Hello Falcon Boy. Why do you think Copper is not very intelligent? So far my puppy beagle seems pretty smart. I have had him one week and he is doing really well with housebreaking. He will relieve himself on command, will come when called, responds to up to get in the car and he follows me wherever I go which has made training much easier on me so far. I named him Storm.
Post by Falcon Boy on Jan 18, 2004 15:28:01 GMT -5
By god consider yourself lucky! I dont know anyone who has a beagle that comes Copper still doesnt come when i call her, but atleast she is housebroken. I need to keep working with her coming when called.
Good work with Storm and good luck!
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
Right from the start when the dogs sphincter starts to open I say poop poop. After a couple times he knows what that means. I also did the same thing with pee. You can use any word you want but I wouldn't use a common word or use the dogs name because he might go when you don't want him to. If he doesn't go right away I say hurry up and he will go.
I was only joking. We do almost the same thing except we say " Go do business." This way they know what we want from them.
I have a question since it seems that you guys have dogs and have birds. I have just started my falconry aprenticeship and was wondering do you have problems with your dogs interacting with your birds? If so what do you do about it?
Post by Falcon Boy on Jan 21, 2004 16:29:47 GMT -5
Alex said:
I was only joking. We do almost the same thing except we say " Go do business." This way they know what we want from them.
I have a question since it seems that you guys have dogs and have birds. I have just started my falconry aprenticeship and was wondering do you have problems with your dogs interacting with your birds? If so what do you do about it?
From day one you need to have the dog constantly around. When you have the bird out, the dog is right next to you. What i did was have the bird on my fist, dog in my lap. This way they "grow up together" and know eachother from day one. The bird will think the dog is just another thing that it must deal with. ALWAYS have the dog around. When creance flying, have the dog around in the yard. When lure training, have the dog around the bird. This way the bird always sees the dog and knows it is not a threat. Thats what i did, and my bird has been flown over dauchshunds and beagles with no problem.
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
Post by Falcon Boy on Mar 30, 2004 15:45:27 GMT -5
She still doesnt come when called She also doesnt stay in the yard, but she always comes back which is nice. She almost got hit by a car though, so im workin on a bigger invisible fence. I have not taken her into the field b/c she doesnt listen well when shes scenting
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
How old is Copper now? How much intense training have you been able to do with Copper? Does Copper come from a line of working rabbit dogs? Does that seem to matter? In an earlier post you addressed aclimating the bird to the dog and vice versa. How would that work with an older dog... say 1 y/o?
I ask these questions b/c i met a rabbit hunter who, due to ill health, is getting rid of his dogs. He has offered me a good deal on a started dog. Beagle. I'm thinking about it.
Post by Falcon Boy on Mar 31, 2004 16:25:26 GMT -5
She is almost a year now. She is from show dogs, not hunting backround. I think it helps to introduce them early, my GS is terrified of the bird, while copper Respects it, but isn't afraid. I havent much time at all to do real training, which is a problem, as neighboors are now comlaining that she runs too much I now have to expand my invisible fence and put a collar on her [invisible fence collar]. Worst comes to worst i may have to sell her
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
Falconboy if you follow along with this quote you will find the exact behavior that was refined in your beagle described below. I found this information at this link netpet.batw.net/articles/choosing.dog.frame.html Just a matter of instinct. If a particular aspect of a breed's typical physical and behavioral profile is important to you, you need to be sure that that aspect is present in the puppy or dog you choose and this should be discussed with the breeder from whom you are getting the dog before acquiring the dog. In many breeds bred primarily for working ability the dog who fails to show the working behaviors is offered for sale as a pet (4) Hounds Hounds are specialized hunting dogs that are bred to act as the instrument of the hunt without looking to their human companions for direction or instruction once they are put on the prey. They generally show strong focus on the chase and are well supplied with the instincts needed to capture and kill they prey once they overtake it. (The exception to this is the modern Bloodhound which is bred with intense tracking and chasing abilities but is gentle when it finds its human quarry.) Hounds have a wild an independent nature in relation to hunting yet have suppresed territorial instincts so that they general get along with "pack" members wether they be other dogs, livestock with which they are familiar or their human "pack". On the other hand things that flee are considered fair game and they look outwards to the horizon for entertainment, not to their human owners for direction. They are dogs that need fenced yards and kennels, especially in the country, except when accompanying their owners on hunting expeditions.
Scent hounds. These dogs form a well defined group of dogs with a strong orientation towards scent hunting. The smaller breeds are traditionally used on rabbits, the larger breeds when used on larger or more dangerous game are used in packs. The pack hunting dogs have the drive to actively kill cornered game. When used on prey that will retreat to a burrow the pack also would include a terrier to to dig the prey out. Because scent hounds are used for forest and brush hunting they are also bred to give tongue or bay during the hunt and their voices are selected to have the low tone baying sound that carries well over considerable distance. A good huntsman can identify his various hound by their voices. However this behavior of baying can make them undesirable as pets in situations where owners are sensitive to noise or where neighbors live close to you. Small scenthounds are generally hunted from foot, medium sized and large scent hounds may be hunted from horseback or leashed if hunted from foot.
After reading this and other material on the subject I find your dog is doing as it was bred to. If I understand correctly it appears you should keep him housed or kenneled until you have the time to take him affield for more formal training with game. It is also not advised to try and train the beagle while you are hunting the hawk. The better scenario is to get the hound reasonably trained or even have a friend handle the dog while you handle the hawk. Just an observation but It might be a little cruel to put an electronic collar on a dog that is behaving in a most natural way. It might break him from roaming but it might also break him of the very thing you want him to do in the field. Try this site rabbithuntingonline.com/index.htm They are as knowledgable about beagles as falconers are about falconry. I did not think that the video clip of the dog at work showed me anything that would be useful to the way we want to present a slip to our game hawks. I have seen the closer working German wirehaired pointer to be more of what a falconer needs. The beagle will be as hot after the rabbit as your raptor. So please remember to protect your dog after the bird is down with the quarry. I won't recommend a retreiver either because I have read of more than one occasion of a labrador bringing both falcon and duck back to his master.
Earlier I wrote " please remember to protect your dog after the bird is down with the quarry. I won't recommend a retreiver either because I have read of more than one occasion of a labrador bringing both falcon and duck back to his master."
Having said what I said about retrievers I can now change this due to an excellent contibution By Michael A. O’Keefe at www.netexpress.net/~okeefe/Falconry/Index.htm The whole site is a must read! In addition he might be onto something in the way of using the dog as a form of telemetry. I will investigate further. Hunting Page 4 I eventually had the idea that what I was trying to train was not retrieving but search and rescue. I looked into it a bit and got one of the most recommended training books on the subject, Ready; the Training of the Search and Rescue Dog by Susan Bulanda.