what breed
 

hey

Im just wondering what type of puppy i should get. I was thinking of a kelpie, blue/red heeler or a beagle. Just after an energy packed dog that i can train to fetch and even catch rabbits. Would like a dog to catch rabbit cause there are alot of rabbits around where i live. But not to much of a hunting dog that it is going to be under worked. Would appreciate any tips or advise!

Thanks

People use beagles and hounds to hunt rabbits because they are too slow to catch them but trail them and bring them around past the hunter so they can shoot them. Being far enough behind the rabbits is also a plus because it would not be safe t shoot rabbits of the dog was close to the rabbit. You have to work any hunting dog, regardless of breed.

Have never seen a hunting dog that can actually catch a rabbit. Have seen where a group of beagles managed to catch one but that was just luck and nothing trained for. As OT said most hunting dogs will trail the rabbit and never actually get close enough. From my experience here when beagles get on a cotton tail the cotton tail will usually run a square type pattern to get back to its safety. A marsh rabbit will go all over looking like an etch a sketch pad. None of the dogs get close enough to either one.

Any other breeds you guys suggest? I was thinking of a hunting dog but I don't go hunting enough. But something that can be smart and something to have a bit of fun like with the rabbits

If you don't have the time to train or maintain the training of a dog or are not willing to take the time it takes to train a hunting dog, do yourself and the dog a favor, don't buy a hunting dog. All you will have is a lot of problems or a run away dog in the field if you do not train it properly. You say you want something to have a bit of fun with on rabbits. Neither you or the dog will have fun if you take an untrained and non maintained dog hunting. Serious question, how old are you? You say you are snaring rabbits, have you taken a hunter education class, is rabbit season open now?

I'm only 16 and just trying to get some rabbits. Yeh I've try snares but I think in I get a puppy of any type and train it around rabbits I think I will have a lot more fun. No matter how I catch them

Young man, it is apparent you have no knowledge of wildlife laws where you live. That can get you in a lot of trouble. I strongly suggest you contact your wildlife agency and ask a lot of questions because it you violate the wildlife laws it gets very expensive. You just don't get to do things with wildlife because you think it may be fun and you don't get a dog to run on game because you think it would be fun if you don't want to train it. Quite frankly a sixteen year old should have all the time in the world to put into training a hunting companion, once you do research and find out how to do it.

^^^That pretty well says it all and I hope he listens better to that post than he has too all our others!

Don't listen to that old guy he's just a grouch. I have a Lurcher which is a collie x greyhound. He's a bigger male at 29" and can pick up rabbits pretty easily. Nice biddable dog with an off switch which is a nice change from the other hunting dogs I've owned.

Sight hounds have always been popular out west and are becoming common east of the Mississippi. They are also good for fox, wood chuck, raccoon, and can be taught to retrieve.

Fun is the main reason I own dogs and hunt by the way.

Don't know which "old grouch" you're referring to in your post, but IMHO it was not a very wise comeback for the 16 year old OP who's still obviously wet behind the ears with the questions he's asking. Also, FYI I don't think your reason for having a dog is much, if any, different from why most people have dogs!

MF, if you don't want to take time to train a hunting dog or just a dog you shouldn't have one, period! They don't train themselves to do what you want or behave the way you want it to no matter what the breed or how biddable they are. It isn't fun when your dog in in the next county and you are trying to call him back and he doesn't listen. How many have you trained, this grouch has hunted with and trained and trained several breeds for over 50 years. If you want to give a young person advice, trying good advice instead of just go for it and don't worry about sensible advise given by others!

anyway, ill just gonna have to think about it spose.

yeh well i haven't trained any but i just want a dog thats going to be a good companion and have heaps on energy.

Daniel, most dogs will be good companions but how good depends on the owner. You must make sure your dog knows that you are in charge and not the other way around. It isn't that difficult but it does take some time beginning from the time you bring the pup home with consistent obedience training, things like the meaning of NO, to hup(sit) ,stay and to come to you, I use the word here to call mine to me. It takes a little training every day, you will also need to socialize the pup by taking it to places where it will be around other people and animals so it will not be a problem later on. Those are the basics and will be the difference between a dog that will be a nightmare or a good well behaved companion. It doesn't take a whole lot of time but some time each day, perhaps a half hour. There are lots of books and videos available to help you know what to do depending on what you want to hunt or even if you just want a house dog, obedience training is important. There is more dependng on what you want but I just hit on the basics. I just got up to check my e-mail and I had to move my young setter's head off my lap so I could get of the couch. She is well trained and likes being with me and is a bird hunting machine. A trained dog is a happy dog because it knows what is expected of you. An untrained dog is many time a nervous dog because it is always getting yelled at or punished for destructive behavior. The above applies to hunting dogs or simply a house dog/companion. You will of course do what you want to do but since you ask some questions, this is my advise.

Daniel you need to really sit back and listen to your elders if you're going to come on a website and ask questions. If you don't listen, then there is no reason for you to be on here and take up people's valuable time. Between Oldtimr and myself we are both approaching 70 years of age. I know he trained a number of dogs for both the companionship and wanting to see a good dog work. I, myself, was involved at a much younger age than you are now watching my Dad and another friend train their coon hounds. As I grew into my teens those dogs all died of old age and we went into championship beagles and I grew with them learning how to properly train a dog. Finally in my older years I was into bird dogs, one that turned out to be the best buddy I ever had and he just died in 2014. He was a ball of energy and when he came from a top kennel the commitment was made to work him every day, which I did his entire life. Owning an animal is a big commitment to him and yourself, so seriously think an awful lot about that before you go out and get one that you haven't made that 110% commitment to! Otherwise it will be just like Oldtimr stated and will not be fair to the animal.

It was the other old grouch. :)

The young fellow asked for advice on which type of dog to get. He said he was going to train it around rabbits. 16 is a great age to get started with dogs and a collie cross is an easy dog to train and custom made for rabbits. Maybe they are out of your experience but you could check on you-tube to see how they work. As for how many dogs I've trained-handled, a few. Though to be honest I never went past the HZP level.

As a side note I don't think addressing people who come here looking for advice in a condescending manner is very helpful.

The only thing that meets that statement in this thread was your "grouch" comment that you still apparently feel is funny when it wasn't in the least! This isn't the first time you've pulled that type of stuff, so please don't try to blame two people trying to get their message across to a youngster that has proved rather "hard-headed" in both threads he has started.

Whether you think something is funny or not doesn't interest me. It's the tone that was the problem. Puzzle on that for awhile.

Don't need to puzzle on anything and the only two things that don't pertain exactly to what the thread was about and our help to the boy was your grouch comment, then your "funny" retort, and now your retort to me. The "tone" you refer to was of a serious nature and may possibly be because one of the people trying to help him is a retired GW and the other is also a retired LE Investigator. Both were not only trying to explain things to the kid, but also on the other thread trying to keep him from violating game laws. Your sidetracking the thread like you did IMHO was uncalled for and could have been handled in a PM, rather than the way you did it. No sense in arguing now since both threads have answered what the kid wanted to know and you got your point across even though IMHO you're incorrect. Have a good day, as it's perfect weather up here to run the dogs!

I got a good chuckle out of it!:lolabove:

Just some more thoughts. If bagging rabbits are your main interest, there is not a much better dog to go with than a beagle from proven hunting stock. My late father trained and hunted rabbits with beagles for almost 60 years. He even played around with the field trial scene some and came up with 4-5 Field Champions. Lots of folks seem to think a "pet" will not make a "hunter". Not so from my experience. Dad never had a big kennel. Usually 3-4 at most. All were his big buddy pets. A few were as good as I have ever come across as far as hunting. Never saw one of his catch a rabbit, except the occasional one that had been wounded.

I got into Dachshunds some 20 years or so ago. First as a pet. My second one , Tex, was a more or less self trained treeing squirrel dog .... and one heck of a "blood trailer". I can count on one hand over the 12 years he blood trailed the number of bloodied deer that he did not find. And that has been the case with Mojo and now Ellie Mae. All three of these pooches are 100% pets and 100% hunters.

So go ahead and get you a hound pup. Doesn't make much difference which breed, or even some sort of a cross. Take it to the rabbit woods every chance you get and treat it like a buddy too. But be prepared to put in the time. Get the pup on rabbits every chance you get. Even the "naturals" who don't require much training need to know what pleases you.

And as already mentioned, be sure you understand the hunting and trapping laws or you may find yourself looking at big fines.

When I'm an "old grouch", I plan to get a wirehaired Dachshund for blood tracking.

But the OP is from OZ, so I don't know if beagles are very common there. But that is still good advice!

You have a long way to go since so far your continued comments appear to be from someone younger than the 16 year old OP and just designed to stir up trouble! :action-smiley-099: Take care, as I'm going out to run the dog!

Life is cruel, and it treats some better than others. So, I seriously doubt I'll ever reach your level of curmudgeonhood.

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums...-haul-to-date/

If the OP is still around here is a forum he might want to check out. This thread is from a guy from NSW. It shows a little of the hunting and what they catch with dogs.

ATB