# looking for ideas



## bigbrad123 (Dec 22, 2005)

I am looking for a few ideas to try to increase my dog's drive to pheasant hunt. I have a chocolate lab that is just under 2 years old. I know he is still very young, so I am trying to have a lot of patience. Here is the issue: he loves to retreive pheasants, he'll bring them back to me, he's not afraid of the gun, he is very excited to run around the first couple of fields (so I know there is some very good things), but he just doesn't seem to be using his nose much. It is very apparent after a couple of fields (or one big one) if we don't scare up a pheasant, he is bored and starts to lose interest (and often just wants to walk behind or beside me). I'm thinking the major problem is that I just haven't gotten him on a nice field of a lot of pheasants for him to put the equation together. But I am looking for a few ideas on how I might be able to "teach" him to be more motivated to find birds. FYI....He is in very good shape, so getting tired doesn't seem to be the issue. Thanks in advance.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

Watch corn fields at dusk, note where the pheasants go to roost, it will be in adjacent low grass fields.

Run him thru the roosts at dawn before true sunup. Talk him up as the birds are flushing.


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## HuntingGeek (Oct 12, 2007)

Give it some more time. Watch him closely and you can actually see him transition from 1) Holy cow what is that, to 2) I found one and finally to 3) I think there might be one over here. Then, you usually have the opposite problem of them running too far in front once they catch scent or flush one. For me, it took about 15 or 20 short pheasant hunts over the course of 2 seasons to get through those 3 levels. Most days I wouldn't mind a dog that walks on my heels. That way the pheasant flushes nice and close and the dog is right there to make the retrieve.


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## bigbrad123 (Dec 22, 2005)

Thanks for the reassurance huntinggeek. I am certainly hoping my pup will slowly improve. I see some glimmer of hope here and there and am trying to be patient. But when its birds we are talking about, its hard to be patient! :sniper:


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## brianb (Dec 27, 2005)

Pigeons in the off season. You can catch them under birdges with a dip net on a pole and a light. Set traps for them at grain elevators etc.

Clip the wing feathers on one wing. Let him hunt them up and retrieve.

Basically it comes down to birds, birds and more birds. That is your best bet. Trying to increase prey drive is very hard. You can bring out what is there but you really can't put more into a dog.

You may have to accept the fact that your dog's prey drive is a 5 out of 10. I see it more and more as the lab is getting more popular and breeders less informed or careful.


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## kgpcr (Sep 2, 2006)

Man i got lucky. i took my chocolate out to the game farm at 3.5 months and shot birds over her. she has been wild about hunting ever since and all i do is pheasant hunt. I cant get her to quit at the end of the day she just wants to keep going. I had her conditioned to gunfire since she was 3 months old. it just never bothered her and i made sure loud noises were fun things happening! she sees a gun and goes wild because that means hunting and that is what she lives for.


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## bigbrad123 (Dec 22, 2005)

for my dog, it has nothing to do with the gun. he is not scared of the gun and I worked on the loud noise conditioning early as well. he too seems to get excited when i break out the hunting gear. i haven't taken him to a game farm and am considering doing that. his main issue is the drive out in the field of finding the birds and flushing them. he'll run around for awhile, but just doesn't seem to use his nose much. if I get lucky and a bird gets up, he'll chase after it a hundred miles an hour. he just doesn't seem to get the whole "scent" thing. I am just hoping its because he is young and the focus still isn't quite there.


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## brdhunt36 (Oct 24, 2004)

My lab is the same way she is 11 and doesn't use her nose much I hunt with the wind in her face even when were in a spot with lots of birds the nose doesn't get to the ground much, find spots where you know there is birds a light switch will go on and he will figure it out just my 2 cents


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## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

The key to developing the hunting instinct in any dog, is to get them onto birds. Lots of them. Whatever your feeling about game farms, they provide a great opportunity to train your dog in the presence of birds that will hold tight and flush close. As has been advised here, get your dog into as many birds as possible this season, but keep the pressure low. If he chases, you might want to work him on a check cord, to keep that error at a minimum, without yelling. Work on obedience in the off season. If you can get the dog to come, each and every time you give the command, you have the biggest part of the training battle won. Get him out to the game farm next September, and get into many, many flushes. Shoot a few when the dog starts to get the idea. I'll bet your dog will do just fine, given the right opportunities. 
Patience, repetition and consistancy will bring BOTH of you together as an effective hunting unit.
Burl


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