# Squirrel Dogs?



## sigman

Have hunted them all my life but never with dogs. Had to put my 15yr old beagle down last fall and wasent sure I wanted another one. My buddy has a good dog. I can hunt with his. Where would you go to get a running squirrel dog? What breed is used most? Will they hunt good alone? And what should I expect to pay? Thanks.


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## Jumpshootin'

sigman said:


> Where would you go to get a running squirrel dog? What breed is used most? Will they hunt good alone? And what should I expect to pay? Thanks.


-www.sqdog.com
-Mtn. Cur
-yes
-$150 to $350 for a pup

p.s. If someone offers to sell you a "well bred, well started young dog" that they "don't have the time to properly train". Run for the hills. They are just trying to recoup some $$$ for a no-good dog.

Get a 6-8 week old pup from a good bloodline and train it yourself. They're easy. Train in basic obedience and take it to the woods as much as you can. And that means woods with lots of squirrels. Instinct will take over and a well bred Mtn. Cur pup should be treeing squirrels & ***** to some degree by 8 months of age if exposed to the woods enough.
A finished, treeing adult dog will cost you thousands.

Study the info. on www.sqdog.com well, and if you wish shoot me a PM and I'll give you my recommendations on a couple of breeders within a days drive of you.

One thing about squirrel dogs is that you can still get a pup out of the best in the world for under $500. And they make VERY good companion and house dogs, capable of being trained to a high level of obedience.

One thing though: they have alot of grit. By that I mean that they are hard on furred critters. They will kill any cat, ****, oppossum, or woodchuck that they come across.

Check-out these guys too: http://michigansquirreldogassociation.mysite.com/index.html


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## orion

Jumpshootin gave you some good info. I have a Feist out of Mike English's dogs and she is fantastic. Great dog in the house and in the woods. Sleeps in my bed at night and terrorizes squirrels by day. seh weighs in at 18 lbs of pure fury. 

I just talked to Mike yesterday and I believe he has a pup left right now. His dogs are some of the best in Michigan. In fact my dogs mother was 1st runner up in the state hunt last weekend. Mike is on www.sqdog.com and goes by the name English. He is on here from time to time also. You would'nt go wrong with one of his dogs. If you get a squirrel dog you will wonder why you ever had beagles. It is just a flat out riot!!!

Heres me and Nutmeg with a squirrel this winter-









PM me if you need more info.


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## Raf

so its not hard to have the same dog trained to run squirrels and ****?


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## Frantz

Try to get in touch with Dan Wells out of Stanton area as well. He knows a good deal about rat dogs.


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## Atchison

My dad got a Feist last year and that dog is crazy for squirrels!! (In a good way)


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## Jumpshootin'

Raf said:


> so its not hard to have the same dog trained to run squirrels and ****?


No it's not. I'm of the opinion that the Mountain Curs are a better **** dog than any of the hounds.


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## DANNY ELLER

Anyone wanting to se some doge go our next squirrel hunt is April 11 at Central Michigan Sportsman Club in stanton. Hunt starts at 8 am and is a 2 hour hunt. Come and tag along. I hunt a BLACK MOUTH CUR he will tree squirrels but would rather chase **** that hunt will be May 15. Dan


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## slicktree

Jumpshootin' said:


> No it's not. I'm of the opinion that the Mountain Curs are a better **** dog than any of the hounds.


 
In your opinion what makes a mountain cur a better **** dog?


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## DANNY ELLER

I'm not Jeff but to give my point of view. It depends on your hunting stile I love the sound of a hound in chase, but as you get older chasing a hound for miles is not as much fun as it used to be. A cur will show you as many ***** and do it up close and personal they hunt for you not the other way around. a hound will come back and see where you are some times, the cur knows where you are and hunts around you as his center. If you want to go for a hour hunt it's not a problem. Dan


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## fulldraw

My beagle loves to chase squirrels, I can't even say squirrel around him with out him going crazy. So I would say a beagle would be a good option.


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## john warren

what mr eller said. make sure you get to see some of the dogs run, you will be sooooo sold on having one. talk to dan, and mike engish, and they will have dogs or point you to a good quality dog. and while your their,,, you might as well join michigan squirrel dog assoc. those guys are a great bunch and will teach you more about squirrel dogs then anyone has a right to know.


DANNY ELLER said:


> Anyone wanting to se some doge go our next squirrel hunt is April 11 at Central Michigan Sportsman Club in stanton. Hunt starts at 8 am and is a 2 hour hunt. Come and tag along. I hunt a BLACK MOUTH CUR he will tree squirrels but would rather chase **** that hunt will be May 15. Dan


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## john warren

beagles are good hunters, and some will tree well, but many are so focused on chasing like they do with rabbit that they run right past a tree.
of course you will find fellows that swear by,,,lol instead of at, beagles. i love my rat terrier and she fits my style f hunting to a tee. then theres the decker rat terriers, a little bigger and totaly awsome on squirrel. curs. are fantastic, as are the fiest. you have lots of options for squirrel dogs, specialy if your wanting a meat dog . and i don;t mean that compitition dogs don;t put meat on the table. but dogs from good breeding with great hunting abilities don;t always make good dogs for show or compitition. most imprtant thing is to make sure you get a dog from someone that is using a good solid approach to breeding with improving the breed in mind. not just making puppies to sell. MSDA is about the best place in michigan for a novice to start.


fulldraw said:


> My beagle loves to chase squirrels, I can't even say squirrel around him with out him going crazy. So I would say a beagle would be a good option.
> oh....and it doesn't hurt to have a pretty dog too, like my beautiful bell dog. lol


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## Firefighter

Contact Rob Fetting...member "Beagle" on this site. He breeds beagles and treeing feists.


www.fettingbeagles.com

Great guy.


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## Jumpshootin'

slicktree said:


> In your opinion what makes a mountain cur a better **** dog?


Alot of what Danny said, and then some. Alot of it is the handling. You don't go looking for them all the time. And they also use their eyes and ears, as well as their nose. They'll tree ***** that haven't been on the ground yet. They catch a scent coming out of the tree tops. They also scent trail on the ground, or if they hear scratching on a tree trunk 1/4 mile away they'll make a beeline and tree.
Alot of the hounds when dropped will run a straight line until they pick up a scent to follow. They can run 1/2 mile or more before a strike. A Cur will hunt the available cover. Coursing it like a bird dog.
But like Danny said, it's alot of what a fella likes. It sure is nice listening to the hounds. Where as a Cur on tree sounds like any old dog barking in a yard. 
But it sure is nice to have that dog at the tailgate on your tems.


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## sigman

Thanks for all the info guys it was a big help. I have a Rat Terrier as a house dog but never got here on bushytails. Too busy chasing bunnies I guess. Here she is.


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## slicktree

Jumpshootin' said:


> Alot of what Danny said, and then some. Alot of it is the handling. You don't go looking for them all the time. And they also use their eyes and ears, as well as their nose. They'll tree ***** that haven't been on the ground yet. They catch a scent coming out of the tree tops. They also scent trail on the ground, or if they hear scratching on a tree trunk 1/4 mile away they'll make a beeline and tree.
> Alot of the hounds when dropped will run a straight line until they pick up a scent to follow. They can run 1/2 mile or more before a strike. A Cur will hunt the available cover. Coursing it like a bird dog.
> But like Danny said, it's alot of what a fella likes. It sure is nice listening to the hounds. Where as a Cur on tree sounds like any old dog barking in a yard.
> But it sure is nice to have that dog at the tailgate on your tems.


My dad had curs when i was younger and I enjoyed them. Had some great ones, I liked rigging and roading them. My hound doesnt run past ****, in fact he strikes on the leash often. The only difference is if you cut him and there isnt a **** close he isnt coming back. One of my favorite dogs to hunt with was a black mouth cur that was a TREE DOG. I like my hound because when I cut him loose I dont want to see him again until he is treed. I dont think one breed is better than the other, just different.


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## john warren

she is a beautiful litle girl. and i bet with a little time in the woods she would be a nice squirrel dog. try live trapping one , tease her with it a bit, hold her back and let the squirrel go. when he gets a good head start let her go to chaise it. make sure he can get to a tree first so she see's it go up the tree. you biggest thing will be if she barks once she has it tree'd. you probably have spent a lot of time teaching her not to bark, so she will need to learn barking on a tree'd squirrel is what you want. once you have that rat terriers are a fun little dog to hunt with. though a bit tender when the weather turns bad.
and yes, they hunt rabbit too, even birds. ratties are a hunting dog and don;t really care what they hunt. gewt her in the woods and fields, she might surprise you. 


sigman said:


> Thanks for all the info guys it was a big help. I have a Rat Terrier as a house dog but never got here on bushytails. Too busy chasing bunnies I guess. Here she is.


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## sigman

Shes gonna be 7 this year. Think an old dog can learn a new trick?


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## john warren

you do know that rat terriers are called the dog with a college education? theres really not much learning involved, she already knows she wants to catch a furry critter,, your just needing to point out which one.


sigman said:


> Shes gonna be 7 this year. Think an old dog can learn a new trick?


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