Jluke04

Well here goes, I was up and my grandpa's ranch and in town for some dinner at the cafe when a guy approaches me asking me if I would like a new dog. He said it would make a really good hunting dog. I have always wanted a hunting dog and since I should finally be moving out on my own in a couple months I called my parents and asked them if it was alright since I will be moving out anyways it wont be in the house for long.

Anyways I will post a pic of it in the next day or 2, it looks to be about 5-6 weeks old, he said that it was a Australian Shepard / Blue Lassie(sp) mix, he told me a Blue Lassie is a cross between a Coyote, Greyhound, and a scent hound.. the momma was the Shepard and daddy was the Blue Lassey.

So what kind of of hunting do you think this dog would be best suited to? Will it be easy to teach to retrieve birds. Or maybe use it as a squirrel dog. Does anyone have any tips to raising/training a dog, or can recommend some books/movies whatever that go through it. And also at what age can I try to start training it. Any help/tips would be appreciated all I have ever had around me were my moms little yappy dogs that just sit on the couch all day.

Remember I know nothing so any knowledge yall could impart on me would be greatly appreciated!

Jluke04

Oh yea it is a lil boy, and I havent figured out a name for it yet. Had it for 2 or 3 days and am still just calling it puppy, hehe any suggestions =)

Jluke04

OK well I decided that I will call is Rosco. heh still looking for some advice. Also I have never heard of a Blue Lasse(sp) does anyone know where I can find some reading material about the breed?

Bruce H

I strongly recommend you enrole him in a puppy class. It will teach you both the basic obedience commands and, more importantly, will help get him accustomed to other people and other dogs. Others on this board who hunt with dogs will be able to help you further.

Bruce

Jluke04

About what age do you reccomend enrolling him? he is only about 5 weeks right now. And also can this dog even make an ok hunting dog? How could I find out

dez182

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I think somebody screwed you over. Neither of the parents is recognized as a hunting breed, and this pup should not have been taken from its mother for another 2-3 weeks at least. Most likely this was someone who didn't want his dog to have pups to begin with, and he was just trying to dump them off on anyone who'd be willing to take them.

On the bright side, you'll most likely have a wonderful companion, and friend. Judging by your original post, you're probably not much of a hunter anyways, so I would just accept the dog for what it is and get involved in obedience. There's still a chance that you could have a hunting dog...all dogs have some degree of prey drive...but chances are slim.

If you've got sheep to herd, you might be pleasantly surprised! Best of luck...

Jluke04

Well I really had the same suspicions dez by the way the guy just handed it to me and took off. But I have pretty much only deer hunted before but have been wanting to try bird hunting for a long long time, and have also wanted a hunting dog. I am still going to try to train it, who knows, so I would still like some tips, what is a good way to go about seeing if he has it in him to be a good hunting dog.

dez182

I know several people who hunt with non-standard hunting breeds, and they all do a passable job in the field. The things you have going for you are: part Coyote (prey drive), part scent hound (good nose), part herding breed (intelligent, good demeanor). I would think that something like this would be better suited to rabbit hunting than bird hunting, but definitely try both. The main thing is to get the pup introduced to game as early as possible. No pressure, just having fun finding game with the pup. At about 6 months you can start obedience classes, which will help out in the woods. At that time, once the pup is excited about finding and chasing game, you need to start controlling the dog more during your outings.

Depending on what type of hunting you want to do, there are lots of good books and videos out there. Just go to Amazon.com and type in a search for "rabbit dog training" or "bird dog training" or "gun dog training".

Good luck.

Jluke04

Thanks, dez, about what age can I start taking him out with me to let him chase some small game? Also where can you get live pigeons? Just curious bc I might try useing them later to see whats what. Thanks agin!

dez182

It's never too early to let him chase game. The sooner the better! Just make it fun for him until he's 6 months or so.

I get pigeons from local farmers, they always want to get rid of them. Just make a trap out of a big cardboard box with fishing line criss-crossed across the top, about 6 inches apart. Put some corn in the bottom of the box. The birds drop in to get the corn, but can't get fly out because of the fishing line. If this doesn't make sense, there are lot of places online with directions for making a pigeion trap.