Puppy Problems - Bird Eating

Posted on March 26, 2004 by Keith Allison 

My 3 month old puppy is eating the birds when I throw them for him to retrieve, but shows little interest in his puppy dummy. What can I do about this?

Most puppies probably have some tendency to run off with the bird and eat it. Some times it is brought on by poor training techniques. The retrieving instinct is derived from an inherit behavior of wanting to eat the bird brought down from their ancestors.

The trainer must deprive the puppy of the behavior of running off to eat the bird while promoting an alternate route, which is coming back to the trainer. Yelling, threatening, or chasing the puppy will only cause the puppy to run away from the trainer. His only alternative is to run away at that point and probably eat the bird.

So, how do you promote the desired behavior of coming back to the trainer with the bird? We will do this by encouraging and forming good habits and through the use of a check cord. To promote good habits, we will use a puppy bumper or ball, etc. (objects he probably doesn't want to eat) and not use the birds (an object he does want to eat) until we are getting a good return to the trainer with the bumper or ball. At first he may not show interest in the bumpers or ball, because he's use to and prefers birds instead. Be patient and he should eventually get excited about the other objects with some teasing and encouragement. After a few weeks of retrieving the bumper or ball, you should start to see the desired behavior to where you feel comfortable reintroducing birds again. Be patient and let it happen when it happens. Don't get discouraged and loose your cool with pup. Remember to try the bumper in water as well. Pups that won't pick up a bumper on land will pick it up in water. (Use caution when using the long check cord in water, pup could get tangled up and panic)

Use the check cord to physically restrain pup from running off and eating the bird. Use it with the bumper or ball prior to reintroducing birds. If you haul pup in before he gets to run off with the object, then he won't be able to start eating the bird. Therefore, you are promoting the desired behavior of returning to the trainer.

Once you reintroduce birds, start with frozen birds (pigeon or teal, then work into big ducks) and pup on the check cord. The frozen birds will discourage pup from eating the bird and the check cord will encourage pup in coming back to the trainer. Limit the number of retrieves to four for five per session for two to three weeks. Once you're seeing the desired behavior of pup bringing the frozen bird back without trying to eat it, switch to a bumper with a wing taped to it and go through the same process. Now lets try a thawed or fresh bird. Pigeons or Teal to start with and work into big ducks. If pup starts to run off with the bird, use verbal encouragement to get him to come to you and the check cord to "reel him in" (don't jerk, gently lead him in). With more repetition and praise for doing things right, you should see him coming back to you with enthusiasm. We don't live in a perfect world; so if pup still wants to eat the fresh or thawed birds, limit him to frozen birds or bumpers until he is old enough (around 6 months of age) to go through the Force Fetch process which will eliminate this problem.