Training Beagles for Hunting
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I agree with running them with other dogs but the easiest and best way that Ive found is a shock collar.
The good ones are fairly expensive but if you dont want em runnin' deer theyre almost a necessity.
Get em runnin' rabbits pretty good first then try to get em on a deer. If they so much as start waggin' their tails like theyre excited, light em up.
It takes time but if you keep doing it theyll eventually learn to get as far away from deer scent as they can.
The good ones are fairly expensive but if you dont want em runnin' deer theyre almost a necessity.
Get em runnin' rabbits pretty good first then try to get em on a deer. If they so much as start waggin' their tails like theyre excited, light em up.
It takes time but if you keep doing it theyll eventually learn to get as far away from deer scent as they can.
There are several tricks one can us to either prevent a dog from running off game or to put a halt to them if they start. Some I have used, some I have not, but they all seem to get the job done.
The shocking collar method is a good one but one needs to be 110% sure the dogs are on off game before you zap them. Some of them swamper's will fool you on the way they run.
One of my favorites with young dogs that are just getting started is to make them terrified of the meer smell of a deer track. A shocking collar can serve this purpose, but I have seen dogs that figure out they get shocked when barking & running a deer & they will start trailing & running them stale mouthed.
A dog cannot run one if they don't trail them. Here is what I do to make them where they don't even want to put their nose to the ground to even smell a deer trail. I take a drag rag & lay a track using deer scent. When you do this, take some mouse traps & set them along in the track you have layed. When the dog goes to trailing the track that track will junp up and bite him. He will learn that scent means something bad is going to happen to him if he sticks his nose in it & follows it. After 2 or 3 times of getting a mouse trap attached to their nose they will advoid the scent of a deer all togather.
The shocking collar method is a good one but one needs to be 110% sure the dogs are on off game before you zap them. Some of them swamper's will fool you on the way they run.
One of my favorites with young dogs that are just getting started is to make them terrified of the meer smell of a deer track. A shocking collar can serve this purpose, but I have seen dogs that figure out they get shocked when barking & running a deer & they will start trailing & running them stale mouthed.
A dog cannot run one if they don't trail them. Here is what I do to make them where they don't even want to put their nose to the ground to even smell a deer trail. I take a drag rag & lay a track using deer scent. When you do this, take some mouse traps & set them along in the track you have layed. When the dog goes to trailing the track that track will junp up and bite him. He will learn that scent means something bad is going to happen to him if he sticks his nose in it & follows it. After 2 or 3 times of getting a mouse trap attached to their nose they will advoid the scent of a deer all togather.
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Ive heard of using the mouse traps before but have never tried it.
It makes sense if you think about it. If I were gonna try it I dont think Id do it till they were runnin' rabbits pretty good though. I wouldnt want em thinking that happened just because they were trailing something.
Ive also heard "old timers" say that you can skin a deer and put the dog and the hide in a plastic barrel and roll it down a hill and that will make a dog stay away from deer scent.
Ive never tried that method either (and probably never will).
It makes sense if you think about it. If I were gonna try it I dont think Id do it till they were runnin' rabbits pretty good though. I wouldnt want em thinking that happened just because they were trailing something.
Ive also heard "old timers" say that you can skin a deer and put the dog and the hide in a plastic barrel and roll it down a hill and that will make a dog stay away from deer scent.
Ive never tried that method either (and probably never will).
Yea, I heard of that barrell deal also, but I also will most likely never get to the point I would use such a tactic. It might make the dog scared of the scent, but it might create a bigger expence for me? I would have to get all new dog houses because all of mine are cut out barrells & I suspect they would never use them again!!!!!:fit::banghead:
I left out some info on the other side of this method I use to prevent the possible problem of getting them trail scared. You are right getting them scared of the shear fact of trailing could be an issue if they get got every time they put their nose on the ground. What I have done to get them gun ho about trailing the right scent is to have a reward at the end of the desired trail. I will lay a trail with rabbit scent & at the end of the track there will be some goodies. They learn real quick which one to trail out & which one not. They learn real fast to stay with the track that has the scent with the rewards at the end & to advoid the one with the scent that has the gotcha's along the way!
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