2006-07-11 17:23:07 · 6 answers · asked by boo110794 1 in Sports ➔ Outdoor Recreation ➔ Hunting
Rat terriers are excellent squirrel dogs. They can also be trained to hunt and catch any sort of small game such as Ground Hogs, Raccoons, Possums, etc.
2006-07-13 02:33:34 · answer #1 · answered by sonny_too_much 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Technically speaking, Huskies are considered a "working breed". I have never known anyone who had a Husky just for hunting. OTOH, they're certainly capable of capturing and killing game. But both dogs, generally, have traits that lend themselves well to hunting. Also, keep in mind that "hunting" means different things or tasks: --tracking/flushing --pointing --treeing --defeating --fetching Depending upon the skill, you may want a dog that can go to ground (like a Border Terrier or JRT), a dog with a soft mouth (that can handle a bird without crushing it), a dog that can kill another animal, a dog that bays when it captures the scent, a dog that is silent and can stalk effectively. Rat Terriers definitely are capable of being hunting dogs. The Decker line of ratties was bred specifically to hunt bears. The person who named the Rat Terrier (Teddy Roosevelt) used them for small game hunting. In the South, they're very big as squirrel and rabbit hunters. That's because they have a terrier's mentality and ability to tolerate pain and can go to ground to some extent, with sight hound (ability to spot movement and see better than most dogs), and scent (beagle is bred into the breed) so incredible tracking ability and extremely agile. Finally, a dog can be a great hunter, well trained and, depending upon the function, acquire some scars. Send a JRT into a hole after a fox and it's likely going to get some damage when it corners the fox. Ditto with a dachshund after a badger. And hunting itself (going through brush at speed) can cause damage--my rat terrier has had torn paw pads twice from chasing squirrels in broken brush, I know of another dog who suffered a torn tail just because of the brush.
2016-03-27 02:00:03 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Kind of. they were bred for a sport called ratting. they would put the dog in a ring with rats and wager on how many rats the dog would kill in a given time frame.
2006-07-11 17:27:03 · answer #3 · answered by discostu 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh yes. They are cousins to the Jack Russell Terrier, and they were bred for hunting foxes.
2006-07-11 17:27:04 · answer #4 · answered by seth22rr 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they used to be used to kill rats .one rat terrior can kill 2000 rats in a barn so i heard a long time ago.
2006-07-11 17:30:06 · answer #5 · answered by Gypsy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They can be trained to be. They make darn good ones at that!
2006-07-12 05:54:07 · answer #6 · answered by bigbuckkiller166 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋