Gadge-it Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Was out shooting pigeons yesterday afternoon with the dog {lab} when it was time pick things up ,the lab went for the birds and she started to drop them then spit the feathers out then pick it up again then do it again coundent bleave what i was seeing ,i had a friend with me so it was quiet embarrassing,whats going on??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cab09 Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 (edited) Was out shooting pigeons yesterday afternoon with the dog {lab} when it was time pick things up ,the lab went for the birds and she started to drop them then spit the feathers out then pick it up again then do it again coundent bleave what i was seeing ,i had a friend with me so it was quiet embarrassing,whats going on??? First of all I'm no expert trainer, but I suspect the lab is a young dog, inexperienced at picking up game?? It's been mentioned to me quite a bit in the past by experienced trainers not to start picking up with pigeons, get them confident on the likes of pheasant, partridge and rabbit first. The reason being it can put dogs off retrieving if a young dog picks pigeons as their feathers come out and it's difficult for them to get them out of their mouths - which they don't like. If I was you I'd put some pheasant wings and rabbit skins on a dummy and practice with them for a while. Also,if your dog is experienced but first time on pigeon, get an old set of tights and put the pigeons in them for a few practice outings first before the real thing again. Hope this helps - they don't like pigeon feathers Edited September 6, 2011 by cab09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadge-it Posted September 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Thats a good idea about putting a pigeon in some tights i,ll have to get some off my granny norra batty lol, the dogs the same with woodcock doent like them just not even pick them up,if this keeps going on i think ill be looking for another dog?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cab09 Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Stick with it and give the dog lots of praise and build it's confidence. Start with your Nora batty tights with a pigeon/woodcock etc in and after a while start to pull a few if the feathers out through the tights and the dog will eventually get used to it. Don't give up on it, just preserver and it'll come good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigger Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Lots of dogs dont like the feathers of pigeons and try and spit them out along with the pigeon i have heard of it causing some problems when going on to other game and they start trying to spit the pheasants etc out as a natural reaction so be careful with the pigeons try rapping some wings around a dummy to start with then move to shot ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 First of all I'm no expert trainer, but I suspect the lab is a young dog, inexperienced at picking up game?? It's been mentioned to me quite a bit in the past by experienced trainers not to start picking up with pigeons, get them confident on the likes of pheasant, partridge and rabbit first. The reason being it can put dogs off retrieving if a young dog picks pigeons as their feathers come out and it's difficult for them to get them out of their mouths - which they don't like. If I was you I'd put some pheasant wings and rabbit skins on a dummy and practice with them for a while. Also,if your dog is experienced but first time on pigeon, get an old set of tights and put the pigeons in them for a few practice outings first before the real thing again. Hope this helps - they don't like pigeon feathers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 My cocker would retrieve pigeons all day long if I let him but I dont send him for every bird just for the sake of it I will send him for the odd one now and again plus any that are wounded never had a problem he will often attempt to spit feathers out after the retrieve and I pull off what I can from his mouth/tongue ,it cant be very pleasant constantly trying to swallow feathers , make sure that the dog has plenty of water during the day to helf flush them through too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadge-it Posted September 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 I it was strange to see she picked it up straightaway but the time she got back to me she droppped it afew times, but i thought that if she just keep it in her mouth it was just that once when she got back to me to clear her mouth instead loads of times,iam going to try putting a bird in tights and build her confidence back up??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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