Flushing Dogs

[talon]

Are dogs really necessary?
i just got a 7 month old retriever mix, i ain't to smart on the huntin dogs, but i assume that retrievers aren't too great for flushing or pointing?
and if the dogs are important, is there a certain way to train them for hunting??

[morganf]

I already asked that! It's on page 1 half way down!

apfalconry.proboards19.com/index.cgi?board=Dogs&action=display&thread=1140680513

the short answer... "no they aren't, but they make life easier"

[talon]

oh, sry, and thx

[Bridget]

;)I have a black labrador retriever, and he is probably a mix, and Ive been trainig him for a couple of months and he is already a couple of years old,..anyways, he is doing good at the flushing, and his only problem is "come" and he wants to chase what he scares out of the ground and brush! LOL! but were gettting this problem fisxed very slowly

Good luck with your new pup,

FG

[rabadswompe]

any dog...and I do mean any, can be a flushing dog as long a s a couple of criteria are met.

#1- good nose, energy
#2- prey drive (a mutt that chases squirrels in the back yard is a fine example)
#3- enough brains to understand and obey commands in the field.

Gunshyness isn't relevant here but conditioning the dog to the raptor (and the raptor to the dog) is.

So, you can go fopr any reasonalble type of dog, from spaniels (cocker, springer) to terriers and larger hunting breeds (retrievers). I personnaly wouldn't use a pointing breed to flush game. I can be done but I preffer to keep my pointers pointing feather and holding steady.

You could train your retreiver to point (and some lines have the instinct to do it too) but it will be a pain. Using the retreiver to flush and beat the bush with simple left-right-woah-come-go out commands is simple and enjoyable.

Enjoy your new parner.

[birdboy92]

that is true, you can train retrievers to point, but they will NEVER be very good at it. It has been scientifically proven that retrievers dont have that stonecold "on-point" stare that other pointing dogs have. They never will. Sure you can get a lab to point and maybe even hold a bird, but not as effectivley as apointer. Pointers literally, Im not joking have a stare, that when they point a bird and the bird will actually skip a few heartbeats, and become so frightened that it will become incapacitated.I have even had a dog during training make a quail faint. But retrievers have that full on hardcore flushing instinct. Ive seen labs point and they are ok at it, but will never match a true pointer

[birdboy92]

oh, and one more thing,. ALL dogs point at sometime durring the flush. It is a natural pause in the stalk before they bore in. But what labs have been bred to do is eliminate that "pause"