- Plentiful wild birds of multiple species.
- Thousands of acres of varied terrain
- Cooler Summer Temperatures
- It simply can't be beat.
Someone recently told us that they could do just as well with Johnny House quail on their place. Now we understand, and use Johnny house quail ourselves, and they do offer a young dog a good foundation. But they simply are NOT wild. Even if you never touch them, they become accustomed to being around people and dogs.
They don't flush wild. One of the great benefits of Wild birds is that they are, well - wild. A dog can creep in and get close to pen raised, released birds. The dogs tend to point lower and close to the bird. A wild bird will flush early, teaching the dogs to stand off their game, use the body scent on the wind rather than foot scent. Those dogs stand head high to catch the breeze, giving the class point we all enjoy.
Johnny House quail generally don't leave a running track for the dog to follow, unless it's straight back to the coop as they learn where the Johnny house is, and so do the dogs. The released birds know where they're safe and have food and water nearby. We want the bird dogs to be hunting appropriate covers, using the wind and terrain to find birds first, not look for something resembling an outhouse and THEN look to cut off a bird trying to make it's way back.
One more fact of a Johnny house setup is that it doesn't get moved. Even if you have multiples, the birds are always going to be in the same places and smart bird dogs learn the zones of a hundred acre or hundreds of acre piece with quail coops in a quick hurry.
Ask any Pro who's spent time on the Prairies working dogs on wild birds and they'll all give you the same answer. There just is no beating wild birds and dogs get more experience in a Summer on the Prairie than a year anywhere.
For information on how you can give your dog the Prairie Advantage - contact us at
530-204-7972
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