Eating Pheasant wings....

[uplander]

I hunt with Satch on a Wildlife Management zone that stocks Pheasants during the season....The dog has developed a taste for the wings and feathers when he finds them...He will give up a whole bird when told to drop it....but refuses to drop the wings and feathers.....how would you break the dog of this....or just let him eat them....?

[onehorse]

Just wondering if you've done "hold", "drop" (or "give)" and F.F. with him. I had a different situation with Buddy in that he wouldn't pick up a duck. I resolved to just go through the whole F.F. training with him and not worry about the ducks, per say. The idea being that if he would pick up (and give) lots of different items during the training, the duck would become just just another item.Eventually, I had him picking up all sorts of regular bumpers and home-made ones of totally different weights shapes and textures - some with wings tied to them. Then we transitioned to birds. Sure enough, the duck just became another item to be picked up and delivered. Maybe the same thing could happen with a wing. What I don't get about your situation is when you are hunting, aren't the wings attached to the birds that he retrieves and delivers? Where does he get just the wings when he picks up a shot bird?

[Makwa's]

What I don't get about your situation is when you are hunting, aren't the wings attached to the birds that he retrieves and delivers? Where does he get just the wings when he picks up a shot bird?

I don’t think I am understanding either. I was also wondering if you had worked him through a program that included FF because if you have it sounds like Satch is regressing and needs to be taken back into the program to reinforce what he had previously learned but has forgotten or gotten sloppy with.

[uplander]

No..I never did the FF....so it seems his eating and taste for PHEASANT IS GREATER THAN his want to obey the command to drop....My issue with him eating the feathers and wings was wondering if it is hurtful to the intestines..as he wolfed down a whole wing when he knew I wanted it....and the tail feathers that are around the Zone he munches on when ever he can....

My buddy has told me to work with a frozen bird...which I know have.... It is strange how he finds feathers a tasty treat ... And I can be thankful he drops the whole bird....he must know he can't swallow a whole Pheasant...

It is sad to see so many birds shot too close with too much load....The Birds wings are blown right off and many are too blown apart for eating and left behind....making the training harder for me...and a waste of the birds life....

[MyHunter]

First off, it disgusts me to read of hunters not hunting properly.....there is NO REASON for wings to get shot off like that!!! RRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrr......

Sounds like an obedience issue......go back to reinforcing "Leave it" when the undesired item is being approached, and "Drop it" if you're too late and the item is in the dog's mouth.

[Annette47]

I have no advice specific to pheasant wings, but I would be concerned if my dogs started refusing a command to drop something if I told them to. Maybe the pheasant wings are harmless but what if next time it's something that could hurt him and he disobeys? I agree - go back to working basic obedience on this issue.

[windycanyon]

In a nutshell: Evan Graham's SmartFetch. I'm surprised Evan hasn't responded personally to this.

To be a hunting companion (and to pass an AKC hunt test), the dog must go directly out, pick up the bird and bring it to HAND. Gently. The bird needs to be fit for the table. Anne

[uplander]

Originally Posted by windycanyon

In a nutshell: Evan Graham's SmartFetch. I'm surprised Evan hasn't responded personally to this.

To be a hunting companion (and to pass an AKC hunt test), the dog must go directly out, pick up the bird and bring it to HAND. Gently. The bird needs to be fit for the table. Anne

Funny thing...before eating the large wing...he went right into a wooded area near where my car was parked and when I called him because I didn't see him he pranced out with a beautiful hen, brought it right to me and released on verbal command ..Go figure... He then went back into that area to find rooster , brought that out and dropped it....went back in and the wing was his....I'd been training with Cabela' wings attached to a bumper... for the past yr. and I think he thinks the wing is his reward...

I'll look into Evans material...he always posts great ...and I 'am sure his techniques are top notch...

[Quack Quack]

Pheasant wings are odd. They are sharper and don't flex like ducks. From time to time, my dogs have had a mouth infection from retrieving pheasants. These are clean, well shot, intact pheasants too, so I would be more afraid of a shredded pheasant.

I don't fully understand how the dog is eating the wings. I'm assuming he's pulling them off the bird. Yikes! If the gunner is shooting them to shreds, then someone needs to revisit hunting etiquettes.

The problem can be addressed with Come/Here or force fetch. The dog shouldn't be given the time to rip off and eat wings. His job is too retrieve. Get the bird and get back. So when does the dog have time to eat the wing?

[uplander]

Originally Posted by Quack Quack

Pheasant wings are odd. They are sharper and don't flex like ducks. From time to time, my dogs have had a mouth infection from retrieving pheasants. These are clean, well shot, intact pheasants too, so I would be more afraid of a shredded pheasant.

I don't fully understand how the dog is eating the wings. I'm assuming he's pulling them off the bird. Yikes! If the gunner is shooting them to shreds, then someone needs to revisit hunting etiquettes.

The problem can be addressed with Come/Here or force fetch. The dog shouldn't be given the time to rip off and eat wings. His job is too retrieve. Get the bird and get back. So when does the dog have time to eat the wing?

There is a technique I just heard today that the hunters use ..They break off the wing, and then strip the entire skin off the bird...some of these guys just leave the head, wings and skin right on the ground...Good practice where I hunt is hanging that in a tree or bush where the dogs can't get them....but some hunters don't think others will follow ....

[MyHunter]

Yes, we see this ALL the time at popular hunting spots. Some hunters will "pop the breast" right there after the kill leave the rest and take home just the breasts. To each their own, but we take the bird whole and the four of us each as much as we can. Seems disrespectful to just pop the breasts, imo.

[Quack Quack]

OK, I think I get it. These are found pheasants parts and he's just scavenging...
Hmmm, if that's the case, then you just need a great recall so you can call him off the "roadkill".
Just keep a watch for any swelling or painful jaws. That will be a good clue that a feather stem caused an infection.

Good luck in the field.

[Zman1001]

To answer one other question. Him eating this is not harmful to him. His system is designed to digest this stuff. Of course, we would not want this as a full time diet, but a few here and there will not harm him.

As far as the other issues, I think they have been answered in the above posts.

Doug

[uplander]

I've been surprised that he was able to process the bone and feathers....but I guess raw diets do work..

Yesterday I ordered an Evan Graham DVD and book on Smart Fetch along with a book..Tom Dokken's Retriever Training Book....Gun Dog Supply shipped it out the same day...that's great service...

[Zman1001]

Good luck with the dvd's. Good luck on the program. I just started about a month ago and it is going slowly, although you are already far enough along with obedience (like sit (until told) and heel that force fetch will be next step.