Training for Quail and implanting trust

[safaritours]

This is a quick way to train your Wei to find Quail and other game & hold point ect without letting him run aimlessly around the field, I must say though that I do not let my dogs leave shotgun range, whether they hunt Deer or Feather you may like them to, and that is your choice but I see no point in a dog coming on point 100 meters away and me flushing game half way to him because he has done a wide circle and missed everything in the middle, or as I approach the dog being young and not holding point and flushing the game before I am within range.

Firstly purchase a few large live quail such as the Chinese quail allow the dog to work in a enclosed area such as a yard and put the quail in a small cage and praise him on the point and then call the dog back with more praise, this will allow the dog to be called back should there be a snake, or some other bird you may not want, when you have the dog working well take your dog and bird to a large field and tie five meters of bright colored knitting yarn to the birds leg, with the dog at heel throw the bid up into the air and tell the dog to watch most dogs will follow the sound if not the bird, when the bird lands usually only twenty or so meters with the yarn on, it will run and find cover you will always know where it is by the yarn, now work your dog with the word find or similar you can use a long training cord if your dog is not yet ready to follow all your commands or wants to run , if the dog has no luck scenting the bird direct him to the bird with hand signals and when he finds the bird and comes to the point again more praise, should the bird run you can check the dog easily if needed and the dog will also learn quickly that you are not sending him on a false trail as he will always find the bird and trust your signals.

I also used this yarn on live birds with blank shot shells and my dog having learned to watch saw the bird land, easily found it and brought it back alive, my dog had a soft mouth and these quail lasted all training season and died of old age in the bottom of my aviary, I found it quick and easy to train with these live birds and the yarn, with the added bonus of training the dog to trust my hand signals to the point that I could send him on a blind find over a 100 meters of water and return with the bird.

Hope this is of some use to new hunters training young dogs it worked for me.

[anne]

This is very interesting since it shows such a difference between the way we train here in the US and elsewhere. Is this a common way to train?

[safaritours]

Hi Anne , I have never seen anyone here using this method, but the people I have shown it to all said it worked for there dogs, I think in the states you use live birds bound in coloured tape I find that works but is no where near as effective and quick, and you loose the sound of the wings.

[jai]

Thanks for the post John. Unfortunatley, I can't buy the live birds to train the boy here. But we will get some training soon I think. Thanks again!
jai and falko