Hunting Dogs
A hunting dog refers to any dog who assists humans in hunting. There are several types of hunting dogs developed for various tasks. The major categories of hunting dogs includehounds, terriers, cur type dogs, and gun dogs. Among these categories further divisions can be made based upon the dogs' skill sets.
Watch videos for each hunting dog species on the YouTube hunting dog channel
How To Train Your Dog - Rabbit
Hunting is a natural canine instinct, and there's really no better way to enjoy this sport then with the help of Man's Best Friend. The most efficient type of dog for Rabbit Hunting is a hound dog (especially beagles) and the best time to begin training is as a puppy. If you want your dog to learn to hunt rabbits, remember to have a little bit of patience (and a pocket full of treats!)
Steps
Watch videos for each hunting dog species on the YouTube hunting dog channel
How To Train Your Dog - Rabbit
Hunting is a natural canine instinct, and there's really no better way to enjoy this sport then with the help of Man's Best Friend. The most efficient type of dog for Rabbit Hunting is a hound dog (especially beagles) and the best time to begin training is as a puppy. If you want your dog to learn to hunt rabbits, remember to have a little bit of patience (and a pocket full of treats!)
Steps
- The best age to begin training is between 6 and 8 weeks. Puppies at this age have a short attention span so remember to keep training between 10-15 minutes for 2 or 3 times a day.
- Scatter pieces of treats through the yard and allow your pup to sniff around to find them. This helps the puppy learn to track a scent. It also helps to take a piece of meat and drag it a few feet so the puppy can learn to follow a scent trail.
- When your pup is 12 to 16 weeks, you can begin using a tame rabbit for hunting practice. In a large, enclosed area, introduce the dog and rabbit. Let the dog sniff the rabbit thoroughly while holding the rabbit by the scruff.
- Release the rabbit. Instinctively, your dog should chase after it. Praise your dog if she begins to bark or bay while chasing it.
- Remove the rabbit once it begins to get tired from running or if you see the puppy being aggressive. Make sure to not allow your dog to harm the rabbit.
- Repeat the process with lots of praise every time your pup runs the rabbit to exhaustion.
- Let your puppy run with older, trained dogs. Once in a pack the puppy will try to manipulate the other dogs' behavior. Do this until your puppy is tracking and baying at rabbits without the need of praise or encouragement.
Tips
- If unable to get a tame rabbit, rabbit fur or bottled rabbit scent could be used to train your pup to track scents.
- Always praise your dog for good work. Dogs will always respond better to positive reinforcement (i.e. treats, saying "good boy!")
Warnings
- Do not use a wild rabbit for training, as a wild rabbit could injure your puppy.
- Do not begin training in an open area. Puppies, especially hound breeds, are very curious and will very easily follow another trail and get lost. Pay full attention and keep your training space enclosed.
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