doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Dove feathers bad for my dog?

T'aint his fault you didn't teach him how to spit!

BWWAAAAA!!!! Good one AL !! :>)

Chuck:
Lady was just a "natural" I suppose; certainly wasn't because I was a great trainer (had in fact never "trained" a dog in my life). She was a reluctantly received gift from a neighbor when she was 9 weeks old (had so many lab pups he didn't know what to do); and she came home with me in April, 1984. When I explained to my neighbor that I knew nothing about dog training, he handed me a book entitled "Water Dog" by Richard Woolters, and said "you don't have to know anything about dog training; just read this book and do what the man says"!
That's what I did, I spent time with her every day. Instinctively she already knew all there was to know about retrieving; I just had to teach her what I wanted her to retrieve and to bring her prize to me. In September of that same year, I took her on our first dove shoot; folks on that shoot had no idea she was a just rookie. I will never forget the first dove she ever retrieved; the bird completely disappeared in her mouth and I was convinced it had been converted to dog food; instead I learned she loved the "taste" of the bird so much she was just rolling it around inside her mouth. It was an absolute ball of slobber when she placed it in my hand; but you can bet I was more proud of that bird that she was! But that first experience didn't just happen; prior the actual hunt I had spent hours and hours preparing Lady for that special day. Because kids in the neighborhood celebrated Independance Day with a little too much spirit that year, Lady became terribly afraid of loud noises (was actually gun shy); so I took her to the local skeet range on Sunday afternoon and sat with her on the tailgate of the truck, stroking and talking to her while guys shot the course. Amazingly, in less than an hour she paid shooting noises absolutely no attention! Initially I worked her with rubber dummies she could see, went from those to rubber dummies with pigeon wings (tied on with monofiliment fishing line) in an effort to get her used to the smell and feel of birds and feathers; then progressed to hiding those same winged dummies in the thickest, nastiest places I could find to teach her that she would not always be able to see her "prize". As hunting season approached, I purchased a dummy launcher; put the pigeon wings on those dummies and taught her to associate a "bang" with a bird (on the down side, she would be terribly upset with me later on during those lousy days when there was no bird as the result of my bang banging!). To this day I have no idea if anything I did would be considered orthodox by a real trainer; but down here dove shooting is mostly a social affair, and those with whom I hunted were always amazed at the things she could do. Prior to Lady, none of us had ever used a retreiver; and her great work inspired several of my buds to get a lab of their own; but none ever measured up to the standards Lady set.
My last dove hunt with Lady took place on a cold windy day just as the late season was ending in January; a rare day for us in GA as there were patches of ice on the ground that afternoon. Lady was two months shy of being 15 years old; could no longer hear, and had developed arthritis in her hips so that I had to lift her in and out of the truck, but even at that age she somehow managed to get that excited spring in her step whenever she saw me with a shotgun and that day was no exception. My shooting choice that special day was the Charles Linnneman Optimus Grade Lefever, just returned by Buck Hamlin after a stock restoration; Lady and I were taking this opportunity to "field test" this great old gun. Together we went to a nearby farm that had about 60 head of cattle; the property had no grain fields, but there were always a few doves buzzing the feed lot for spilled grain. The area is void of cover, so we hunkered down by a fence post and waited. Over the course of the afternoon, I shot the old LeFever 22 times and Lady placed 9 doves in my hand. Certainly not great shooting; but not bad for the first time with a "new" gun, very tight chokes, a srong wind, and being forced to take 50-55 yards shots. I still remember every retrieve Lady made that day, but there was much sadness in my heart as I knew every bird could be her, and our last shared prize. I remember my wife and I talking about that fact later that evening, and also what a special gift Lady had been to our family. Lady died in June of that year; and even though I considered myself a tough, crusty and unemotional old guy, I must confess I was powerless to hold back the tears. Lady is buried by the little creek that flows by my house; the same creek she always loved to splash around in when we had our afternoon walks. (I apologize for getting carried away)

Only things I would say about retrieveing doves is the dog would probably appreciate having sufficient water handy to help rinse the feathers out a bit. Also, in AZ desert the dove season opens while rattlesnakes are still very active so a recent snake break refresher for the dog is sort of important. I encounter more snakes in the dove season than the rest of the year.

Pigeons my dog will point but not retrieve at all. Just won't touch those sky rats.

Topgun - what a wonderful story about Lady. Thanks! There is simply nothing on this earth like a good bird dog! If I were King, one of the very first things I’d change would be for dogs and men to age at the same rate, so we didn’t have to lose them.

But, I digress – back to the OP’s question….

Yes, by all means avoid hunting doves – as soon as the dog picks one up, doves will cause an otherwise perfectly good huntin’ dawg



to fall into a hopeless stupor



Besides, if you don’t hunt doves there’s more for me

As I type this, Jas is between my feet laying there waiting for me to play with her. I know, after this first season, she'll be great companion for as long as we can hunt together. Just in the short time we've hunted together this last year, she's shown a steep learning curve. She was bought from a broker of hunting dogs at 10 mos and had formal training for most of that. I guess that's what they call a "started dog". I would do it all the same if I had to do all over again. She has fit well into our house and my hunting and is good with kids and thinks I'm the best there is. What else could I ask?

Jas' first retrieve was a full grown cock SoDak phez flopping wildly at about 45 yds. She bolted like a champ in a straight line and didn't hesitate to snatch up that still live phez and bring it straight to me proudly. I'll never forget that look of pride she had. Hopefully, she'll have that look for many more bird retrieves over many years.

No apology necessary, the quality of our lives in some most honest ways can be measured by the good dogs we've had. A decent Lab & a copy of Wolters 'Water Dog' actually followed is a hard combo to beat.. matter o' fact, dam near impossible in my experience. Having an older well trained dog around as a teacher can speed the learning process faster than anything for a young dog, but Wolters understood dogs as well as any man, and Labs in particular.

Chuck, its the heat you need to be concerned about when dove shooting. I used to sometimes 'park' a lab that I had back in the 60's in a tank [pond to those used to more 'refined' English]just to keep her cool. Absent a tank, take a gallon milk jug of water w/you to the field and the bottom from another jug cut & taped to the first one for a light weight 'pan' for your dog. A big plastic bag takes all the trash back out from the field, yours plus what you pick up from storms and others less courteous. Gotta pay attention, a lab can kill itself in hot weather w/o enough water. That's what you gotta pay attention to, not dove feathers. Some Labs are reluctant to pick them up, but if so, its exactly what Big Al said;-) BTW, that's one fine looking dog you have ... my own last companion gave it up last Dec. 1 and extraneous hubbub of one sort or another has yet to let me get around to doing a thing about it. I intend to remedy that .. soon.

Thanks Jerry, I've been putting off having her snake trained with the medical stuff in the past 4-5 mos, but now there's no excuse. She's about 100% physically now and I worry about the snakes even at the range.

Tw,
I've been pretty conscientious about the heat and water for her in no small part due to all of the members that have been so good as to help out with my learning about dogs everytime I've asked. The fact is, I started asking about hunting dogs here about 2 years ago and took into consideration all of the input members contributed. I picked a lab because of the input about their warm disposition and their natural abilities needing less technical assistance, me being pretty much totally ignorant of dog training/handling. I gotta say, this has been a great experience for me and I have many of you to thank.

It is just flat out dirty pool to tell us about old hunting dogs!

It's darn hard to type with tears in a mans eyes. You guys knock it off.

A little tip about cooling your working dogs, if your going to transport them in a kennel (I hope you do) get one that's got a bottom that will hold water. I have been known to pour in a gal. of water before they load for the trip back home. Of course they lay in that water in the back of the truck and have a cool evaporation ride home.

KEEP THE TOP OF THERE HEADS WET and the necks. Go find the large military canteens that are the bladder type. They are made to carry, and they need that outside cool down water.

Another little tip. Dogs love salt! Get yourself or better yet make a bunch of jerky with lots of salt. This ain't nessasarly for you as much as it's for your hunting pardner. What you say, salt makes you thirsty, him too? Great that just what you want. He'll stay hydrated and so will you!

Pre-hydrate before the hunt? Hadn't thought about this before, a day or two out, start the hydration.

I use to hunt with a Black Lab Bitch that was my extra set of eyes. I would have her sit facing me about four or five feet to one side. She would whine when she saw a bird that was coming from my blind side and would be in range. She loved dove hunting as much as I did. On hot days I would have to rake the feathers out of her mouth and thought and she would go right back to work. Early birds shed feathers at the drop of a hat and can turn a good dog off to retreaving them if they get them caught half way down. Easy to clean them out and give the dog a fresh drink.

We even would go around the field after all the hunting was done and find birds lost by others. One day she found 47 extra birds that way. Good nose and a hell of a fine dog she was. She never produced a single puppy. Lost two litters to miscarriages and never bred her again. Afraid to try again as it was to much of a risk of loosing her in the attempt. She was special and is still missed almost 30 years later.