New Dog

[Will]

Question for you guys? I am anticipating my Boykin will be born around July 1st. I have feathers set aside in bags in the freezer for training from spring kills. I live in central Maryland where fall is not allowed however have plenty of public places to train for locating flocks. How soon should I let the dog play with the feathers to get it acclimated to the scent. I don't see her hunting this fall since she'll still be a pup.

[yelpy]

You may want to get in touch with Marlin Watkins.

[Will]

Thank you for the recommendation in regards to Mr. Watkins. I have actually been reviewing his site and am due to receive one of his yelpers hopefully this fall. I just purchased some reading from his website to hopefully get me started. Of all the times I've hunted fall birds in Western Maryland I've never encountered anyone using dogs. I'm very excited and hope it works out with the dog.

[trkehunr93]

Congrats on the pup!  I am training a male chocolate lab as a turkey dog here in VA where its legal to use a dog in the fall.  He is 11 weeks old and I gave him a wing right of the bat when we got him at 8 weeks, he took to it quick.  I also have put feathers in his crate for him to chew on and he will go to them over his chew toys.  I don't give him the wing everyday or feathers everyday so he doesn't get bored with them.  Right now I am really concentrating on basic commands and taking him on walks with me so he gets use to being on a leash.  Jon Fries of turkeydog.org is a great source of info. about fall hunting with dogs.  Membership is only $20 and you get a book by Jon Fries and Parker Whedon about training a dog for fall hunting.  It also includes alot of info. from about 40 other turkey doggers around the country.  Congrats again and good luck, boykins are great dogs.  I'm just partial to labs 

[Will]

Thanks for the advice on turkeydog.org. I just joined and purchased reading from there site. I was considering placing some feathers in the crate with pup and will keep it in moderation so as to not lose the dogs interest in the scent. Thanks again for the info.

[thundrchikin]

First off congrats to both posters on the new pups. Secondly thanks or joining the turkeydog organization it helps all the turkey doggers out there. Will the first thing I did when I got my 8 wk old Brittany was let her start playing with the turkey feathers,shes 4 yrs old now and still loves to play with them especially if they're still attached to the bird.