Gun dog breeders are highly skilled when it comes to selecting beagle pups suitable for hunting small game. However, selection is not enough and a high level of training is necessary to ensure that your beagle is capable of being a valuable asset to all your hunting endeavors.
Beagles are usually trained well while still very young, generally between 4 and 6 weeks old.
Training normally begins by teaching tracking skills, followed by an introduction to rabbits to get used to their scent and behavior. The final stage will include tracking across long distances and ensuring it is used to gunfire and unlikely to panic when the gun is fired nearby.
Here are some tips from gun dog breeders to ensure that your beagle can hunt rabbits successfully.
1. Encourage Your Beagle Pup to Use Its Nose
Tracking skills are essential and young pups are often encouraged to use their sense of smell when their owners hide treats for them to find. In the initial stages, treats are simply tossed on the ground. However, as the pup becomes more adept, it will actively hunt and find its favorite treats, regardless of the hiding place.
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However,
according to the gun dog breeders at Hunter's Beagles, training takes a backseat to breeding. "Hunting instinct can not be taught it can only be brought out of the dog that has breeding from A-1 hunting lines."
2. Get Your Dog Familiar With Rabbits
Gun dog breeder Scott Wilson told Field and Stream to "take the beagle out for long walks and when you see a rabbit, encourage your dog to explore the area. Given time, the dog will remember the scent and recognize it on future trips."
Tremayne Benson, Benson's Kennel owner, breeder, and trainer,
starts training his beagles to track around 2 months by introducting them to a tame rabbit in the field.
3. Baying
Gun dog breeders and owners are very familiar with the sound a beagle makes when it has succeeded in finding the source of its targeted scent. Most owners can distinguish the sound of their own beagle even among a large pack.
Encourage your dog to vocalize its successful tracking.
4. Older Dogs
Training young pups with older dogs is a successful technique as it seems the younger dog learns faster when keeping up with an experienced gun dog.
Breeder Rod Place recommended that four pups with one older dog is the perfect ratio to optimize training speed and quality.
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