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Beagle puppy training information

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Beagle puppy training information

Old 08-08-2017, 07:49 AM
  #1  
Spike
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Default Beagle puppy training information

I picked up my first ever beagle pup over the weekend and I'm wondering why age do you start training them for hunting and stuff. She's 6 weeks old and I already started working with her on basic commands like sit stay down no. I want to use her for rabbit hunting, shed hunting and blood tracking if it's possible. Is there any certain one I should start on first?
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Old 08-08-2017, 08:17 AM
  #2  
Nontypical Buck
 
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Different blood lines of Beagles have somewhat different traits. If yours has a strong prey drive, in my experience the only real training you can do is to teach them the basics young.

The big one is "call back" or heal. If you can get a Beagle to quit a trail and come back to you, you have a winner.

Next would be not to run Deer. My Beagles had no quit in them, they'd follow a trail or do hot pursuit forever. I'm talking many miles here. Having a GPS locator on your dog is advisable.

Blood trails, teach then to work off of a long leash. The leash is a pain, but mine made the connection to slow down with a leash. And learned to feel the feedback from me through the leash (somewhat).

Following a hot scent and not getting side tracked comes with experience.

Beagles are IMO hard to train,, it is more a point them in a direction and follow or hold on type thing.

I don't have much confidence most Beagles would be focused enough to hunt sheds. The first hot scent they came across and off they'd go.

My Beagles were hot hunters, had a strong prey drive, weren't much on listening to commands when they had a scent.
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Old 08-17-2017, 02:34 PM
  #3  
Typical Buck
 
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Came late to this one. Sorry. Cross training Beagle hounds is a very bad idea. As Mudder Chuck said, you don't want them running deer. If you train them to run rabbit and blood trail deer, the first time they hit a hot deer trail, they will come off the rabbit and run deer. And I have not seen a Beagle hound yet with the patience to hunt sheds but they could exist. Never seen one though. Yours is old enough now to start on a drag trail. Trap a rabbit so you will have a fresh one, put on some rubber boots and drag that rabbit in a very large circle just like a rabbit will run usually. Bring the pup to the general vicinity of that trail and let him/her find it then sound off. Keep it on a leash for a while like Chuck said. That is a really good way to get it to understand call back commands and things like that. One other thing, Beagle hounds work best in pairs to a pack. Lone Beagles will sometimes work well but it's kind of rare. Some have really good noses while others are better sight hounds. Your longer legged ones are usually the better sight hounds and once they lock on to a rabbit they have the foot speed to keep it in visual range. I also like to teach at least one in the pack to retrieve for when I crack one in the thicket. Your retriever will also take it away from any of the others that will try to tear into the rabbit. Beagles really aren't that hard to train really. Some are actually very intelligent but they can be a very stubborn breed. I hate using them but there are times, like when you have a new pack that like to chase deer, that shock collars are a blessing in disguise. Some people don't know how to train Beagles not to run deer and I have gotten more than my share of them over the years. The old man and I both always tried to raise them from pups and train them ourselves but sometimes the trading just doesn't go well and we need a pack for that year. So we have to rely on trades that are trained by others.
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Old 08-17-2017, 03:05 PM
  #4  
Boone & Crockett
 
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If you don't have a good place to train your pup on wild rabbits, you can always buy a few domestic rabbits. Rabbits smell like rabbits. You could also join a beagle club and have a lot of rabbits and help.
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Old 08-27-2017, 08:02 PM
  #5  
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Getting her to come when you call is a start. Reinforce the idea that coming to you when on a scent every time you call. Hounds love to wander and can get lost if their selective hearing takes over.

She's a rabbit dog. Either catch a local wild rabbit (best) or buy a bunny. Put it in a roller so the dog can get used to chasing it. You can also keep a stuffed animal in the rabbit cage so it smells like a rabbit and then tie it to a rope and have the dog chase after. Just reinforce the idea that chasing rabbit is good.
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Old 03-30-2018, 11:58 AM
  #6  
Spike
 
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Teach them to use their nose first, then teach them what to trail, then what not to trail, then what to trail again. Train them to understand a shock collar-if you don't follow commands when I beep, you will get shocked. I don't know how people trained beagles before shock collars...
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