A Good Gundog Should Not Be Encouraged To Chase Rabbits
When you are taking your gundog hunting, there are always a number of variables that you just can’t plan for. Sometimes, you may happen upon another hunter and his dogs, other times, you may startle something much larger than the desired quarry and many other times, your gundog may startle a rabbit into flight.
If your gundog is properly trained and conditioned, you won’t have any problems; however, if your gundog is not conditioned to rabbits, then chances are you are going to see the happy tail of your gundog puppy has he decides to bolt after this fast and surprisingly interesting quarry.
As you can imagine, having a gundog that chases after rabbits can be a very negative thing for both the safety of your dog and your own nerves. When you are out with your gundog, you want him to listen to your commands in the field and not be distracted by other animals that he may happen upon. That is why it is very important to train your gundog puppy not to chase after rabbits at a very early age.
For those of you who are new to the world of gundog breeds, you may be wondering how you can accomplish such a feet. I mean, rabbits can be quite entertaining to an enterprising puppy but there is a very simple way to break your puppy’s natural desire to chase rabbits and that is to simply own rabbits.
If you have ever owned a cat and a dog at the same time, you are probably familiar with this training approach. Basically, the dog is conditioned to accept the cat or at the very least, not chase the cat, through your cues and the fact that the cat is part of its everyday environment. The same premise works with rabbits.
While your puppy is still young, you will want to set the stage for the interaction. The first step is to create a rabbit hutch next to the pen where your puppy spends a large amount of his time. Once the hutch is secure, purchase several rabbits and place them inside. It is better to purchase wild rabbits but if you are unable to find those, domesticated rabbits are fine to use.
Begin by allowing your puppy time to sniff at the rabbits. Although you may be tempted to correct the dog, this will only instil that maybe there is something interesting in the hutch. If you have no interest in the rabbits then your dog will begin to have little interest in them either.
Once your puppy is used to the rabbits in the hutch, begin exposing him to the rabbits outside of the hutch. One way to do this is to simply dig a hole between the hutch and the pen so that the rabbits can get in and out of the pen.
Your gundog puppy will begin to have company in his pen but the rabbits will quickly disappear under the fence if the puppy gets too rough.
Although this method of conditioning can work for many dogs, it is important to supervise the interactions to ensure that the rabbits are not exciting your gundog puppy too much. Make sure to remain calm and don’t show any encouragement when your dog is inspecting the rabbits.
As the weeks go by, you will quickly see that the rabbits have little effect on your gundog puppy. Eventually, he will be so conditioned to rabbits and their behaviors that when he is in the field, any rabbit, either their smell or the sight of them starting, will be ignored by your gundog.
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