“The Bird Collie”

[Bassaro]

Hello all, I have funny story to tell. So one day this summer my wife comes home from her friends house with a puppy. We had been kicking around the idea of a dog for our boys to burn off some of the 3 year old and 5 year old energy. I was going to use this as an excuse to get a German shorthair. However… my wife shows up with an Australian Shepherd / Sheltie mix…

So she tells me “They are both very smart dog breeds” and don’t you always tell people “You can train any dog breed, it just depends on the dog itself”. I begrudgingly accept this playful puppy into our home. Over the months the boys name the little guy Ozzy and he shows his intelligence and gentle nature to us. Honestly he was a good choice for a pet emphasis on the word pet. All the while I’m quietly frustrated on a missed opportunity of a bird dog that could have been.

So enter Pheasant season in Pennsylvania. I came home with two roosters. I figured why not give it a try. I dragged and hid the birds in my back yard and much to my surprise Ozzy always found them. My eyebrow raised with possibly but still dismissed this collie looking dog. I came home from work early the following week and grab the Benelli. As I’m walking out the door my wife stops me and says “Why don’t you take Ozzy with you”. I begrudgingly agree and thoroughly expected to come home and say “ Here’s your pet back”

Well… that’s not what happened. Our first time in the field the dog flushed two roosters. I won’t bore anyone with the details but I probably shot around 15 birds off Ozzy this season. Not to shabby as he isn’t even a year old yet. His Status has been upgraded from “Pet” to “Bird Dog” and I am thoroughly enjoying all of the confused looks I get from people every time this dog flushes birds. My wife has dubbed him “The Bird Collie” as he does have a Collie like look to him. I like the title and am enjoying having a hunting buddy again.

 

[Loper]

That’s great! Our family has an Aussie and just the other day my wife asked me if anyone ever hunts with the breed. I shook my head and said no. As I was reading your write up my Aussie, came over to me with a playful look as if she knew what I was reading. Now she’s sitting by the door looking stoically out the window. I’m not much of a dog trainer or consistently hunt birds in the field, but if I did I’d probably try to see how she’d do. This breed is very smart.

 

[squid-freshprints]

My Dogue Brasileiro (Brasil dog, protection breed.), will scent and find chukars, as good as any dog. She wont work any other bird, and would swallow it whole if you shot one though.

 

[Bassaro]

That’s great! Our family has an Aussie and just the other day my wife asked me if anyone ever hunts with the breed. I shook my head and said no. As I was reading your write up my Aussie, came over to me with a playful look as if she knew what I was reading. Now she’s sitting by the door looking stoically out the window. I’m not much of a dog trainer or consistently hunt birds in the field, but if I did I’d probably try to see how she’d do. This breed is very smart.

Oh yeah, I attribute his success rate to the Aussie in him. They are just flat out smart and looking for a job to do. The lab I had previously took far more training to get it. This guy kinda just got it right away.

 

[Loper]

Good to hear. Maybe I’ll see what my Aussie can do and spend more time quail hunting.

 

[JeffP_Or]

This is great! Start a bit of training and see where it goes...never can tell.

I follow another forum and there was a prolific poster that who wrote often of adventures he had hunting with his non-hunting breed - lots of duck hunting in particular but still applicable. he still writes on a SUBSTACK BY THE NAME OF TODD. The dog's name was Alex; photos were a plus. Great stories if you are interested.

 

[Bassaro]

This is great! Start a bit of training and see where it goes...never can tell.

I follow another forum and there was a prolific poster that who wrote often of adventures he had hunting with his non-hunting breed - lots of duck hunting in particular but still applicable. he still writes on a SUBSTACK BY THE NAME OF TODD. The dog's name was Alex; photos were a plus. Great stories if you are interested.

Thank you, I’ll look for his threads.

 

[ianpadron]

I can tell just looking at him that Ozzy is smart as a whip, that's the first step right there!

One of my favorite accounts on IG is gator the duck dog, a stumpy lil runt of a jack Russell down in Texas that will put a lot of labs to shame in the duck blind.

Awesome score on the dog and best of luck in the future, looks like you've got some epic adventures following his nose ahead of ya.

 

[KurtR]

I can tell just looking at him that Ozzy is smart as a whip, that's the first step right there!

One of my favorite accounts on IG is gator the duck dog, a stumpy lil runt of a jack Russell down in Texas that will put a lot of labs to shame in the duck blind.

Awesome score on the dog and best of luck in the future, looks like you've got some epic adventures following his nose ahead of ya.

Gator also has the advantage of having a trainer who has put his hands on thousands of dogs