# Introducing young lab to live birds



## KYUSS (Aug 27, 2005)

I have a 14 week old choc. lab. At what age should I introduce him to pigeons or any other bird for that matter? He can sit, stay, and come by verbal and whistel commands and loves to retrieve. He even sits, stays, and comes by hand gestures. I have never trained a hunting dog before but I feel that he is doing pretty good, I just dont want to rush him with the birds and confuse or even spook the dog. Any advice would be great. Thanks.


----------



## hornhunter (Mar 26, 2005)

kyuss,

At around 3 to 4 months is the time to introduce him to live birds.
When you do make sure the bird can escape, dont shoot the bird. This will give him the drive to look for more birds. Dont give to much direction in this training just set up an opportunity for him to somewhate stumble upon it. Let him find the bird himself.


----------



## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

Anyone who knows where i can get live birds near fargo, please let me know.


----------



## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

Check with the grain elevators in the area about setting a live trap for pigeons (available from Cabelas or Lion Country Supply). They are tickled pink to let you nab some of their pests.

3-4 months is the ideal time to intro your pup to live birds. Lock the pigeon's wings by crossing them at the wing joints behind it's back. Now tease the pup a little to get it excited, toss the pigeon a few feet, and send the pup. Praise it up when it brings the birds back.

Remember that you always want to leave the pup wanting another retrieve, so no more than 3-4 per session...


----------



## fargojohnson (Oct 17, 2005)

i have a line on some roosters. pm me and we can work something out. there about $10 a bird.


----------



## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

Do not intro a pup to live birds with roosters!!!!

They are aggressive and will fight back. No more sure way to ruin your pup than have the first live bird he grabs spur or wing beat him in the face!!!!


----------

