Ever Heard Of This

[kyboy44 11]

I was reading about rabbit hunting with sight hounds and the dog bringing them back alive if you have heard of this is it just luck or teaching

[Flacko 1,755]

A lot of lurchers carry there rabbits back live to hand it's a bonus in my eyes atb Flacko

[kyboy44 11]

But is it something that you can teach them or just luck

[boyo 1,398]

Have a look at some of Trev 70 posts he's got some good vids day & nite also Rews vids. Atb

[TOM HEAVY 140]

obviously you can teach the dog to retrieve, some more willingly than others. As for a soft mouth, could depend on the breeding but more down to luck in my opinion

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

Luck mate, as long as they bring back to hand live or dead result!!

[neil cooney 10,416]

Softest mouth I ever seen on a lurcher was a first cross bull so breeding doesn't come into it. She was also the best retriever I ever seen and the second she had the rabbit in her mouth she'd be straight back with it. The same bitch would also kill a fox.

IMO it's a combination of good retrieve training and the fact that the dog doesn't see a need to kill the rabbit.

Once they learn that a dead rabbit is easier to carry than a live one there's no going back.

[Maximus Ferret 2,063]

Same as Neil said above and dogs that retrieve rabbits (cottontails) alive are fairly common (both or mine do) most dogs will kill hares (or jackrabbits) as they kick a lot and scratch the dogs face. Some do develop a knack of carrying hares without getting scratched or bitten but they are rare.

Again, both of mine kill hares as soon as they catch them.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Maximus Ferret

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

I see where you are coming from neil! I had a spaniel once who would retrieve hares and if they did put up a struggle she would tighten her grip which resulted in a very dead hare

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

I was reading about rabbit hunting with sight hounds and the dog bringing them back alive if you have heard of this is it just luck or teaching

 

 

 

Some do,..some don't...Some will and some won't...

 

Edited April 14, 2016 by Phil Lloyd

[Chunky11 150]

I had a bed/greyxcollie/grey. She never killed rabbit or hare & always retrieved to hand but any thing else was killed before I got to her. I think all dogs are different but she was just a natural

[green dragon 701]

My pup is quite strange. He kills his fist rabbit everytime as he's bringing it back but after the first one every rabbit comes back alive after the first one .

 

 

Nice dog Phil lloyd what x is he?he looks the double of my pup

[mushroom 13,223]

Trevor used to kill them when he was young... then just started bringing them back live to hand one night and after that he brought them all to hand alive uninjured. The weird thing is he changed after he caught a chicken and brought it back that's all I can put it down to. Strange dog that one