Beagle Dog - what to do?

gitrdun

gitrdun

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I have an 18 month Beagle with mountains of energy. Problem is, I got him as an indoor dog, which he's pretty good at. But, I get a feeling he wants to do more than the outdoor walks with daddy. Now, I hear them Beagle dogs are wicked rabbit hunters. Ok, so I'm good to go, but can someone with experience tell me what to expect? How do they hunt? Do they flush the rabbits so that they may be within reach of a 410 shottie? Do they chase them to the next province, hence a center fire? Whatever works, I like rabbit meat, got great recipes. Bottom line is that I'd love to make me and my "Benny" the Beagle a hunting team. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance. :)
Here's a pic of Benny....looks like he's good to go to me.

PS: anyone in the Calgary area with a Beagle of their own? - Let's go bunny hunting.

benny.jpg
 
Rabbits run circles... Bring your pup out, put a bell on 'em & the rest will take care of itself, given time & exposure. Keep in mind that your dog must be exposed to gunfire carefully...

With our pup, a German Wirehair, I started with a cap gun, starter gun, 22 and then 12 guage... ALL while the dog was distracted by something like retrieving his ball or duck "dummy"...

Good Luck, I hope some rabbit hunters can take you & your pup out, he will catch on QUICK that way!!!

Cheers
Jay
 
I don't know why......but I love that Picture........the dog just has a certain look about it.

Get him out with some other rabbiting Beagle's if you can, the rest will work itself out....beagles are pretty single minded when it comes to hunting, which means they are easy to train.
 
Jay said:
Rabbits run circles... Bring your pup out, put a bell on 'em & the rest will take care of itself, given time & exposure. Keep in mind that your dog must be exposed to gunfire carefully...

With our pup, a German Wirehair, I started with a cap gun, starter gun, 22 and then 12 guage... ALL while the dog was distracted by something like retrieving his ball or duck "dummy"...

Good Luck, I hope some rabbit hunters can take you & your pup out, he will catch on QUICK that way!!!

Cheers
Jay
Click to expand...

Thanks Jay, but the rabbits at my place run in a straight line, from here to Saskatchwan (east that is). My Beagle is OK with gunfire, but once his nose gets into the ground, he's a retard. I'm thinking more along the lines of "how does rabbit hunting go" . I've got an electric collar that I can zap him with, and it sure gets his attention. But, I'd like to not go with that if I can help it. I'd like to learn as a hunter/dog . Ok, so rabbit hunting is best along old abandonned railroad tracks. Got that. So what next, do I let my dog loose and walk along with a 410 shottie?, would a .22LR be better? or would my .223 be a better choice. I'm not only looking to educate my doggie here, but me as well. :)

Bottom line, is that I want to let my dog do what he was meant to do. As far as ME is concerned, no problem, I can go float my boat with other stuff, just thinking about my Benny's happiness as a huntin' dawwwwg.
 
7.62mm said:
I don't know why......but I love that Picture........the dog just has a certain look about it.

Get him out with some other rabbiting Beagle's if you can, the rest will work itself out....beagles are pretty single minded when it comes to hunting, which means they are easy to train.
Click to expand...

Yeah!...he does have that "you talkin' to me attitude" don't he? That's why I love him so much. :cheers:
And, like 7.62mm suggested.......any Beagle owners in the Calgary area wanna go rabbit huntin' . Heck we're good people, you just might get a lunch and home made wine out of it!
 
Walk the dog in areas with lots of rabbits, super long leash....introduce him.

Next, walk the dog in the same areas without the leash, let him chase.

Next, carry a .22 while you run him in the rabbit area.

Next, fire the .22 in the distance when he is chasing a rabbit.

Next, hunt over him with a .410, shoot rabbits on the run or spot them sitting....let your dog maul the first dead rabbit and many there after, get him blood thirsty.

I'd recommend a 20ga when you really get into it because the rabbits are flying on the run...the beagles sniff in the super tight stuff (thorns, reeds, brush piles) and out the other end the rabbits fly out at full speed, then the dogs get on their track and chase them to try to flush them again and again. Stomp on brush piles with your finger on the safety.

You will need patience because at times the dog will frustrate you, he will run off and you won't be able to keep up, he won't listen to one thing you say no matter how loud you yell....but he is actually doing what you want him to do, you can't give him trouble. Try to keep up with the dog, walk really fast or jog for a few steps to keep ahead of him, stay with the dog...his nose knows!

Make sure the dog has identification tags and an orange collar.
At home work on STAY and work hard on COME, get these mastered, walk him of leash at parks etc as much as possible and work on STAY and COME.

While hunting and training carry a pocketful of snacks, hotdogs work best. Reward him with food steady, even with the training and the food he will NOT listen when he is on a rabbit scent, this is normal, be patient. The beagles brain is 99% nose.

Feel free to PM me, I've had beagles all my life, my 13 year old is still running hard.
 
Do not use the zap collar, you will ruin the dog, please don't ruin this dog, work with him...he is doing what he is supposed to do, it is you who needs training.

Rabbit hunting over beagles is for shotguns, rarely maybe a couple times a year do I use a .22 just for the challenge. If you are after Jack Rabbits then a .223 or similar works well.

When guys say rabbits run in a circle...that is fine and dandy to say that and technically they eventually would circle around.....but don't count on it, follow the dog and stay in open positions (shooting lanes) with your finger on the safety ready to snap shoot.

Beagles work best on fence rows, ditches and railroad tracks, long straight runs with thick cover.....as you can manage them much better. Again try to stay 5 to 15 yards ahead of them.
 
Beagles are great hunters but once they start hunting they are hard to call off. Get a tracking collar so you can find him if he decides to run 5 km after a deer.
 
I have two Beagles, one purebred and one mix. I love my dogs dearly and will miss them when they go BUT... They're both dumb as stumps... -sigh- They both walk by other animals and never notice them visually or by scent, one eats cat poop whenever he can find it and the other is afraid of any machine sound, furnace, washer, dryer, dishwasher, vacuum, lawn mower, motorcycle blah blah blah. There is no way I would take either hunting for fear of losing them and especially the one with noise issues.

LOVE my two dogs but next time a lab or a retriever will be my first choice.
 
I hope he gives you the chance to shoot the rabbit, when I was up in the Kawarthas Spike (beagle & springer mix) brought back two rabbits, broken neck each time.
 
Mount: my Beagle is far from stupid. Oh, yes...his nose does drive him, but he's not stupid. He listens fairly well, sits when I tell him to. The only problem is that he is very attached to me, I'm his daddy what can I say. MY wife is concerned that if I take him out hunting, it'll change his demeanor to a blood thirsty hound. I say, NOT. It will make him happy doing what he was bred to do. We live on an acreage in the middle of nowhere in Alberta. Coyotes surround us, so I do NOT want to loose him. So far, I've used an electric collar to bring him back. He seems to have reacted well to this and doesn't stray away too far from our confines. I'm just wondering about taking him out to the wild open spaces, given that he recognizes the sound of my whistle and for the most part comes back to me.

Dang it anyways, I just wish that I had someone the likes of Mount Sweetness to hunt with and his dog in my neck of the woods. The way I figure it, there is no better way to teach a dog than with another experienced dog. Anyone in the Calgary area fit that description?
 
Yep - the beagles I've known are ultra high energy dogs. Once they start sniffing their ears and brains turn off - nothing distracts them.

Biggest things are:
Good with gunfire
Firm grasp of Come, stay, sit, etc
desire to chase animals

work on the first two before the last. If he's afraid of loud gunfire (all the louder from not being behind the shooter) then he'll be reluctant to chase bunnies after the first time. Make sure even if he's ok with gunfire that you keep positively reinforcing it (Give him a treat every time you fire a gun, or capgun at home. Try not to surprise him)

If you make sure he'll come back it'll save you having to catch him when he decides to go track a skunk, deer, raccoon or bear instead of your intended game.
 
It aint rocket science. There ain't much you can do that will hurt a good rabbit dog. Ain't a damn thing you can do to help a sorry one.
A lot of hounds won't hunt on a leash--turn him loose in likely rabbit area's. Pay attention and the dog will teach you how to hunt wabbits.
Use that e-collar to teach the dog to handel--not how to hunt. Don't try to break him off trash till you have killed a few rabbits in front of him.
He's a rabbit hound so that bell buisness is a waste of time--he'll open (bark) alright.
Telemtry tracking collars that work are way expensive. You can get an Astro 220 with one collar for about $500. That will show you right on a handheld GPS the whole race your dog ran and where he is at all times.
 
Griffoneur said:
Beagles are great hunters but once they start hunting they are hard to call off. Get a tracking collar so you can find him if he decides to run 5 km after a deer.
Click to expand...
The biggest mistake dog owners make when their dog takes off after a deer, is to leave.
If you stay put, your beagle will return, in from 15 minutes to an hour, almost guaranteed. May take a bit to get him on to returning, but if you wait for him, especially at first, without walking further, he'll soon figure out how to follow you either to where you came out, or back to where you started. Once a young beagle gets a taste of hunting, and gets in his first chase, he's addicted. You will think you have created a monster.
Beagles rarely require bells. They are usually plenty vocal on a chase.
Leaving a shirt if you must leave can really work. I found my hound sleeping on it once.
I never used a radio collar on my dogs, and they always came back, unless they were intercepted by someone who picked them up. That happened a few times. Local hunters had a low charge dog depot that they took dogs to. One time they picked up my "lost" dog, when it was waiting beside my truck!
Some rabbits do indeed circle, and can give you multiple chances, but not all.
Be aware that a beagle will take a chase much farther in snow. That's when a lot of dogs are lost.
I hunted deer with my beagles every year for 17 years, no, not a typo, 17.
From pup to old age, they were kept in top shape by walks in the off season. Feet hardened by concrete sidewalks didn't bleed much either.
Now the last few years they only hunted half days, but they did hunt, and they were very effective. The hunting seemed to help the arthritis and such, as when we came home, they had tons more energy.
 
Your beagle may not be the slightest bit interested in chasing deer, I've had 4 beagles and none have shown any interest.

Lots of great advice here, gotta love rabbit hunting and them damn beagles!
 
your best bet ia to find an old railbed and walk him down the ail line lots of bunnys and he can not get to far away from you .it is a lot of fun when he kicks his first bunny up and lets looses on them DUTCH
 
i have a 2yo beagle/walker hound and she just started trailing and baying on her own. she is so stubborn she'll just keep on tracking until i up the e-caller to convince her to listen. a big and loud bell is a must to help with locating the dog. chicks love the bell as well when we walk on trails ;)

she'll watch a deer or rabbit run away and then put her head back down to follow its trail rather than chasing the critter. whether that is normal or not i have no clue as i havent been around other tracking dogs...
 
yes it is normal...they track ground scent, not wind scent like a pointer and they will sight chase at times when the scent is super hot but they quickly get the nose back down

She is not stubborn for tracking and not listening, this is what you want...intense desire.
 
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