Post by doxiefalconer on Apr 23, 2006 11:05:52 GMT -5
doxies are like every other kind of Hunting hound, they have been bred-out for pet quality dogs. To get a good dog for hunting it most likely will come from a breeder who raises "hunting" lines. That is not to say that you can't get a good doxie from a "pet" breeder, but you have to be careful in selecting the dog. You want a pup that has tireless energy, lots of playfull agression and a certain amount of evilness never hurt. These are the dogs that most pet breeders don't want because they are very often unruly pets, but they make great rabbit dogs........just for reference purposes doxies were bred for Badger work underground. Dachshund means " Badger-dog " in german. Somewhere in Iowa or Idaho, they have a contest every year where they put a badger in a 50 gallon barrel underground and send a dog in after it. the first dog to back the badger out of the hole wins, or if more do it it's based on time. the contest has been going on for 20 years and every year a doxie wins it....occasionally a mini-doxie will win. that should enlighten a few of you to the tenacity of a dachshund.
I can't wait until I get my little girl in July. She's a finished rabbit dog, so my biggest efforts will be in the socialization department, as I'm trying to get her to fly with my current FRT, who is up for her first moult. -Joe
Just got horrible news today. I found out that the mini-dach that I was going to be getting this July got hit by a car and killed. I'm seriously bummed. My wife had just bought our kids some kids books about doxies and I was just finishing up the outside kennel area. We were pretty excited to get her and I know I was pretty stoked about having an experienced rabbit hound added to the team. So, it looks like this year its gonna just be me and Catch on the team again. At least it saves me having to make a decision on whether to release her early if she and the doxie didn't get along. -Joe
Well, I just got some photos of the pup that I'll be getting this weekend or next. I'd had some great opportunities for quality pups, but didn't know if they'd be old enough to add a lot to the team this season due to their age. But, Teddy Moritz gave me a call about 3 weeks ago and said that another breeder, who had her line, had a 4 month old little female that I'd be able to start training right away and who would be old enough to hunt with this fall. So, her name is Bayli and I'll send Skyrider some photos to post. I might need to pick the brains of all of you who have trained doxies as I don't have much experience. -Joe
Well, we've had Bayli for a couple of weeks now and she's coming along fairly well. She had initially been only exposed to rabbit skins for the first few months of her life, so we started her out on a frozen rabbit when she got here. She chased it well, but didn't seem too keen once she got it. Then (many thanks to Shortwing, Doxie Falc., and FB for their advice) we introduced her to a small San Juan and that's all she wrote. She went crazy. After we finished with the San Juan we started chasing the neighborhood rabbits and she learned her first big lesson about using her nose. We got a second San Juan yesterday and threw it out in some woods for her to chase. She chased it into the dense growth and chased it around for about 10 minutes yipping all the while before loosing it. I then watched the magic happen. She was casting about in the knee high weeds and almost past it the rabbit. But as soon as she came to it's cross trail, her nose went down, her tail went up and she snapped to a stop. She then took a hard right and found the bunny which she again chased for about 5 minutes before it got tired out and we all went home. To make the San Juan smell more like a cottontail, I used Cabela's rabbit scent and hopefully it will help her make the switch pretty easily. -Joe
Post by doxiefalconer on Jul 12, 2006 9:31:53 GMT -5
good to hear it, like I told you.....doxies don't really require training to be good rabbit dogs, they just need a little practice and axperience. Away they go!!!!! When you get her going good after the bunnies, then you need to teach her how to stop!.LOL Good luck with your new pup...
Thanks DoxieFalc, Actually, I just bought a second dog to run with Bayli. This one is also a black and tan mini lh doxie, although he is a 3 year old field champion. He's been run by another falconer and is supposedly a great hole dog. I will be getting him sometime in the middle of September and will start running him with Bayli soon after. The only problem is that she hits her first heat in October, so I'll be flying with just the one dog for a while, which is fine. Do you use any of the Deben collars to locate Rocket underground? -Joe
Post by doxiefalconer on Oct 11, 2006 14:41:53 GMT -5
I don't let Rocket go to ground anymore, if i can stop him I do. I have spent too many hours looking for him and dug him out of too many holes to try it anymore. Plus down here there is always the possibility of snakes.....be very careful if you let your doxie go down bunny holes "cause sometimes they are not really big enough and they get stuck or can't get out or can't turn around and YOU have to dig them out....