Australian Shepherd for hunting?

[squirrel]

I have an aussie. She has an excellent nose and loves the outdoors. Does anybody think she could be trained to sniff out squirrels or rabbits? She seems to be good at finding all the dead animals in the woods, but no live ones :lol:

[Don Fischer]

Most dog's can be taught to hunt something. Hunting for them is instinct. Hunting in certain manners are bred in traits. Traits take advantage of certain things dogs did, ie pointing, flushing, retrieving, herding ect. I think I'd work on the instinct while it's young and develope it. The trait for an Australian Shepard is to herd. Then again maybe it'll herd the rabbit's to you! :-)

Anyway, I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work if you work toward it. Hell, I've seen dog's jump thru rings of fire! Be sure and let us know how it works out. Lot's of people like a dog just as your talking about and nobody seems to intentionally breed then!

[victorcharlie]

The mutt next door finds more rabbits than any beagle I've ever had.........sight chases them.......but can't do a thing once there out of sight..........

[squirrel]

Well, I had her out in the woods the other day. She managed to find a dead oppossum and the fur from a dead fox(a coyote must have got it).
Then a live fox took off across a log about 50 feet from me, I couldn't believe I seen a fox like that in broad daylight! It ran behind some brush before I could get off a shot. So I took the dog over where I last seen it, I could actually smell the musty smell myself and the dog just looked at me like what?!!!! :evil:

[Don Fischer]

I worked with bird dogs a lot so I'm not real sure what to do here. Your dog is hunting. It found the dead possum and some fox fur. What your dog doesn't understand is what you want.

I got a 6 yr old Shorthair in once that had actually been in a kennel it's entire life. Nice dog but didn't have a clue what was going on. It would not chase fly away birds nor even birds walking around on the ground. Finally in desperation I took him into the quail pen with me and just stood there. The dog just sat there next to me. Boy did I feel dumb! But then after awhile, the dog stuck out his muzzle and looked at a bird walk by. A bit later, he got up and walked over to on, sniffed it and walked back to sit by me. Then one walked by to close and he tried to grad it but it ran away. After awhile he finally went and caught one, then spit it out! Damn, that dog just didn't get it. After a good hour of standing around, he caught one and killed it. Then the light went on and he wanted to catch them all.

Back to the field and he had a new reason to live. Turned into a goog hunting dog.

Point is, your dog is hunting, just has no purpose. Try getting some rabbit's and turn them loose in an enclosure they can't escape from. Take your dog in and watch. Do not encourage him unless he actually get's a rabbit, them fuss over him. Then if he get's to wanting all of them, turn one loose in the yard where he can see it and turn him loose to get it.

Next time, plant more and slowly move them into light then heavy cover. If he's going to hunt for you, this may well show him what you want.

Remember you've got a herding dog that has been bred for years to herd animal's, not necessarily hunt them as we precieve it. Send an Austrailian Sheppard after the sheep and it will go find them (hunt them) and bring them back unscathed.

Don't give up just yet and don't become frustrated.

[squirrel]

Don, thanks for the advice. I was thinking along the same lines of what you said, I've just been trying to figure out a way to catch a live rabbit or squirrel...lol

[azshooter]

I have 3 year old aussie that is a great retriever.  I can hide birds anywhere and he finds them by scent and brings them right back.  Don't think they can't hunt because they are sheep dogs.  Just do your part and train the dog.  Start with a retrieving dummy and some bird scent or kill a real bird and put it in the freezer.  Start off playing like it is a ball and having it retrieve then make the dog sit and watch you place it some where.  After you get back to the dog, command him to get it.  The dog will catch on quick.  Next place the dog around the corner while you hide the bird and use the same command to get the bird.  I had my dog retrieving in a few hours like this.  I can hide the dog in the wash room of the house and hide a bird anywhere around my house and he finds it now when I let him out - ususally in < 60 seconds(even deep in a bush).

Just do your part and most dogs will do fine.

[victorcharlie]

I've kept and bread beagles for over 20 years.  One trick I've seen used on dogs that don't quite get it is to turn a rabbit loose in a square pen of say 25' X 25'.  Put the dog on a long lead and lead him into the pen.....hopefully he'll start chasing the rabbit around the pen.....keep him on the lead or you'll soon need a new rabbit.......when the dog looks like he knows he's ready to eat catch the rabbit and drop him over the fence while the dog watches and drop the dog over off the lead right behind the rabbit.

I think the odds of making him a great trailing type dog are small but not impossible.  Dogs are bread for generations to preform a task.  A lot of them still are culls even with the right breeding and the best blood.   If you've ever seen days of thunder there is a part where the car builder explains that he hasn't taught that coon dog a thing......it's all genetics and this is probably truer in a sense to trailing hounds than with bird dogs.......lots of training to get a good bird dog, but with beagles there is much less training and really requires putting the dog on game.  Not to say your dog won't be great, but the odds are higher with a dog bread to chase rabbits.

It's getting harder to find a place to chase rabbits with dogs around here.....are you in a place where you can do this several times a week?