Thread: Possum accidental hunt

We took Candace our whippet on a family camping trip. She was great keeping the kids interested and motivated, residual after my eldest and I went looking for a fishing spot. Candace tagged along, and was doing her regular investigating when suddenly she barked and took off. She had treed a small possum. My son obligingly climbed the tree and poked it out for her.
Down it came into the river, and managed to shoot into a hole under the bank. In she went and that was that.

That gave her the bug. The next day she was out exploring with the kids and she found a hole. Candace 2, possums nil. She's a cracker of a dog. No good for deer, but what a great little hunter she is.


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If that dogs going near Kiwi country, recommend you enroll it for kiwi aversion training ASAP.

Originally Posted by trapperjohn

If that dogs going near Kiwi country, recommend you enroll it for kiwi aversion training ASAP.

totally agree - can you stop her --most important that you are able to get her off something you don't want her to go for - chooks seagulls sheep etc

On a positive note....if you pluck said possum before she has scragged it.its actually quite viable way to hunt them and make good coin. Find place where you allowed to do so and as others have said....keep control of WHAT she is targeting. Treed coins with .22lr are a lot of fun and a wee .410 is very very safe way to get kids actually hitting something properly.warning,that becomes addictive and you might find electronic devices are second choice to possuming.

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

totally agree - can you stop her --most important that you are able to get her off something you don't want her to go for - chooks seagulls sheep etc

Nope wouldn't take her off leash near a kiwi. She's getting a lot better on recall, but I agree with the kiwi aversion training idea anyway.



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@Micky Duck
After we stole the first one she didn't bring the second one back and hid it in her secret pantry in the bush. I'm a bit annoyed with her about that - if we get onto a rabbit source I wouldn't mind keeping some for the pot. That's what whippets were bred for.

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How does that song go ? "when a possum comes along, you must whippet. before the possum gets too strong you must Whippet. Whippet, whippet real good

Lol yeah hiding it means she thinks it's her possum

Originally Posted by trapperjohn

If that dogs going near Kiwi country, recommend you enroll it for kiwi aversion training ASAP.

Put my Jack Russell through the aversion training she was crazy for possum but absolutely not going anywhere near a kiwi after that!

Question for you guys, I assume on the avian aversion training they use a shock collar ?

Originally Posted by Frogfeatures

Question for you guys, I assume on the avian aversion training they use a shock collar ?

Yes - well they did back 15 years ago

The past 2 instructors I've had I the last 18 months have used shock collars. The level of shock depends on the instructor. A few on here have had bad experiences especially if they hunt their dogs with collars. The collar is the associated with pain and the dog refuses to hunt out of fear of being shocked.

My dog at 6months had to get a zap to associate the scent of kiwi to pain. For a pup he was trying to paw at the collar and hard to watch, but the message got through and avoided the kiwi. 10 months later he had a reset, new instructor and I think he had the collar set higher my dog yelping and ran off I a 20m arch away tail tucked between his legs. I wanted to put the collar on the instructor and push the button.

He's due for another retest before the roar, we'll see how he goes. Hopefully he's learnt and no need to shock him, or the instructor... haha