Lab for a squirrel dog?

[Mattval]

I am looking for a squirrel dog. Our family pet is a lab. Just wanting to ask some more experienced hunters; have you ever heard or seen of a Lab being a squirrel dog?
When I was a teen I had a Samoyed. She was a good little squirrel dog.

Any other weird or unexpected breeds?

Thanks

 

[NE GA Pappy]

kinda like using a raised Jeep Wrangler for a road race.

Can it be done? Probably

Will it be efficient? Nope

Will you get enjoyment from it? Not in the long run

Why not get a feist or small cur, and use the dogs to do what they are bred to do? Let the feist tree, and the lab retrieve.

 

[lagrangedave]

I killed my first rabbit in front of a German shepherd. He was good too.

 

[Dbender]

No. Any breed will wander around in the woods with you and tree an occasional squirrel. There is a huge difference between a dog treeing an occasional squirrel and a squirrel dog.

 

[Squadron77]

The problem with labs or bird dogs is sometime they point and won't bark. If he points on a squirrel or rabbit and you can't see him he will stop hunting.

 

[Raylander]

I have a lab/hound mix of some sort (90 lb ga black dog). We are not trained but we tree and point squirrels and chipmunks daily. More chipmunks than squirrels. He will not bark when treed, just sits at the base and waits. If they hole up, he will dig them up and bite their head off. He’s a beast but not a squirrel dog.

 

[Mattval]

No. Any breed will wander around in the woods with you and tree an occasional squirrel. There is a huge difference between a dog treeing an occasional squirrel and a squirrel dog.

ok

 

[delacroix]

It really depends on what you want out of a sq. dog. There's plenty of dogs that will do it, but I wouldn't want to hunt them. There's even plenty of purpose-bred dogs that do well in competition that I wouldn't hunt.

There are enough different breeds that are bred to tree that you can find something you like that has much, much better odds of making a sq. dog than a different breed with some of the same non-sq. related traits.

 

[Bigtimber]

Not really......You might mess around with a lab and it strike him just right he might take a slight notion to tree a sq. every now and again. Its all about breeding for purpose though......about like getting a shetland pony to run in the kentucky derby.....Im sure you could get him to run around the track...and some might be a lil more willing and faster than others but he sure ain't no racehorse....

 

[drumbum77]

My chocolate lab will tree them with no problems, but I started her really young. I also have a lab/husky mix that will tree them all day long, but she doesn't bark.

 

[Blackston]

Scout the Wonder Dog !!!! I’ve played with her in the yard treeing squirrels. Today she caught her first on the ground. She will tree but loses interest. Not very tree minded even though she’s a cur ( not the right kind for treeing) . Any dog will tree a squirrel but not many are treeing squirrel dogs