Patterdale terrier advice

[harryshounds 1,209]

I let mine hunt all game. They soon learn rabbits in burrows to be ignored but rats n foxes in ground to be scratched out. Id a great terrier yrs ago, she was tiny could fit to some rabbit holes and would go but I'd know by her it was a rabbit and just walk off and call her off but when was Basil shed stay and the sounding was different so id know. 

Most terriers and hounds will hunt a fox before anything but they'll hunting anything rather than nothing. I let mine hunt/flush all game n vermin above ground fur n feather.

Each to their own. 

But as to the OP 4 months is to young to expect anything from a pup other than inquisitiveness in the world around it.

[Wilko84 1]

Get a Catch alive trap and take it down near you local tip or farm get one in straight away let u pup see it and get  keen with it  nock the rat your self and then give it him to chomp and get taste do that a thew time then when you think he’s ready it’s down to u to give it him and should smash it once he’s had a few nips it will know who’s to chomp them and my advice if you don’t like digging don’t get it going on rabbit 

Edited February 8 by Wilko84

[Bangersanmash 3,321]

2 hours ago, harryshounds said:

I let mine hunt all game. They soon learn rabbits in burrows to be ignored but rats n foxes in ground to be scratched out. Id a great terrier yrs ago, she was tiny could fit to some rabbit holes and would go but I'd know by her it was a rabbit and just walk off and call her off but when was Basil shed stay and the sounding was different so id know. 

Most terriers and hounds will hunt a fox before anything but they'll hunting anything rather than nothing. I let mine hunt/flush all game n vermin above ground fur n feather.

Each to their own. 

But as to the OP 4 months is to young to expect anything from a pup other than inquisitiveness in the world around it.

At that age 4 months it's all about playing as a pup should. I've always skinned a rabbit and put it on a puppy training dummy. Throw it into some cover put it in some old drain pipe in garden. Then old warrens just so the pup can't get too it. Go f***ing mad for it . Then once it's older soon as it gets the scent on a used Warren you'll see the dog at work. Some areas don't have rabbits knocking about in cover or out through the day. That maybe due to the area being walked alot or been worked so rabbits adapt to coming out late on. So you need a good dog to mark up warrens that are deep in cover. Every body to there own. But it's worked for me. You look at pointers an springers they train them to scent by using dummy's even though the scents there from game. It's just as pups your giving them that head start by training them. Most dogs have instinct but better to train them.