Thread: What to look for

If you were thinking about trying to train your dog for hunting what are some of the things youd be looking for to see if doggy would be worth trying to train?

Cocking its leg on car tyres, shitting on lawns and chasing the mail man.
Yep it needs training, get to it

Damn thought 4 legs would of been a good start

Are you looking to get a dog or do you already have one?

If you already have one just train it anyway, you will both be a lot better for it.

If it has four (even 3 would be alright) legs, a nose and a desire to please the boss it can be trained to hunt things if you have the patience and time.

Make sure its a Border Collie

Already got one. He points a lot but cant figure out what hes pointing at. Also doesnt go far and is always looking back checking your there. If he sees or comes across something and hes not sure what to do he will just sit and wait for you to tell him.

Originally Posted by blip

Already got one. He points a lot but cant figure out what hes pointing at. Also doesnt go far and is always looking back checking your there. If he sees or comes across something and hes not sure what to do he will just sit and wait for you to tell him.

Shit !! You're off to a good start already.

Shoot a deer and let him find it. Feed him the trimmings while you gut it and some more when home and teach him the word 'Deer' while he eats deer

Ok can they do goats and deer or do you train them for one thing. Hes a rottie huntaway x looks like a rottie but not as chunky

If you do go and shoot a deer, if it runs a bit after you have shot it, for a start take the dog to where you last saw it so he can track to where it fell. If the deer falls when shot, keep the dog in and move downwind from the deer and let him wind scent the deer and let him find it that way. Have a simple command when you want him to look for it like seek, or whatever you want to say but keep it the same every time so he understands what you require.
The key is control if you have that before you take him hunting it will make things a lot easier. When you train your dog using voice commands if you use an arm action at the same time, like your arm moving down across your body every time you use the down command, they will key to this as well and once they understand you will be able to use the non-voice commands as well, ideal when you hunt.
Good luck.
You can train them for deer and goats, the important thing is to train them to avoid things you don't want to target, like sheep, rabbits and the like.

who cant figure out what dog is pointing at??? you or the dog???
if its unsure so sits...BONUS...far better than whining/barking or giving chase.....
doesnt go far,always looking back..BONUS the longline training will be dead easy,if needed at all...teaching the 5-15 yard thing is hard work with dog who wants to go go go.... dead easy when they just want to stay close.
if your recall/come here you flea bitten pooch your sit,right now where you are and dont move and your leave it,dont touch chase or look are rock solid,just go hunting....do the wee things others have suggested above and if dog has two braincells to rub together it will work out the rest.

If it's pointing you have a winner.

Go find what it's pointing at. If that's what you want shoot it and give the dog a pat. If not call the dog back in and keep walking, eventually it will figure out what you want to hunt.

Alternatively get a bit of skin of what you want it hunt hide it in the grass and then let your dog find it/point it, give it a pat or treat. Rinse and repeat.

This bit is important, teach what you want to hunt first. Very important. Deal with what you don't want later. You do that by simply using a 'leave it' or a yank on the long line but only after it knows what it can hunt.

Took him out with me on a possum shoot last night. Found an old lunging rope that seemed a pretty good length so clipped him to it and put the other end on my belt in case he had a moment of excitement and decided to chase something. All in all we had a good night and he seemed to know straight away what we were doing, fuk me he found the first possum. Walking along a track he just went over to a tree and sat there looking up shone the light up there and there was a possum. Bloody dog is smarter than his owner...

Took ruger out again last night for a possum shoot and he had a great time. He knew exactly what we were doing. Hast really had much training except for the basics sit stay come etc. He didnt need to be told, he would come and sit while I shot then he would go and find possum give it a good shake to make sure it was dead then bring it back he has a lot of natural insticnct I think...