Dogs For A Trapper

[kyboy44 11]

Hey guys how goes it want to jump on here and see if any of you older guys that traped for some time could tell a greenhorn if this was true or if some of the old times were playing me this was the jobs that they told me a good dog would help a trapper with

Finding game that pulled a trap off with them

Tracking some animals to their dens around here that would be beaver muskrat mink and polecat

And last finding the run's of the game

 

I am still kind of new to all this and I could kind of see how the first two could be but the last one. Is the one I can't figure out

[forest of dean redneck 11,694]

Not had first hand experience of them,but a German wire haired pointer might fit the job,

 

Wouldnt a hunting bred cur or plott hound not do those jobs.?

[EDDIE B 3,166]

I recently read on a US trapping forum, where a guy was going to train a dog for trapping purposes. Don't recall what advantages the dog would bring to his catch success rate, but there must be something to it.

 

I have a feeling its more on the canine side of things, more so than water trapping, that a dog would serve any purpose.

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

If you have a dog walking with you, when checking Vermin traps/Drop Boxes, etc,..they soon learn to give you the nod when there is a capture,..I've even had them stand over dead moles in traps,...this is something that is easy for them,...most dogs will soon twig on,....its no big deal...

Edited April 27, 2016 by Phil Lloyd

[tilimangro 1,013]

Had a beddy X greyhound that would occasionally catch moles that were earthing up

[Nicepix 5,650]

If you have a dog walking with you, when checking Vermin traps/Drop Boxes, etc,..they soon learn to give you the nod when there is a capture,..I've even had them stand over dead moles in traps,...this is something that is easy for them,...most dogs will soon twig on,....its no big deal...

Too right Phil. Many dogs don't need formal training. They just learn, and if want to please as most good dogs do, they do their best to help out. Even if that means retrieving and following you with the moles you thought you had discarded

[kyboy44 11]

I was thinking to train one to find a trap drag off would maybe be like training hounds and for finding dens would be like how cops use dog to find drugs just not on a leash

[Nicepix 5,650]

If you take the dog with you and involve it in the hunting process you might find that it naturally will investigate a trap theft and follow the scent of the perpetrator. A dog will naturally follow a 'runner' or wounded bird or animal and this is no different. My spaniel used to follow me around the farm when I was mole trapping and she found a trap that had been dug out and carried off on her own initiative. You just need a dog that wants to please you not itself, and involve it in what you are doing. The dog will pick it up on its own.

[Guest Navek]

Any old cur could do all the task you want to a good enough standard.. Something with a bit of nose in it and a bit of brains and a bit of trainabilty...it says you are from the states..there's pleanty of old mountain curs over your side of the pond that would fit your bill...one them mountain curs x with a bird dog shoul work..or get a decent German wired hair pointer or pointer cross

[kyboy44 11]

Mostly curs I have seen were tree dogs

[Nicepix 5,650]

Mostly curs I have seen were tree dogs

Tree dogs or not, they are hunting and that's all you need. The dog will adapt to whatever you are doing. I used working sheepdogs for beating and picking up and also a German Shepherd Dog who would flush and pick up as well as herd cattle. My spaniel used to herd sheep as well as work the beating line and retrieve from a hide. Get a good dog and it will work for you.

[micky 3,325]

i take my spaniel with me when i go trapping or snaring if there is a rabbit in a trap she will sit feet from the hole and stare at it, if it is a rabbit in a snare she will just stand there all nervous

. When i firsst took her i had her in snares three times twice by the lower jaw and once by the muzzle , i also caught her by the paw in a imbra trap , when thee events happened she was not hurt and just stood still

waiting to be released , nowdays she will move through a line of snares and not go near one .

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Not being polemic but all those traits you require in a dog should be traits you have yourself .A companion dog will learn from you whats require if your any good .

[neil cooney 10,416]

IMO a dog quickly learns that a trap can bring a reward, even if it's just a quick sniff at a dead rodent.

My own lurcher trotts ahead of me when I near a snare or a trap and from 50 yards I can tell if it's a catch or not by watching her.

[Crosshair 77]

My terrier is excellent at marking which tunnels have caught a squirrel but I still have to look as she doesn't tell me which ones are sprung but empty