What would you do if your dog caught a bird?

[fraggle]

Talking to a friend last night has made me think

I was telling her about Charlie regularly flushing out pheasants at some woods we walk in, and she said "what would you do if he actually caught one? - and would it be classed as poaching if you took it away with you?"

 I haven't a clue what I'd do if he caught one (apart form be sick and panic!) - what would you do?

[lolajays]

TBH the same as you! Maudie loves chasing birds and gets very upset when they fly away! She also loves squirrels! She tries to follow them up the trees  Very funny to watch tho!

[fraggle]

I ought to add that the only thing he has "caught" so far has been a very very deceased and decomposing rabbit 

[Sheryl]

I wouldn't have that problem with Kali.  The sparrows are too quick for her and anything the size of a pheasant scares her

[lexi]

I've not much to worry about with my two. Byron isn't really that interested in birds. Holly, however is the exact opposite. She even caught one once and came running over to me with it in her mouth with its wings flapping like mad. I got her to drop the bird. The poor little thing had had quite a shock so it took him a minute or so to calm down. Then he had a good shake, ruffled his feathers and promptly flew away!
It's good to know that Holly has such a gentle mouth!

[megbug]

yesterday morning I was walking dags and we went under a tree that had lots of pheasants in it. they all started to fly away, but one hit a branch and fell on the path infront of him! he immediately grabbed its legs and proceded to lick it! managed to get him to release it. think gamekeepers wouldnt really be bothered bout one pheasant tho, if it was a regular occurance it might be poaching tho!

[Nicola]

It would depend, if the bird was injured and dying then I would finish it off as humanely as I could. If it was still alive and they were just holding it I would make them leave it and let it go.

Alfie caught a blackbird a couple of weeks ago and brought it to me. It was in a pretty bad state, I think a cat had got it before he did so I made him leave it then I got a strong stick and did the merciful thing. It would never have made it, it was pretty mangled but still breathing. It's not a nice thing to do but I couldn't have left it to suffer or let Alfie play with it.

[Helen]

jarv caught a cock pheasant when he was around 6 months old, and happily shoved it in my hands as a gift. 
we released a very peeved looking bird with a few missing tail feathers a couple of hundred yards away from the scene of the crime.

we also received a leg-tagged racing pigeon as a gift, still very much alive (we kept it, fed and watered it, and released it)

the thought of poaching and keeping a dead bird has never been a thought to me - i would first consider as to why the bird was able to be caught in the first case - it may have been ill or injured, so would you really want to take it with you anyway?

[Tasha]

I'm with nicola on this one, first of all your dog shouldn't be chasing pheasants and if they are then YOU should be practising your 'STOP' and 'RECALL' commands, effectively if you are not working for the keeper then you are poaching if you are on private land and can be prosecuted for it, its a similar thing to if you hit one on the road you can't pick it up but the person behind you can.  Worst case senerio is that the keeper can shoot your dog.  No different to sheep worrying.

If your dog does manage to retrieve a bird (effectively pegging it happens to all of us) then gently take it from his mouth, lay the bird on its back in your hands and check to make sure your dog hasn't injured it, if it has then hit it very sharply on the head to kill it, you will get a bit of movement afterwards but not much if you do then its not dead.

If my dogs bring me a pheasant then they get alot of praise but they are worked dogs and they know they are not allowed to touch birds that have not been shot, having said that we do all get the odd pegged bird but it is not something to encourage and if you have your wits about you it shouldn't happen.

During the breeding season especially for partridge choose alternative walks as these birds are ground nesters and very open to predators or pet dogs.

[Millomite]

Remember that the game season runs from October to 1st Feb, and to kill game within this period you need a game license.

If it happened to me I would check the bird for damage caused by the dog and release it if it was fine. It would be classed as poaching because you do not have permission to take game from the land.

[ali]

we had a similar scenario but involving a rabbit which barkley managed to catch when he was 11 months old. 

he had disappeared off into a thicket and the next thing i heard was a lot of squealing and he appeared a few minutes later with a very fresh, dead rabbit hanging from his mouth. my reaction was a bizarre combination of horror and pride!  'leave' is not one of barkley's favourite commands when he has found something really precious so i knew i didn't have a chance of getting it off him, so proceeded on our walk through the wood with a very cocky cocker proudly, but very gently, carrying his catch. 

got back to the car wondering what on earth i was going to do, when luckily the situation was resolved as it became apparent that luckily barkley is more attached to me than a dead rabbit and so left it in a field when he realised i wasn't letting it into the car. 

if the rabbit had been alive but seriously injured, i would have put it out of its misery. as it was dead, i left it for a local carnivore to benefit from. i wouldn't have taken it home.

[Tasha]

humane reasons you can kill it at any time of year... most odgs catch rabbits if they are mixy in which case its done it a favour or if they are young

[mikeygasbag]

Hi

Don't worry.

If Charlie was to catch a pheasant, it is very unlikely that he would harm it. Providing that you have managed to teach Charlie to 'drop', on command he will do so and the bird will fly away unharmed.

Cockers are very soft mouthed, it is why they were bred, so as not to damage the meat.

As previously mentioned, rabbits will die of shock when caught by a dog, but a Cocker Spaniel has little chance of catching a healthy rabbit and to put an end to a rabbit with mixy has to be a good thing.

I have always said " They all cheat, rabbits run down holes, squirrels run up trees and pheasants just fly off, what chance does a Cocker have"

Enjoy watching Charlie doing what he loves to do.

Mike.

[Lee67]

Poppy once got hold of an injured pigeon in our local woods when she was about 5 months. She didn't try and hurt it she was just holding it.
She was soo proud of herself, her little face was saying 'look mummy look what I've got'.
I on the other hand was running round like Macaulay Culkin from Home Alone! 
I emptied all the treats out of my pocket and she dropped it!

[Helen]

I'm with nicola on this one, first of all your dog shouldn't be chasing pheasants and if they are then YOU should be practising your 'STOP' and 'RECALL' commands, effectively if you are not working for the keeper then you are poaching if you are on private land and can be prosecuted for it, its a similar thing to if you hit one on the road you can't pick it up but the person behind you can.  Worst case senerio is that the keeper can shoot your dog.  No different to sheep worrying.

If your dog does manage to retrieve a bird (effectively pegging it happens to all of us) then gently take it from his mouth, lay the bird on its back in your hands and check to make sure your dog hasn't injured it, if it has then hit it very sharply on the head to kill it, you will get a bit of movement afterwards but not much if you do then its not dead.

If my dogs bring me a pheasant then they get alot of praise but they are worked dogs and they know they are not allowed to touch birds that have not been shot, having said that we do all get the odd pegged bird but it is not something to encourage and if you have your wits about you it shouldn't happen.

During the breeding season especially for partridge choose alternative walks as these birds are ground nesters and very open to predators or pet dogs.

quite agree tasha...if you are training your dog as a gundog that is, and if you are walking on private land....

Not all cockers on this site will be gundog trained, conversely not all will be trained at ringcraft....and not all members use the same training methods anyway.

can't see where fraggle asked for training techniques, might just be me not seeing it?