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I have a very good dog named Maia. She's good at retrieval and quite smart and I'd like to train the two of us to hunt. I know absolutely nothing about it and figured this would be a good place to ask a few questions. Ideally this would be a megathread and not necessarily just about my dog but I don't have anything to contribute except for questions. Can any breed of dog be trained to hunt? Mine is a German Shepherd/beagle mix, a little over two years old. IIdon't know to what extent the beagle instincts would be drowned out by the shepherd dog. What's going to be my best bet for transitioning from fetching a tennis ball to tracking game? Are dogs useful for hunting large, fast game like deer or elk? I've heard of using them for bears but never anything like deer. Post your hunting stories and tips
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Nov 7, 2015 23:03
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 15:20 |
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I think many dogs can be trained to be useful during a hunt. I have grown up hunting. Upland birds, hare, deer, moose, and recently elk and black bear. Currently I have two German shepherd dogs, and they go everywhere with me. I haven't used them for big game, but I am sure my boy Sigma could be trained. He picked up tracking very quickly. The girl, Delta, uses her eyes far more. We'll be on a hike and she will freeze (its as good as a point because I pay attention to my dogs) and stare up the trail - at a hare! Check your province or state's laws for big game hunting with dogs. My dogs are well trained to begin with. They have a near-flawless 'wait' or 'stay,' which means chill out and stay right there, as well as 'woah.' I can "woah" them off of fleeing cats that are less than 6 feet away. Once out hunting, my husband saw a grouse that was maybe 8 feet from us. He pointed at it, I looked and exlaimed "woah!" because it was so close. The dogs froze like statues  and I wasn't even giving a command. These type of commands are very important for what I expect from my dogs. I almost exclusively hunt with rifles. If you are bird hunting with a shotgun a perfect 'woah' might be less of a priority, because as long as you are shooting higher than your dog could jump, you would never shoot your dog. I almost always hunt with my husband, with one of us shooting and the other monitoring the dogs for a good woah.Your dog will also need to tolerate the gun. Mine looooooove LOVE love guns, I never had to desensitize them. They have even learned to differentiate between an empty gun's bolt closing and a gun with a round in the chamber. We can't even fake them out. But many dogs are gunshy, and its essential for a hunting dog to tolerate gunshots. Look into tracking training, and Triangulum will probably have lots of advice or websites for you. Its much different than fetching a tennis ball  Most dogs are very happy to use their noses, and with your dog being a beagle mix it probably will love it.I'm feeling kind of scatterbrained due to an unexpected 12 hr night shift and only 4 hours of sleep, so here's my favourite story: Out hunting grouse, walking down an old logging road that's very grown in with thick, nasty willows. There is a small flock of birds up ahead, so we manage to shoot one before the birds flush. This bird flutters its way into the willows. Its not dead, but certainly will be very soon. Being grouse, the others don't fly very far. I can see where one is perching in a tree nearby, so we shoot that one too. It drops straight down. Being grouse, they have perfect camouflage. So we decide to try sending the dogs in! I point towards where I think the birds are, say "Go get my grouse!" and then open my hand, palm up. We had been doing tracking stuff with both dogs using a grouse wing to lay the scent trail, and the dogs also know the word 'grouse' because we've fed them many birds' worth of offal. Open hand, palm up means 'give me the thing.' 'Go get my [ball, frisbee, etc]' is another command phrase they already know. So both dogs go plunging into the willows. They can barely make their way though, and both myself and my husband are dreading having to go in to get the birds. Hopefully the dogs will bring them, although surely its too much to expect. They have never been asked to retrieve even just a grouse wing, the one we use for tracking. Very quickly Sigma comes back, head low and... carrying something? He's actually bringing a grouse back! And - its alive!? This poor bird had been winged bad enough that it couldn't even run from the dog. We praised Siggy to the moon and back and swiftly dispatched the bird. GSDs are not meant to have a soft mouth. I thought for sure if either dog did bring a bird, they would be crunching it up on the way back. Good boy Siggy Meanwhile, Delta is still in there. Husband goes in to see what she's doing. She's with the other grouse, and is rushing to pluck the feathers off it in the hopes that she can start eating it before he gets there :P I was so impressed with both dogs (mainly Sigma). Just going in and retrieving downed birds is so useful.
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Nov 8, 2015 00:32
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 Having some grouse. One of these birds was ruined for human consumption, the other is just the wings and offal. I make them wear those obnoxious orange harnesses because there is open season on wolf and I don't trust other hunters.  Her Master's Voice. Delta waiting for the gun.  Sigma loves guns too.
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Nov 8, 2015 00:46
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Those are some good dogs! Have you had to do much to train yours for awareness? Maia is very visual and doesn't seem to use her nose much. She's a very visual dog, like you said Delta was, but this means that it's pretty easy to sneak up on her if you're quiet and she's looking at something else. I usually spot small critters before she does. I guess the most fundamental question I have is what aspects of a good hunting dog come from breed. Mine doesn't know to bay while chasing and is just as liable to run from a squirrel as she is to tree one. But she'll find pretty much anything I throw. The more I look into it the more I realize how optimistic I might have been.
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Nov 8, 2015 19:45
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The Fenzi Academy is having a gun dog class this upcoming session that might be a good, low pressure way to learn some skills and see if your dog is into that part of hunting. Otherwise just teaching tracking or truffle hunting or nosework might be a good way to use those hunting skills. Major hunts but on his own terms and is terrified of guns so I am otherwise useless but I have a friend who does hunt tests with her GSP and I'd love to check the whole thing out at some point.
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Nov 11, 2015 22:03
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Lately I been toying with the idea of getting a GSP to hunt ruffed grouse in the wilds of Northern Ontario. We use .22s to go for head and neck shots so I really don't need anything to be flushed out like I might if I used a .410 or 20 gauge. I just need something to point and then point again if a bird accidentally gets flushed down the trail. Currently we spot them from the trail, listen for leafy rustles and also hope they make themselves known by constantly peeping on approach. One thing I have always wondered about, especially for the dogs used to retrieve during Canada Goose hunts where you can have 3-6+ people shooting all at once is how their hearing is impacted in the long term. I would hate to spend a bunch of money on a dog, train it, love it, put thousands of hours of time into it and then have it go deaf prematurely. The thought makes me sad. Though I have read up on this a little and most people seem to think it's not a problem as long as the dog stays behind the guns while they fire, my gut tells me that a dozen or so heavy 12 gauge loads in quick sucession will inevitably cause problems. Anyone ever encountered a dog wearing earmuffs and trained with hand signals?
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Nov 13, 2015 09:08
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E ^^^^ I've heard of them having cotton in their ears to lessen the concussion.Sharzak posted:Those are some good dogs! Have you had to do much to train yours for awareness? Maia is very visual and doesn't seem to use her nose much. She's a very visual dog, like you said Delta was, but this means that it's pretty easy to sneak up on her if you're quiet and she's looking at something else. I usually spot small critters before she does. There's a lot of difference between a hound and a retriever, man. And they're both fantastic huntin' dogs. It just depends on what you want the animal to do. If you want a hound baying and chasing prey, she's probably not your best bet. If you want to teach her to retrieve downed fowl and such, it sounds like she'd take to it really easily. Balen and Amy have both been hunting when they were much younger. Ires and KD hunt rabbits in the yard on their own and KD will chase after flapping butchered birds (I usually toss them offal as I'm butchering so they're usually out there) and sometimes bring them back to me. All three of the girls have an eye and a nose for things that are small, quick and edible. Ires and KD usually catch them. Amy's a bit too old. Even old man Balen will baroo in surprise if a rabbit runs past him and go charging after it. Of them all, KD would probably love goofy poo poo like barn hunts. She dove head first into a bush full of briars (I did not realize the bush was full of briars) because I revved her up and she Knew there was a bunny in the bush. And she got it. Good girl KD.
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Nov 15, 2015 14:51
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Home Despot posted:Lately I been toying with the idea of getting a GSP to hunt ruffed grouse in the wilds of Northern Ontario. We use .22s to go for head and neck shots so I really don't need anything to be flushed out like I might if I used a .410 or 20 gauge. I just need something to point and then point again if a bird accidentally gets flushed down the trail. Currently we spot them from the trail, listen for leafy rustles and also hope they make themselves known by constantly peeping on approach. Oh nice, I think a GSP would do the job. I like them. We hunt ruffed and spruce grouse here in northern BC too, its so fun when you are creeping around and you can hear them peeping *somewhere* I have family in the Longlac, Hornepayne part of northern ON. I've visited, its good country for hunting! I've got my dogs trained with handsignals for some of their commands. I think a vibrating e-collar + handsignals would work. Sharzak posted:Those are some good dogs! Have you had to do much to train yours for awareness? Maia is very visual and doesn't seem to use her nose much. She's a very visual dog, like you said Delta was, but this means that it's pretty easy to sneak up on her if you're quiet and she's looking at something else. I usually spot small critters before she does. They definitely needed help. I had to Woah them and look and whisper and point, and they eventually figured out Hey, There ARE Grouse And Hare Everywhere! What aspects? Well, any of the hunting behaviours we have distilled into dog breeds imo. Pointers have the hunting process stalled at the stalk, whereas hounds continue on to pursuit. It depends what you want. One day I would really like a pointer for grouse hunting, just like Home Despot is talking about. But now having these GSDs, maybe I can train a good lab (I just love black labs ) to Woah at a grouse, and of course that breed could do the retrieve I want.
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Nov 16, 2015 04:44
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I think my dog is going to catch some animals whether I want him to or not
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Nov 16, 2015 20:10
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It happens.
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Nov 17, 2015 01:28
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the fox knows where his electric fence boundary is. it will sit there late at night past the boundary and scream at us casually. Pax has broken through a few times to chase it, and almost caught up with it a few times I would be more concerned, but the fox looks very healthy. Im going to try to get a picture of it
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Nov 17, 2015 02:30
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Any good book recommendations for proper retriever training? I have a 6 month old lab and want to start moving past the simple throw a dummy and she brings it back. Realistically, she won't be going hunting with me but you never know, and it looks like it would be fun to learn.
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Dec 5, 2015 05:48
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I've heard Retrieving for All Occasions and Absolutely Positive Gun Dog Training are really good from hunting dog people.
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Dec 5, 2015 16:06
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Instant Jellyfish posted:I've heard Retrieving for All Occasions and Absolutely Positive Gun Dog Training are really good from hunting dog people. Thanks, I'll check these out.
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Dec 5, 2015 20:28
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Would anyone experienced be willing to go over what to look for in a hunting dog breeder? I'm sure they can run the gamut of dual-titled pretty dogs that occasionally go outside to amazing retrievers of dubious origin with puppies in the shed. Just to toss one out there, these guys seemed pretty good- few litters, health tested, home-raised dogs, but I want to make sure I'd be asking the right questions. If it makes a difference, I'd be looking in the general-purpose/retriever direction. It would be nice to have a dog I could trust off-leash in the field, plus actual (upland gamebird, maybe duck) hunting in the future. I started working in wildlife management and EVERYONE here has a black lab. Honestly, we'll probably end up with a nice shelter mutt or apply to the Brittany rescue, but I'd actually have the time to train a puppy this year so I'm curious.
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Dec 8, 2015 13:55
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Unicom posted:Any good book recommendations for proper retriever training? I have a 6 month old lab and want to start moving past the simple throw a dummy and she brings it back. Realistically, she won't be going hunting with me but you never know, and it looks like it would be fun to learn. Been working on this based on the book recommendations -- she's 8 months old now and we've been working on casting. It's super satisfying to whistle and she'll instantly turn and sit facing me waiting for directions. Plus using retrieves as a reward has done wonders for her obedience. She'll heel forever if she knows I'll throw her something. Just need to generalize that to without me having the bumper in my coat.
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Feb 4, 2016 19:42
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Any tips on convincing guardian dogs that they can't be hunting dogs even though those totally cool dogs next door do it all the time (and then come here and steal eggs)? The neighbor dogs are already ripping through electric wire. I'm not sure where to go from here except get, like, a guard donkey or something equally obnoxious. Maybe a pleasant but terrifying bull that toddles casually up to intruders?
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Feb 6, 2016 23:36
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 15:20 |
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Callipygian Weasel posted:Any tips on convincing guardian dogs that they can't be hunting dogs even though those totally cool dogs next door do it all the time (and then come here and steal eggs)? A guard llama.
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Feb 22, 2016 16:55
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