when to start on rabbits

[jf1970 328]

hi all,i have a 3/4 whippet 1/4 beddy,she is 4 1/2 mths old her training is doing really well,sit stay,recall,retreive is all good and she is eager to please,the thing is when should i take her out with the ferrets?i was looking at taking her out the end of sept/oct,she will be 6 mths old then,i have never had a lurcher before so any advice would be welcome,cheers......john

[Guest fence_hopper]

dont rush her some easy slips at nine months idealy alb with your dog

[jf1970 328]

dont rush her some easy slips at nine months idealy alb with your dog

thanks fence hopper,was thinking of letting her pin a few down in the nets,would that be ok for a few mths,i know there is a chance that there will be the odd one escape the net,cheers......john

[Guest deerhound hunter]

i,m starting my 6 month pup ferreting on sunday ,not to much letting him watch ,well basicly just letting him do own thing

[Guest fence_hopper]

dont rush her some easy slips at nine months idealy alb with your dog

thanks fence hopper,was thinking of letting her pin a few down in the nets,would that be ok for a few mths,i know there is a chance that there will be the odd one escape the net,cheers......john

 

 

dont see why not mate, but i'd avoid any hard running till the pups more developed easy to ruin a dog.

Edited August 6, 2010 by fence_hopper

[jf1970 328]

i,m starting my 6 month pup ferreting on sunday ,not to much letting him watch ,well basicly just letting him do own thing

yeah mate thats exactly what i was thinking on doing,cheers......john

[jf1970 328]

dont rush her some easy slips at nine months idealy alb with your dog

thanks fence hopper,was thinking of letting her pin a few down in the nets,would that be ok for a few mths,i know there is a chance that there will be the odd one escape the net,cheers......john

 

 

dont see why not mate, but i'd avoid any hard running till the pups more developed easy to ruin a dog.

cheers fence hopper,yeah i don't want to ruin her at this stage and she has done well,i have put to much work in her to f**k it up at this stage,cheers......john

[iceman001979 1,316]

If your going use her for ferreting dont let her touch rabbits in the nets thats not her job her job is till get the rabbits that get out off the nets if you let her do it now she well always think she can do this and when your going home after day out with the ferrets with 10 broken nets you understand what l mean.Just let her watch the ferret going into holes and rabbits coming out without nets on the holes so she understands what the ferret is for.Then give her few runs 2 3 max at 6 months then learn her about the nets and she not aloud go near rabbits in the nets.All best this season

[jf1970 328]

cheers mate,ferrets no nets it is then,do i keep her on the leash then and only let her have a look?

[Blue one 89]

I would take the nets along, let her see a bolted rabbit in the net and let her work out what to do her self John.

Dont, what ever ye do, tell her off for mouthing the bunny in the net, as this will put her off!!

Id also wait, till she is showing sighns of hunting about, before taking her out, if she is still very playfull, id hold her back..

Good luck..

[awen 29]

4 months old or as soon as there paying attention and wanting to learn 'about 4 months'. the younger they start the better they become. bollocks to waiting until there 12 months by then they should be catching and have already worked out the basics for themself or ideally from another well worked dog.

Edited August 21, 2010 by awen

[jf1970 328]

I would take the nets along, let her see a bolted rabbit in the net and let her work out what to do her self John.

Dont, what ever ye do, tell her off for mouthing the bunny in the net, as this will put her off!!

Id also wait, till she is showing sighns of hunting about, before taking her out, if she is still very playfull, id hold her back..

Good luck..

cheers blue one,should i only do this a few times at the start,she is showing signs of hunting about and she is mad to get at the rabbits i have to keep her on the leash when i go into a field that has rabbits as she want to get at them.

[Blue one 89]

I would take the nets along, let her see a bolted rabbit in the net and let her work out what to do her self John.

Dont, what ever ye do, tell her off for mouthing the bunny in the net, as this will put her off!!

Id also wait, till she is showing sighns of hunting about, before taking her out, if she is still very playfull, id hold her back..

Good luck..

cheers blue one,should i only do this a few times at the start,she is showing signs of hunting about and she is mad to get at the rabbits i have to keep her on the leash when i go into a field that has rabbits as she want to get at them.

 

If she is showing sighns of hunting about and keen for the bunnys, i would start to take her out John, just a hour a week at first ferreting with the nets, little and often is the key, keep her keen and all ways end on a high..

As she gets older, and stronger, ye can let her have a easy bynny in a big field, and start to let her catch a few that bolt from the warren, if ye leave the nets off..

[tdavepat 8]

4 months old or as soon as there paying attention and wanting to learn 'about 4 months'. the younger they start the better they become. bollocks to waiting until there 12 months by then they should be catching and have already worked out the basics for themself or ideally from another well worked dog.

 

Complete shite written by someone who hasn't a clue. Don't do this, the pup is too young both physically and mentally.

 

I'd wait until at least 10 months, but even more if it is slow to mature. Keep up the basic training meantime, it will pay you back massively in the long run.

 

No harm taking the pup along to watch once or twice (but I have never done that either), however, don't let it mouth the live rabbit and don't let it chase.

Edited August 26, 2010 by tdavepat

[Deano7 22]

Depends on the pup ? but neva [bANNED TEXT] 9 months on single run, Ive let pups under 5 months join

in when rabbit is retreived by older dogs so learning without too much extream effort