My First 2 Rabbit Dogs

[red rick]

I just thought I would share a picture of my first 2 rabbit dogs .

My nephew with his youth and enthusiasm wanted to get some rabbit dogs and so did I . He really loves working with dogs . We made a deal , I would pay for half of everything and he would keep the dogs at his house and feed them . He just bought a new house on about 15 acres and has made a nice kennel for them , a nice rabbit hutch and a training pen .

I went up there today to watch the puppies work , one is 6 months old and the other is 4 months old . That 4 month old has a voice on him . The 6 month old , Bandit was the better tracker today , but he doesn't bark much . My nephew says that usually the 4 month old , Jasper is better dog , but not today . I thought they did really good for puppies and I think they will be ready for next rabbit reason .
His neighbor was shooting a rifle today while we were working the puppies , it was pretty loud , but it didn't bother the puppies one bit , I was happy to see that .We are going to get 2 more puppies sometimes in May , but they will be to young for the next rabbit season I think .

 

[.308 Norma]

Nice looking dogs.

 

[red rick]

Thanks, the red one , is the oldest Bandit , 6 months and Jasper is 4 month with a beautiful voice . The middle one is the youth and enthusiasm nephew .

 

[BigBore44]

They look like good stock. If Jasper and Bandit are really ready by this coming season, taking new pups, as long as they are older than 6 months is fine. It's actually less training for you as they will learn from Jasper and Bandit. Learning from other dogs is easier and more natural than learning from a human.

 

[MCgunner]

I want a Beagle! We've got lots of rabbits out here. I could have SO much fun hunting with a good dog. I have a Labrador because I love to hunt ducks and doves and geese, but I need a Beagle. But, my wife says, if I get a Beagle, she gets a YAM....that's my acronym for "yappy arsed mutt". She likes Chihuahuas. Personally, they irritate me and I have little use for worthless dogs. But, I LOVE Beagles and, well, Labs. I just don't think having a Beagle is worth putting up with a YAM around the house.

 

[Patocazador]

Be careful, it can get to be an addiction. Back in '68-'71 I had 13 beagles at one time. Only 3 were real good but I kept deluding myself that the others had "promise". The best one was named Rocky and he was an escape artist. I think I could build a maximum-security prison after trying to solve all of Rocky's tricks.

 

[red rick]

Yeah , I want to stop at 4 to 6 good beagles . I will not keep a hunting dog that will not hunt , my nephew has a softer spot for dogs than me , he took a hound from our hunting club that would not run deer .

We had a beagle like that at our hunting club , he was the father to most of our new puppies until we put him in a pen with a top on it . He was a good deer dog and just died about 2 weeks ago . He was not very old , don't know what happened to him .

The guy I hunt with usually drops out 10 to 12 beagles at one time and they are some excellent rabbit dogs . Mine don't come from his dogs , he told me he doesn't usually have puppies , I took it as he doesn't sell puppies .

 

[Milt1]

Notice the two Beagles in my Avatar. That's Buddy sitting and Daisy standing, both now deceased but we have a new Beagle, Bailey! My wife and I both love Beagles. No, we don't hunt them.

 

[red rick]

I am going through the sticker shock looking at the cost of GPS training units now . The Garmin Alpha 100 with 1 collar is $800 , extra collars $300 and the Astro 430 $650 , extra collars $250 . I am leaning toward the 100 . I don't want to lose a dog .

 

[dh1633pm]

My dad says Beagles are his favorite dog, but they will break your heart in the end. Of course his German Short Hair took off and was found five miles away. A couple brought him back in their car using their phone's GPS and the address on the dogs tag. I guess a GPS on the collar might be a good investment instead of the broken heart. Fine looking dogs.

 

[MCgunner]

Dang, now I suddenly am ambivalent about a beagle. Molly, the wonder dog, (lab) doesn't wander. She's the queen of the end of the road here. Her territory consists of 37 acres on our side of the road and 15 on the other side of the road. She won't go outside that, hasn't since she was a puppy. She's pretty laid back.

Now, I'm not sure all labs are that way because the lady across the road lost her two and was running up and down the road on an ATV looking for 'em for half a day the other day. They have collars and tags. If I was her, I think I'd chip 'em. They normally pen 'em, but they got out somehow. I'm glad I don't have that worry with Molly.

 

[Patocazador]

A chip can change a dog thief's mind and save your dog from being euthanized by the local pound. My Boykin was snatched from my property and showed up at the front door 3 days later after the "lost" dog signs with info about the chip were placed on the highway.

 

[dh1633pm]

My labs stay close to home. Like a small child in the store, if you go the opposite way they tend to want to catch up. Beagles are a fine dog, but they tend to follow their noses to the detriment of most rabbits.

 

[red rick]

I just bought 118 acres of land about a month ago , so with weather getting more like fall today we took the dogs to my new property to see if they would jump any rabbits and they jumped 3 this morning . I was very happy with how they worked today , we were only there for about 3 hours . They jumped the first rabbit almost as soon as we let them out of the dog box .

We have since gotten a 5 year old dog that is seasoned and two 9 week old female puppies from a real good blood line , that the 5 year old comes from . He was on fire today , along with Jasper , the lighter colored dog in the picture . All three dogs work good together , but Bandit will come back to you when things get slow .

I am looking forward to rabbit season this year since I have my own land and dogs .

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

365 day rabbit season out here in Kansas. Kinda warm for hunting them now though.
My neighbor has a house beagle that gets off the chain now and then when they are away and I get to hear her chasing rabbits on our place as well as his. We both have brushy 10 acre "lots" and his BIL has 40 in pasture next to him so there's lots of room.
When she starts getting down towards the road I go out and call her and she'll come over to say "Hi" then I bring her up to the house and call the owners. It's a busy road.
Cute dog with lots of energy and she seems to hunt pretty well for a house dog from what I've seen and heard. Wish I could borrow her for a hunt sometime, I know she'd like it...