# Training my beagle pup



## hunting_84 (Jan 1, 2010)

I was wondering if anyone can give me some pointers on traing my pup. When i get a rabbit i'll drag it around the yard and he will find it, I take him out with my buddys beagles and let him run with them, but he just follows me for the most part. He is 5 months old. Any advice would be appreicated.


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## predatordave (Feb 24, 2003)

he is still a young puppy. keep taking him out with your buddys dogs and also take him out by himself and put him on fresh bunny tracks. always remember to have fun and be patient. when doing drags make the the drag hop like a bunny and make sure you are wearing rubber boots so the pup doesnt track your scent. the best thing is just as much exposure to live rabbit as you can give. with the fluffy snow the other dogs running through and over the track will disperse the scent and make it tough for your pup to smell it. so when the other dogs bring one around try to get your pup in front of them on the hot scent. laying drags is ok for pups but nothing beats a live hot bunny for them to smell. 

good luck, dave


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## hunting_84 (Jan 1, 2010)

Thankyou for the advice! I just want to make sure i'm doing everything right, and not rushing him. Thankyou!!


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## Jumpshootin' (Jul 6, 2000)

Good advice there; keep getting the pup on live rabbits as much as possible. There is no better training scheme than that. 
Run him with the other dogs some, but also by himself. I like to run a pup 2 or 3 times by itself to evey one time with older dogs. That way they can build some confidence by finding and trailing on their own, and not become a follow-the-leader type.


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## sigman (Nov 2, 2006)

There are some places that will get your dog started. Saves some time.


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## badjedi (Apr 30, 2008)

FYI, Gander Mountain carries rabbit scent for dog training.


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## Hackman (Aug 13, 2008)

When I was a teen, I live trapped a few in yard, took them to a fenced baseball field,let the dog see and bark at it. Let it go dog would chase it , rabbit would find the way out. Not rocket science. I guess better read laws don't want you getting in trouble . Back in the 70's hunting guide was only about 5 pages.


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## casscityalum (Aug 27, 2007)

Ok...As some of you may saw..we had a stray pup or dump off show up at the house the other day..I think it was Sunday night. He is about 5-7 months old were thinking. Anyways long story short heres a quick update on our training.

Day 1- He followed me outside but stayed behind me..Kicked out rabbit and he didnt see it..about carried him to track..he slowly followed it down the hill and out the field but i had to be right with him and almost leading the way.

Day 2- Today my parnter with the dog showed up to test him. We hunted three spots

Spot 1-Kicked two rabbits out right away..pup wouldn't go ahead of us and was more worried about us than the rabbits. Anyways got another out and he ran after it no bark just followed with his eyes. Then he stopped and looked back at us and wondered why we weren't next to him. OK so next pile we decide to just shoot a rabbit so he can see it. Bam rabbit down. He slowly approaches it but isnt to excited. Chews it for a second and then looses interest. So we move on.

Now before spot 2- we decide to play a game..I dragged the rabbit around and hid. Buddy held on to him and he followed ok. Did this three or four times and would drag the rabbit with him chasing us to keep him having fun. Did a good test..took him a bit but he finally found me/rabbit

Spot 2- Went around with no rabbits seen for awhile. Walking two track back and bud shoots a bunny. This is where it sucked to watch but was great for the pup. The shot only got the bunny towards the back. Rabbit was still alive and could me ok..Rabbit ran to the two track. I had the dog next to me and I started running to the bunny..Pup followed soon as he saw the rabbit he chased it down. Caught up to and started trying to get to it in the brush. He got a good playing amount of time with the rabbit and then we took care of it. Felt better with him. But still not sure as he still followed us and got nervous after a shot.

Spot 3- The best/highlight of our day. We left the guns in the car and walked a fence row that always has 1-4 rabbits. Kicked one out again but pup was still following me. Well I was able to find the track and put it on him. He followed it a bit then lost interest again. 

Then it happened 
So I had a clear spot of no other tracks from that bunny and put him nose in it twice to the track. Then something changed. He starting wagging the tail. Breathing changed. Every time he put his nose in the snow he'd blow it out..Sounded like a deer snort. You could see he was starting to get excited. Kicked the same rabbit out again and he didn't see it as I fell face first into the pile..But got him around and on the track..

And then....wham nose blew made a little bark..and starting running..then the howl..he was on the rabbit..I could see where the rabbit went and knew what it was doing and the pup followed that thing all around the circle howling the whole time until it got to the cement piles and holes. Lost sight of both and then one last howl before I could tell where the rabbit had gone and the pup gave up..Meantime buddy had kicked up another rabbit and he called him over to him. Pup never made it to my buddy as he crossed that other rabbits path and away he went howling and chasing..Pup sorted out through a mess of tracks and kept with that one till it also got to the safe heaven for rabbits.

Great day today..Sorry for the long winded post. But you just have to remember to be patience. When he first got board at the first spot we just played with him. I let him play tug war with the bunny some and just let him bite it and get used to it. Not sure how others train but today was a learning experience as this is the first dog Ive worked on training.

With our pup being so young and this the first time out it was great to have a howl like that. It felt so good and both of us had more enjoyment of hearing that howl than actually shooting that bunny. I think we are very lucky to get him to chase and howl in 1 day. You could see it just click in the dogs mind when it knew what it was supposed to do  

I cant wait to watch this dog develop. Shows no signs of chasing deer either. And seems to be ok with a gun shot. We have decided not to gun hunt my neighbors across the road and only train there. Cant wait to get home next weekend.


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## hunting_84 (Jan 1, 2010)

Thankyou everyone for the advice. My pup seems like he is getting the hang of it. Patience seems like that is the biggest thing, just let him do his thing. Rather that is sniff around a for a bit, or play. I been playing around with him with a frozen rabbit, and he does a good job with that. I'll drag it around and he will find it, and bring it back to me which is wonderful. The first time i took him out to the woods he just followed me, but today i took him out again, and his nose was right in the ground. Were making progress. My buddy made a live rabbit trap, and he would release the rabbit and his dog would just go nuts, nose to the ground and starting to open up. Its my pups sister. So i'm going to try that out, and just keep taking him out to the fence rows. So far knock on wood he doesn't want nothing to do with deer scent. There was a couple dead deer in the fields and he stayed right away from them.
Thanks again everyone for the advice.


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## sigman (Nov 2, 2006)

casscityalum said:


> Ok...As some of you may saw..we had a stray pup or dump off show up at the house the other day..I think it was Sunday night. He is about 5-7 months old were thinking. Anyways long story short heres a quick update on our training.
> 
> Day 1- He followed me outside but stayed behind me..Kicked out rabbit and he didnt see it..about carried him to track..he slowly followed it down the hill and out the field but i had to be right with him and almost leading the way.
> 
> ...


 Lucky find on that dog. My hunting buddy ran a pup with his dogs for 2yrs before he started to hunt but now is is best dog.


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## UKLABMAN (Dec 6, 2003)

I used to run beagles in UKC hunts and had good luck training at night. Lots of rabbbits out and of course no guns. Also late fall wet grass areas work well for training. Prolly not telling you anything you don't know. I haven't had a hound now in about ten years and really miss em.


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## sixft4par (Apr 1, 2008)

Get a live trap from TSC and blend up some apples for bait. Trap a rabbit. Let the dog smell the rabbit in the cage until he is really excited. Hold the dog, let the rabbit go and then let the dog run after it. He may sight chase for a while but he should quickly relize that he can use his nose to track. This method has worked for me on many dogs. After he is started then you need to run him on rabbits as much as possible and get him deer broke. It takes a couple seasons to really get a "finished" running dog.


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## hunting_84 (Jan 1, 2010)

Whats the best way to break the dog from not going after deer?


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## UKLABMAN (Dec 6, 2003)

I've had beagles that wouldn't stop trailing deer no matter what. Best to recognize this and move on to another dog. I have had some that never ran a deer. Must be in the bloodlines. I always liked to start a new dog alone so it learned to jump and run its own rabbits rather than depending on older dogs.


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## willy05 (Nov 19, 2005)

Buy a 40 dollar shock collar from Meijer, put your dog on a lease drive the roads at prime time , when you see some deer in a feild walk your dog over to where the deer were and if he gets excited and tries to track light him up. Did this with a few dogs and only had to shock one dog more than once and that one only took two shocks. After doing that, my dogs would turn 180 or run right past tracks. These collars with one mile ranges are not needed. At a mile away I could not tell you if my dog was on a deer or a rabbit, don't want to zap him on a rabbbits trail. Just what worked well for me.


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## sixft4par (Apr 1, 2008)

Best way to break a dog off deer is with a shock collar. I would highly recommend tri tronics. Google search collar clinic in traverse city....they have refubished ones for an honest price. Keep in mind if your dog gets on a deer and you do not have a collar with some range you are in for a long day. As many coyotes as there are you really don't want to loose a dog over night. I have a trashbreaker from tri tronics and love it. You can buy a cheaper model at a local store like mentioned above but it won't work in the brush very well. I also run tracking collars.....big investment but helpfull when we run hares up north.

Typically it only takes a zap or two and they won't run deer anymore.


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## jeffz (Sep 13, 2009)

it works with a shock collar. thats what i did with my **** hound.



willy05 said:


> Buy a 40 dollar shock collar from Meijer, put your dog on a lease drive the roads at prime time , when you see some deer in a feild walk your dog over to where the deer were and if he gets excited and tries to track light him up. Did this with a few dogs and only had to shock one dog more than once and that one only took two shocks. After doing that, my dogs would turn 180 or run right past tracks. These collars with one mile ranges are not needed. At a mile away I could not tell you if my dog was on a deer or a rabbit, don't want to zap him on a rabbbits trail. Just what worked well for me.


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