I do a god bit of squirrel hunting and i own a fiest squirrel dog he treed his first squirrel at nine months old he is ten months old right now and he treed 5 in less than 3 hours. My dog learns quick and came from apparently a good bloodline. A fiest makes a great companion they are hyper and very social my dog also hunts good with other dogs. When i say social that means he's not very aggressive he is a dog i wouldnt sneak up on but he will come straight up to u and hop on your leg to be petted. I would also recommend getting a gip instead of a male even though mine is a male. Ive noticed that gips usually hunt better. I did say usually.