New Pup

grant1632 · Post by **grant1632** » Wed May 21, 2003 9:35 am

I just recently got a female beagle pup how would you recomend that I train this this dog for rabbits?

Emery · Post by **Emery** » Wed May 21, 2003 10:06 am

How old is your pup. If it is straight from the litter, I would spend a lot of time in short sessions in the back yard getting the pup comfortable with you and obeying basic commands. At 4-6 months, I would start taking it out to an area where you know there are rabbits and letting it sniff around. If you have an area that the dog might be able to see a rabbit, then curiosity should take over and the dog should run to the rabbit to investigate what it is. With my first dog, I only did this a couple of times before she opened on it, then it was all field work after that. Too much sight chasing isn't a good thing because the dog will not learn to use its nose. Basically, if you just take it out to where you know there are rabbits, mother nature will take over and you should have success prior to one year old.

Be paitent and keep the sessions short. Get the dog to obey the "come" and "down" command before you head out of the back yard. Otherwise you will spend a lot of time running after the dog and not much time hunting.

Best of luck.
Emery

grant1632 · Post by **grant1632** » Tue May 27, 2003 2:37 pm

Thanks for your advice and I will use it.