Today I spent the day in the field with our young puppies ranging in age from 6 weeks to 6 months of age. We worked each one individually on birds. Some responded well to pigeons others responded only to quail. The more I work young puppies the more I come to believe that you need to start getting them working with birds from 8 weeks on. Sometimes even 6 weeks of age a puppy will be bold enough to start chasing birds. Now I’m not talking about about a wing that you bought from some hunting store. Not a frozen bird you got from the guy down the street not the scented dummy you throw for your dog. No I’m talking about real live heart beating blood pumping birds. Something that will fly, make noise, flap, run, squeak, hide, smell, snap, something that gets that dogs natural instincts to kick in! This is a great time in a young dogs life make it great! Make it fun, exciting and positive. Don’t take the bird from him. I repeat don’t take the bird from him let him chew on it. Let him pack it all over if he wants. All your trying to accomplish is to get him so excited about birds that he isn’t thinking of anything else. He’s having so much fun he wants to do it again and again. If your able to put your young pup on birds weekly for the first six months of his life your going to get the most out of your puppy! This is a time in his life you don’t want to miss. If you would have asked me three years ago when you should start working a you dog on birds I would have said 6 months of age or some where close. Now after watching puppy after puppy learn and grow so much in the first six months I’m saying start now don’t wait!
