By: Geoffrey A. English

Announcer: Birdhunter on Point brought to you by GundogsOnline.com

0:05 You know without a doubt one of the most important things you can do when training a young hunting dog is to properly introduce them to birds. We're going to do that today with a 12 week old English springer spaniel. Now when you start them this young, you're going to want to follow a few simple rules and we'll go over that with you today.

0:20 The first thing you're going to want to do is you're going to want to start with live birds. Now you're going to want to clip their wings, which means you're going to want to take the flight feathers off. The flight feathers are typiclaly the last five or six feathers on the bird's wing. We're going to do that so the bird can't fly away when we throw it for the dog. But it's going to be animated enough to get the dog excited. (whistle) Hey, hey hey!

0:41 The next thing you're going to want to do is your going to want to make sure you keep your retrieves short. Only throw it out five or ten yards at first. You can extend the length of the retrieves as the dog becomes more and more confident on the bird. (whistle)

0:55 One last point. You're going to want to make sure the dog has a check cord on him. This is going to help if the dog stands over the bird or if the dog doesn't come directly back to you. You can guide them. Now, when they do come back with the bird, you're going to want to let them enjoy that. Don't take the bird right away from them. Let them enjoy that retrieve.

Alright! Good girl!

1:13 Today we gave you some great tips on how to introduce your dog to birds. Fore more information, video tips and products to help you get hte most out of your hunting dog, visit GunDogsOnline.com

1:24 Announcer: GundogsOnline.com helping you get the most from your hunting dogs.