Tried to use pen raised birds for my dogs last weekend -------- they are very experienced bird hunters -- they immediately smell the difference and know that it was tame birds----- they would point, then pounce on the birds ,,, they know tame birds are not quick enough to escape. I have NEVER had either of them break on a wild bird. After 3 or 4 tries, I gave up, I figured it was counter productive.

See my training seminar.

You're saying a tame bird smells different than a wild bird? I had a guy in Eastern Colorado in a bar after a hunt tell me his dog could smell the difference between a rooster and a hen. Claimed his dog just wouldn't point hens cause the dog knew they were only after roosters, he was serious. My guess is the dogs are reading the situation rather than smelling the difference between wild and tame birds.

In a bar tells it all.

How so? I’ve certainly heard and seen more absurd things about birds and dogs on different hunting forums than I have ever heard in a bar.

Another thing is you should zip your lip while the pup is on point. Its my theory that a pup goes into a trance while pointing. Talk breaks the trance. Whoa means go.

Everything I post is opinion not fact until dogs learn to talk.

Dogs quickly learn the drill with planted birds for training. When training I pretty much always use a spring trap, and have the dog on a check cord.

I had a dog that could count how many were in the pointed covey

Reminds me of an old joke.

You need a launcher. Or better yet pigeons and a launcher. You want to launch the bird soon after the dog enters the scent cone, even if they don't point.
You dogs can catch pen raised quail in flight. Also, sounds like you are letting dogs to close to the birds.
They should go on point yards from the birds if scenting conditions are decent.

Also, pen raised birds do smell different because they are fed all grain.

Nailed it. Here is an old picture of a quail crop.

I have a dog that won’t point pigeons. She was trained on pigeons as a pup. Now if I put one out for her she lays down and looks at me when she smells it.

Hahahahahaha, ok.

Where do you hunt? Do you have a picture of the pup?

I think what dogs can smell is the scent trail left in the process of planting the bird. I had an old seasoned dog out of guard rail lineage that had a great nose, and I helped put on a canned hunt for several state senators, and my old Jake dog figured out after the first bird to just find my foot scent and he would track that to the bird like a blood hound. The really experienced NSTRA dogs learn how to follow the four wheeler trails, and that is why the good bird planters in those trials plant the birds and then drive around in figure 8s before they leave the field.

Suspect that is what might be going on here with the pouncing is they think that daddy was walking along and a cripple jumped out of his game bag.

Pen raised birds do smell different than wild birds. They smell like a chicken coop and you can smell it with your own nose. If the dog is close enough to pounce on all of them, it is roading in on it’s birds.