Hilary and Tom Nickerson's Boykin Wachtelhund turkey dogs

"As regular readers of this site know, we crossed our Boykin Spaniel 'Turk' with our Wachtelhund 'Bonnie' with a view to creating an excellent turkey, dove and duck dog - the Boytel. We had 10 puppies in March of 2004. Most of these pups went to hunting homes and we are happy to say they are doing GREAT! They have been successfully hunted on turkeys, ducks, pheasants and geese and we've had lots of fun following their progress through the calls and letters from their owners. Hope you enjoy the pictures. We are looking forward to lots of hunting in 2005." Hilary & Tom Nickerson (770) 841-5091

Buddha's first turkey - Lucy, Bonnie, and Buddha - Lucy's first turkey - Ron and Junior's first turkey

Here are some pictures of our puppies learning the ropes at 3 1/2 months, this time for ducks instead of turkeys!
They were born 3/13/04 and nine months later they're great hunting companions. Click on Hud's face to enlarge!

Puppys smell turkey April '04 - Hilary, Bonnie, Turk - Buster, Lucy, Cutter, Buddha - Bonnie with turkey and grouse.

Buster Lucy Cutter Buddha Boytel turkey dogs

Original Ad, April 2004: "BOYTEL" TURKEY DOG PUPPIES AVAILABLE MAY 1ST
Boykin Wachtelhund outcross. Medium size, liver-colored spaniel.
Parents give tongue on scatter and are still for shot. No kennel, no bag! Retrieve ducks and doves.
Fine water dogs. Trail wounded game. Wonderful companions. Call (770) 841-5091 Hilary Nickerson
"Thanks for letting us know about this site. Here are some pictures of our Turkey Dogs!
We don't have any puppies left however. We're keeping two and the rest are all in their new homes learning to be turkey dogs."
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Buddha's Camo - Sunrise at Hawks Hill - Swing wing to encourage bark on scatter - Puppy's 1st gobbler - Play Ball!

Note from the webmaster: For anyone who suspects turkey doggers want to make it legal in your State so they can start to make some money breeding dogs, consider this story about two dog lovers Hilary and Tom from Georgia (who are not ‘breeders’), who bred their dogs only to share the offspring with other hunting dog enthusiasts:
Hilary and Tom bred their ‘Turk’ to ‘Bonnie’. But Turk wouldn’t breed Bonnie naturally, for some reason Turk looked at Bonnie as his daughter, or maybe his sister. So, they had Vet expenses for artificial insemination. Bonnie had ten puppies, then got a uterus infection, and had to have a hysterectomy. They have at least $2200 in Bonnie’s medical bills, plus advertising and other expenses. They sold half the puppies, kept two, and gave three away to friends who they knew would hunt them. After all the time and trouble, they ended up losing money, this was Bonnies only litter, it aged her, and she'll probably be a different hunter besides.
I’ve read some good advice from professional breeders that apply, and we can all benefit from. Especially those who suspect anyone promoting turkey dogs is in it for the buck. Consider this: The world is already full of dogs that are not wanted, just check at the pound. Most breeders say about 50% of their pups turn out to be good hunters. So even though you might have excellent foundation stock, selecting the right puppy can still be a crap shoot.
In my opinion, if you want to improve your odds, first select a pup with the right ancestors. Then be prepared to spend many thousands of hours training, and remember where you went wrong. Then, once you are both so attached to each other that you’d never consider culling the old dog (and if you’re lucky you've killed a few turkeys), you can get a new puppy and start all over again. There’s plenty info available for good people to read about whether they should even get a dog, or become a breeder so please check them out. If you're looking for a turkey dog puppy, asking any of the people on this website would be a good start.

This website is dedicated to informing outdoors people about turkey dogs,
and we do it out of our love and respect for the dog, the turkey, and the sport. Jon F.

Turkey dog owners should use the Spring season to keep their companions 'tuned up' for the fall season. When you get a Spring gobbler, use him to lay a scent trail for your turkey dog. Put a few loose feathers at the beginning of the trail and try to keep your foot scent as far from it as possible (we use a long dog lease to drag the turkey and keep it well to the side of where we are stepping). Depending on your dog's experience, make the trail long/short difficult/easy. When your dog finds the turkey, lots of praise and excitement is called for! It also helps to keep a wing or two to throw for your dog over the ensuing weeks. As you can see from the enclosed pictures, Buddha loves retrieving his turkey wings! We also give our dog Turk the gobbler head to chew on. This was a ritual Parker Whedon used with his great turkey dog "Luke". His reward for a good scatter or locating a wounded turkey. Hilary & Tom Nickerson 6/1/2008

Sadly, Turk (the old dog in the pictures and sire of our Boytel puppies) left us 6/13/08. He was almost 15, deaf and blind, and deteriorated quickly, a few days after the pictures of him with the turkey and gobbler head were taken. As you can imagine, we are distraught - if only they could live 30 years instead of 15!