Home continued…
In the glory days of native game birds having an equal distribution across the country there was no need for pigeons or pen raised bobwhite quail to develop a young bird dog prospect. Today the story is much different in that you must live in a specific region or travel great distances to afford this luxury of wild bird exposure.
Probably the most popular bird used to train bird dogs today is the homing pigeon. Pigeons have earned this title by their natural homing ability, game bird scent, and extreme heartiness. They are also very prolific and can be easily obtained most anywhere in the country.
Early dog trainers looking for a better transition to wild birds used pen raised bobwhite quail for training. They would keep a covey of pen raised birds in the training field housed in a pen that resembled an outhouse or john. This house would have feed, water, quail, and a one way funnel for liberated birds to recall back into the house using their natural covey instinct.
In recent years pigeons and quail have become very expensive to buy and have added a negative dynamic to the development of a young dog. After paying upwards and over five dollars per bird a dog owner feels compelled and pressured to get something out of the birds he uses for training. The bird that does not recall or the pigeon that doesn’t return to his loft is as good as tossing your money into the wind. These investments need a home that gives them a healthy environment and promotes their recalling and homing instinct. This home must be well designed, built of quality materials, and last a lifetime.
The lofts and pens that I build are a representation of many hours of field experience and interacting with people that have successful bird programs. Recently I teamed up with Dan Hendrickson to build the Phantom Quail Kennel. This is the most complete and dependable Johnny house system available. Plans for this unit are also available if you want to build your own. Visit phantomquailkennel.com for more information.
Please visit The Landing Board portion of this site. This is a place to gather and learn about setting up with birds for dog training. There will be frequently asked questions, discussion of health, facilities, and methods to make training situations productive and realistic. From time to time I build hard to find items such as field trial collars, dog chain stake outs, or other related items and will have them for sale. Also, in the search for a quality field trial dog, many great hunting dogs are developed. These dogs will be advertised for sale showing video clips of their different stages of development.
W.L. Jaggars