seem weirded out by it. Any good tips for getting him over this?

 

[KurtR]

What kind of dog and how old is it?

 

[c670809]

I hesitate to share this because I don't have dogs but . . .

The way my grandfather would do it was to get the dog used to the dummy. Then he would take it slow and start adding feathers (quail or whatever your main hunting bird is) a few at a time to the dummy. Over time it would be covered in feathers. That usually did it. If not, he would take that idea to the next level. Sometimes it was rubbing blood/guts on the dummy etc.

 

[43rd State Armory]

Tennessee treeing brindle and about a year and a half. Should have put that in the post.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Sounds like your forced fetch work is incomplete, and at your dogs age it might be a very tough battle to complete it.

 

[KurtR]

I know nothing about training a hound to retrieve but i would also say the force fetch is incomplete

 

[43rd State Armory]

Got it, I will see about drilling him a bit more on it. Thanks guys.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

Some birds like pigeons and doves have feathers that stick to the dogs mouth which promotes bad mouth habits.
I typically start with a paint roller teaching hold, then a canvas dummy, then a frozen duck
then a partially thawed duck, then a completely thawed duck over a couple weeks of training sessions,
typically in the winter when there is no field work or hunting going on.

Hold means hold, no rolling, no chomping, no spitting out until the drop command is given.

 

[Holocene]

I've got a Boykin spaniel, and she's got a pretty soft mouth compared to other dogs we hunt with.

One thing we did early on during our gentle force fetch was to start with my hand in her mouth with a leather glove. Pup's instinct is to chew the leather glove, but you shout "Owww!, that hurt!" and the dog loves you so doesn't want to hurt you. Don't bite the hand that feeds you kind of thing.

Then, you take the glove off and repeat. Say "Owww!" with painful emotion anytime pup bites down or mouths on the object. You are building a negative association. If pup chomps on object, he hurts you.

As pup gets this association, like another poster said, progress to the bumper, then a frozen bird, then a warm bird and keep repeating "Owww!" if he decides to get mouthy. Generally, expect some backsliding as you move up to more interesting objects.

There's a lot of literature out there on "hold" drills and table training. This was something I picked up in one of the books I read.

 

[406flyfish]

Based off the breed, I’m assuming this is a house pet that you’d like to hunt birds with?

If you have the time & patience, you could try FF yourself. If not, send the dog off to a trainer if your actually hunting birds. Hard for anyone to give you advice over the internet without interacting with the dog.
I’ve heard stories of people in similar situations where it was determined it was an issue with the mouth/bite.


I have a GSP & a Draht and they were both advancing through FF at different speeds. Every dog is different (soft/stubborn) so I’d be very conscientious on applying methods/pressure. Very rewarding and a great bonding experience between yourself & the dog if you FF yourself.

 

[JjamesIII]

Tennessee treeing brindle and about a year and a half. Should have put that in the post.

A hound for birds? I’m not a fan of force fetch because all of my bird dogs have had a strong innate desire to handle birds. I feel that perhaps your hound is more apt to work on fur instead of feathers?.

Using ff, you are training obedience by means of negative stimulation (pain in other words) and the release of that stimulation. You’ll get him to hold anything in his mouth and release on command, regardless of his desire to do so. It’s the desire not to be uncomfortable that makes the dog comply. I’m not a fan of the technique, but if you should ff your dog. You really need to learn the correct way to do it and know how hard or soft your dog is. You can ruin a soft dog if you don’t ff correctly. Most hounds are pretty hard dogs, they should be able to take the ff pressure, but every dog is an individual.

 

[KurtR]

I really don’t know why people think force fetch is some kind of magical hard thing to do. I did my dog and he is rather soft it just takes being able to read the dog and there are programs to follow and never called a pro that would not help or answer questions. There is a reason why the best retrievers are all force fetched as it is the building block to more advanced concepts.

 

[Wags]

I really don’t know why people think force fetch is some kind of magical hard thing to do. I did my dog and he is rather soft it just takes being able to read the dog and there are programs to follow and never called a pro that would not help or answer questions. There is a reason why the best retrievers are all force fetched as it is the building block to more advanced concepts.

Gospel…

You can’t do forced to pile or T without it & end up with an incomplete dog without it IMO.

 

[pk_]

My pup retrieves dummies and everything great. Put a bird in his mouth and he get as it would seem weirded out by it. Any good tips for getting him over this?

My dog was doing this and I just had him hold a bird while sitting. Once he started to look a little more comfortable with it, I made him walk around at heel for a bit, jump up and down off the table etc… a few sessions of this and it went away.

I FFd my dog but didn’t use birds during initial training (didn’t have any available). Once he realized all the same rules applied he has been doing great. But I am sure we may run into this problem again with his first duck, pheasant etc… but having him FFd gives me a foundation to deal with the issue quick and easy (Hopefully).

Good luck and have fun.