Help with beagle rabbit training.?

Question

I own a 2 year old beagle. You might think this is a late start but if you knew my dog then it is not. I really want to train him to hunt rabbit. I can see that he has it in him. If i let him out back and there is a rabbit out there, he has broken his chain twice and he will chase them until they leave the yard. Right now i have a rabbit fur/pelt. What types of exercises or drills should i do to get him ready?? I do not have the opportunity to take him out with other expereienced dogs seeing that I do not know anyone around me that own beagles. Also what is a good way to shy him away from his gun shyness? If he let alone sees a gun he is out of there.

Answer 1

Keep the dog where he can't see what you are doing. Take the rabbit fur and tie it to the line on a fishing pole. If you don't have a fishing pole a long stick will work. Hold the pole out to your side as far as possible and lay down a scent trail. This will insure the dog is following the rabbit scent and not yours. Always praise the dog and give him a treat when he does what he's supposed to do. Make sure the dog listens to you before you take him out in the field. The last thing you want is to lose your pet. His instinct will take over and the hunting should come natural to him. As for being gun shy, start out with noise when he is eating. Hit a pan with a wooden spoon near him while he is eating. It might scare him at first but he'll learn that nothing bad is happening because of the noise and he'll go right back to eating. When he gets used to noise, try a .22 blank from a distance. Move closer as he gets used to the gun shot. Over a period of time he won't even flinch at the report of the gun. Once he is hunting and associates the gun shot with rabbits he'll be fine. Good luck with your beagle. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I've enjoyed mine over the years.

Answer 2

Age is meaningless where a hunting dog is concerned.* All you have to do is get him out into the fields & woods.* The more often hes in the field the quicker the results.* If you jump or kick out a rabbit yourself call him over & point to the nest or where the rabbit was bedded.* The dog will pick up the scent immediately & begin to work the trail. Train your beagle by itself, not with any other beagle or beagles.* You want him to be independent & it is the best way.* Give the Dog lots of time to work an area. Be patient and do not rush through cover. Take your time.* Gun Shy = start with clapping your hands, cap gun, BB gun, Pots & Pans, 22 cal,*etc* The Dog has a natural instinct to hunt, but you will have to find the time to get him out so he can be all he can be. Remember to praise your Dog & be patient & you both will be successful together.* Do not let the Dog be trained by anyone other than yourself.* Life long Hunter with my Beagle Dogs.*

Answer 3

Ummm.... If your pelt has been tanned its no good what so ever. If it is fresh then i would chain the dog and hold the pelt out right in front of him and get him really excited with it. Then drag the pelt on the ground around trees cross its trail a couple of times and go out of site with it. then cross the trail again while he can't see a couple of times. Then leave the pelt along with his favorite treats at the end of the scent line. finally turn him lose on the trail. he should bark and have his head down the whole way. Do this periodically.Then if I was you I would purchase a live trap so as to not harm the rabbit and try trapping one. ( lettuce carrotts celery all are good bait)
Then once you have one hold the cage around his pen with the rabbit inside as to let him see the rabbit. then get someone to hold the dog while another person stands about 20ft in front of him and let the rabbit go then wait till the rabbit has a little head start and turn him loose. If you catch multible rabbits let one go then 5 minutes later let him track it.

For gun shyness. I would chain him and rub his head and pet and stroke him all the while holding a gun in the opposite hand. then start with a .22 and shoot a couple of times with him by you. then move to a 4.10 then a 28 gauge,20 gauge, 16 gauge,12 gauge if u don't have all these calibers then your ok just skip them onto the next one. the main ones u need are 4/10 ,22,20,and 12.

Answer 4

Two years is a bit old to start, but if you keep at it he should come around. Too bad you don't have some working packs that he could train with, it helps a lot. You might try and see if their are some beagle clubs in your area.

The pelts are a good way to start. Keep you dog inside and out of sight. Set a course and drag the pelt around it. Let your dog get used to following the scent instead of his eyes. Dont' feed him before the training session, make sure he's good and hungry. Use treats as a reward, beagles are as I'm sure your aware by now, very stubborn and headstrong, once they get on a trail and once they see the animal you are chasing don't expect them to obey anything you say. Start off working small fields and use the pelt to set a scent trail for him to follow. One of the biggest problems I had with my dog was breaking her from following the trails of coons, deer, possum etc. I would try and find some hides of common animals and use those as well to make him follow the scent you want him to follow. Make sure you dog is microchipped and have a name tag as well. Beagles are infamous for high tailing it after game and getting lost. Good luck with your training!

Answer 5

Sounds to me that the dog has a bit of drive to hunt if it is chasing them from the chain. He might be just sight chasing them and now needs to use his nose to hunt and find them. The hide idea is a good start to but it has to be a green hide which is basically a fresh killed rabbit not one that has been tanned. If it is a tanned hide you need to put some fresh scent on it like this stuff http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0006273220568a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=rabbit+scent&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=rabbit+scent&noImage=0 It works great for setting down a scent trail to start a dog. I personally would just take him to a small spot that you know that has rabbits and turn him loose and see if he can find you a rabbit. If he is a good rabbit dog it works kind of like this. The dog will find a rabbit "jump it", the rabbit takes off and the dog should put its nose down to follow its scent until it makes the rabbit turn around and come back the about the same area "circle the rabbit" it was jumped from. Alot of other techniques and people that know alot more about training older dogs and maybe find a few hunting buddies go to http://forums.huntingboards.com/ and ask all the questions you want about bunny hunting.

Answer 6

Get him out in the field and he will teach you how beagles hunt rabbits.Before you go , be sure you have good control of the dog.Teach him to 'come', 'halt' 'stay' ' fetch'.At times you will find a reason to control him to prevent injury so all those comands will be needed.Beagles are bred to hunt and most likely he will have more talent than you.Also get on the Net and see what kin of books you can get.

Answer 7

touch the Beagle club of united statesa.. they would be waiting to get you in touch with the nicely suited human beings on your section that can assist you practice a dogs for this. A beginner would desire to continuously have a mentor.