# Robins and other small birds



## SerCopper (Nov 1, 2011)

Hello all,

My 6 month old male Copper has just started to have his first taste of spring weather and with spring in Canada comes robins...

He goes absolutely crazy whenever we are on a walk an a small bird makes an appearance. He almost tore my wife's arm off darting after one yesterday. He barks, stands up on his back legs and whines whenever one is in sight. 

My question is what should I be doing with this...ideally I would rather he point at the birds not rush after them...and really he should not care about robins and other small birds only partridge, grouse etc... I realize this a probablly just the puppy excitement in him but I am wondering if I should be taking advantage of this drive somehow. 

Any suggestions from the more experienced hunters\handlers would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Keith


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## Lindsey1420 (Jan 28, 2012)

Same here SerCopper. Spring here in the midwest has started, really started in winter. We have the windows open and Jack is like a different dog. He stands at the back door and just watches the birds on point. He has not barked at them. When we let him out he darts afters them and just watches them in the trees.


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## DougAndKate (Sep 16, 2011)

Elroy (1 yr old) isn't as bad with robins or small birds, he will just take off after them and watch them fly away when he is off leash. Squirrels and rabbits however, forget about it. We have to basically "clear the yard" before we let him out back to make sure there isn't one out there. He will jump up on the fence and bark. I swear the squirrels just run along our fence to torment him. And now that the windows are open and Spring is here, he seems to always be peeking out and on alert for something.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

We call those trash birds. Its a new world for the pups and they are going to be pointing and chasing just about anything that moves. As long as you give them the occasional game bird to hunt, they should choose it over the trash birds. If left to only hunt trash birds they sometimes have a problem knowing what their job is. Rabbits are a different story and a trainer will normally trash break them.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Dogs learn by trial and error. A dog will chase a bird in hopes of catching it. The dog in most cases learns it can't catch the bird and has to try a different method. Next it will try the point and stalk. It learns that it can only get so close before the bird flies away, and yes they will still give chase. Last they learn the longer they stay on point the longer they get to watch the bird.


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## Lindsey1420 (Jan 28, 2012)

TexasRed:

The two posting you made, are those made to ones that are using their Vs for hunting or info to all? My Jack is not being used for hunting but got because we wanted a dog (so glad we got him, I loves him so much. I wish he could go to work with me!!) Since Jack is not a hunter (by instinct yes, but not training) should I be steering him away from this behavior to trash birds?


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

If your not going to hunt him just disregard what I said on game birds and rabbits. These dogs were bred for 100s of years to hunt and point. Let him go have some fun and point and chase trash birds. Its not going to hurt anything.


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