Pigeons or doves for dog training

[Jake Levi]

I am looking for a dozen or so pigeons or doves for dog training. I am in Northern MI, would drive a couple hrs to pick them up.

I want a smaller strain of pigeon or doves for young dogs to learn to carry. Not looking for a big meat type pigeon.

[chlt lab]

  Hi Jake,

  Do you have a recal box?  If so try setting it in a local farmers feed lot. Bait it with corn. You'll have all the pigions those little lab pups can carry.

  Works well in my area and the farmer love ya for it. They lose the pigion problem and no gun fire to spook the cattle


Jerome

[Inkmann]

How about  Bob White Quail???
 Mine are small like pidgeons.

[Jake Levi]

Yes, I'll be raising Bobwhites too, they are great for flushing but a pigeon will lay quiet until the dog touches it.  Turn them on their baclk in your hand, tuck their head under the wing and they will lay there like that, when teaching a dog to scent a bird they are excellent, it doesnt take a lot but hard to duplicate this with other birds. Pheasants can be 'dizzied' but its also a much bigger bird. Too big for a 3-4 mos old pup, you can really shut a puppy down if a big Pheasant hen or cock decides to fight.

[PSUQuailer]

Are you looking to have them just one time or to have them keep flying back to your home.  If you want them to come back to your house you will have to get squeakers (baby pigeons),  and they will have to be less than six weeks old so that they know that your loft is home.  If you get older birds they will have to become prisoner birds and you will not be able to let them fly because they will return to their original home.  Try going to Google and typing in pigeon talk forum, you might be able to find someone close by for your purposes. 

                                                                                              Ryan S.

[sugar run gamebirds]

quail or chukar will work just as well you can dizzy a quail and it will stay also.plus you can get them to recall.big cost saver.we use either homers or quail. on pups that young you can start with cortunix because they don't fly very far and the pup will get 2 or 3 points out of 1 bird.


      Lenny
Sugar Run Gamebirds

[labmancan]

You can also find an old bridge or warehouse like we did as kids. Wait til after dark, take flashlight with a red lense and take what yuo want from the nests. pidgeons will sit tight if you don't cause too much commotion. We would wait until spring and take babies, then you know they will return to your house when they fledge.

[Jake Levi]

Good ideas, thanks, I thought of getting some white homers just for this. I could section off part of my chicken house or stable for a pigeon loft.