# Wild VS Pen raised



## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Dogs don't care if birds or wild, or pen raised. They just love finding birds, but they do learn there is a difference. Our job is to try, and keep them handling both type of birds the same. 

When running pen raised hunts for customers, I have to adjust to fit the customer. Some want a more realistic hunt, so the birds are released a little differently, and we spend a considerable amount time walking through rows of corn. Letting the dogs have some range, but still handling them more than wild. If a customer misses the shot, we mark the bird. The dogs will be sent to relocate it, once we are in that general area. Even a bird that flushes wild, is shot, if its not a safety issue.

Others want a easy hunt, and I have to try to accommodate them. Birds are planted closer to the edges of the corn, as the surface makes the walk easier. The dogs are handled more, to keep them in a comfortable range for someone that may walk slower. If the birds hold (sometimes they don't) to the general area they are planted. I know just where to handle the dog, so it has the best opportunity to catch scent.

During mid week I take the dogs out to run them on wild birds, but its not really a hunt. Its more to keep them sharp, and to keep them from acquiring bad habits, that pen raised can cause. On wild I handle them very little, just a cast here or there, as I want them to range out. If a covey is bumped, no shot is taken, and I cast them away from the direction the covey flew. There is no reward in taking an extra step, and the only negative effect is those birds are now off limits. It may not seem like much to us, but its a big deal to a bird dog.

I know better than to think I'm fooling a dog, on what type of hunt we are doing on what day.
But it has kept them somewhat honest on most days.
Every Saturday, and Sunday for the next 6 weeks (weather permitting) I will be running dogs for customers. I can foresee more mid week training sessions needed in my future.

For those that hunt both, what do you do to keep your dogs honest?


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## organicthoughts (Oct 9, 2012)

Lots of yard work. We don't have the convenience of wild birds on our door step so do lots of steadiness work with homers.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I know having wild birds close by (1 1/2 hours away ) is not a opportunity most have. It's not a brag by any means. I still have to becarefully and not put to much pressure on them, or take to many. I would be in the same boat if I did. 
I've used Homers in the past, and like them as a option. My pigeon supplier has fail through, and right now I'm looking into trapping my own for a different reason.


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## v-john (Jan 27, 2013)

TexasRed said:


> During mid week I take the dogs out to run them on wild birds, but its not really a hunt. Its more to keep them sharp, and to keep them from acquiring bad habits, that pen raised can cause. On wild I handle them very little, just a cast here or there, as I want them to range out. If a covey is bumped, no shot is taken, and I cast them away from the direction the covey flew. There is no reward in taking an extra step, and the only negative effect is those birds are now off limits. It may not seem like much to us, but its a big deal to a bird dog.
> 
> 
> 
> For those that hunt both, what do you do to keep your dogs honest?


This above is how I hunt all the time. 

But I can't say that I've ever hunted PR birds. When I use them, it's specifically for training purposes only. In which case, I'm trying to set up the situation so that the dog doesn't recognize this as a training session. But the reality is, that it's **** hard to fool the dog. 

That being said, I've put birds out in the morning and come back a couple hours later in the hopes that they would be in the same area (like plum thickets, etc) and having the dogs find them that way. 

Plant them off of horse. etc etc. 

Even though wild birds are 30 minutes away, there is a degree of control that I want to have with the PR birds. 
But in this case, I'm working with a dog that I'm trying to break out, proof, or keep broke. 

So with that being said, it sounds like what you do is about what you can do. They figure out that they can't get away with some things with the wild birds, that the can with the PR ones.


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