We adopted an awesome beagle about a year ago. He is thought to be about 3 years old now. His main purpose is being the great family dog that he is. However, I believe he was a hunting dog before coming to us and he seems to really want to hunt. I'm not personally interested in hunting, but I recently learned that you can run rabbits without shooting them. How does this work? Isn't it likely that the dog would eventually catch a rabbit? Would I need to go prepared to shoot a rabbit?
How does one begin this? Before adopting Scout, I never thought about any of this stuff, so I'm completely lost about where to begin and where I could even go to do this. Mainly, I just want to have fun with my dog and see him in his natural environment doing what he was bred to do.
I am quite proud that he has caught one rat for me so far. He was so amazing in that he caught it, thought he killed it, dropped it, caught it again, repeated until dead, then dropped in, hunched over it and looked up at me for instruction. I think he's a natural, but what do I know about hunting dogs! Our whole family was immensely proud of him that night, and seeing the joy he had and the excitement we all had, I'd love to learn more and find out how to get him out in the woods.
We live in the 'burbs of Atlanta, just in case that is relevant.
Hey calm down you do not have to shoot a rabbit when you take your dog out . The chase is EVERYTHING to the dog . Just keep a limit on him .Sounds like the dog may have had some experience in the woods already .So take him out . He will love it and you will have found a great way to exercise your dog. I do it just to keep my dog in shape .
BeagleMama ,
I did not see this when you originally posted. Others have said to let your Beagle run and have fun and I agree 100%. This is what I would do first ,(1) Work on basic command training with your Beag as it will make all future efforts easier. (2) Work on recall everyday until rock solid. To start with this should be done in a fenced yard or perhaps inside. (3) There are fun games your dog can learn such as nose work. Below are some links to help you get started.
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