Lab as squirrel dog

[erhunter]

Hey y’all
Got a 9 week old lab mix puppy that I’d like to train as squirrel and/or duck dog. Any advice? We’re starting with basic commands and woods walks. couple specific questions 1) did u use trapped squirrels? 2) did u use ecollar? 3) did you use extra long leash? 4) did u use treats along with pelts? I read somewhere once you get em to tree to chain em there to keep em on the tree? And to keep rewarding them while staying on tree?
Anyways all help or resources is appreciated.

 

[Dbender]

You'd be better off to see if he has any natural retrieving instincts. You are wasting your time trying to turn him into a sq dog. I'd just teach him manners, make him my buddy and see what you have 6 mos from now.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

why do people want to take a perfectly good retriever or rabbit dog and try to make it tree a sqwerl?????

I will never understand this.

1. If you ever, ever got the dog to actually tree a sqwerl, it wouldn't be a dog that would be consistent and give you a good hunt.

2. you are going against the dogs natural instincts. It was bred to bring things back to you, not sit at a tree and bark until you get there.

3. You would be much better off with a small sqwerl dog....a fiest or small cur. They will put meat on the table, you will enjoy the hunt more, and they are happy to sit and bark until you get there. They were made for this.

 

[erhunter]

Yea ya know this is my first dog that might could be a hunting dog. Little fella is so much smarter than any dog I’ve had I just figured he could be taught to tree. I don’t rabbit hunt. I guess with the feedback I’m hearin, I’ll just have to get into duck hunting. My wife will be thrilled! Thanks for all the tips

 

[kmckinnie]

Yea ya know this is my first dog that might could be a hunting dog. Little fella is so much smarter than any dog I’ve had I just figured he could be taught to tree. I don’t rabbit hunt. I guess with the feedback I’m hearin, I’ll just have to get into duck hunting. My wife will be thrilled! Thanks for all the tips

I had a half beagle half German Shepard as a kid. It squirrel hunted when I did. It retrieved them to me. She shook everyone she picked up. She rabbit hunted when I did. She ran them. She hunted deer. She ran them. Or she would sit by me at a tree. I shot ducks and she get them. She would dive after wounded ducks.
Never know what a dog will do.

 

[Bowyer29]

I had a half beagle half German Shepard as a kid. It squirrel hunted when I did. It retrieved them to me. She shook everyone she picked up. She rabbit hunted when I did. She ran them. She hunted deer. She ran them. Or she would sit by me at a tree. I shot ducks and she get them. She would dive after wounded ducks.
Never know what a dog will do.

100%!

 

[stonecreek]

Years ago I had a lab/cur mix that was used as an all around do it all hunting dog. Could tree game. Blood trail deer. Had a hard time focusing tho. If it moved she ran it. Within a year every cat on the farm was gone. Will try to find a pic of Blaze and post it.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

The thing to know is......treeing is a instinct, it's bred into them or it's not. That doesn't mean a dog won't do everything in their being to please you. The odds are stacked way against you,but you never know. Good luck with your little buddy.

 

[delacroix]

Mix ain't a lab. It's a mutt. Nothing wrong with that if it does what you want. Yes, you can train a dog to do about anything. So, it could be a sq. dog. Will it be a good one? Probably not, but it has happened that people have had what you have turn out to be a natural born tree shaker.

I know very well how much in resources and effort it takes to get a purpose bred tree dog to do. And that's a dog that is genetically predisposed to make the connection from on the ground to up in the tree. How much more time to do it with one that doesn't? Do I have that kind of time and patience? I've done it once. Never again. It took too much and it never was better than fair.

I recommend enjoying your mutt for whatever it naturally is. Enjoy also a purpose bred tree pup FROM A PROVEN CROSS if you really want to hunt sq. with a dog.

 

[Mattval]

I had a spitz one time that made a squirrel dog.
A SPITZ!

 

[specialk]

i had a runt coon hound that i gave to my grandparents who at the time needed an outside dog. they lived in rural VA. never expected her to be anything but a pet. she was never trained/hunted at all.

she would hunt around their house and tree squirrels and coons regularly....grand daddy would her her barking and he'd grab his rifle and head out to her....one day he heard her down by the creek.....when he got there she had a huge beaver hemmed up in an old tobacco barn shed.....she would slip around the house and watch the bird feeder.....bust out running and catch little song birds before they got off the ground good.....

 

[Heath]

I had a spitz one time that made a squirrel dog.
A SPITZ!

A lot of feist lines have Finish Spitz blood in them because they had a lot of tree historically. Elk hounds and Spitz blood have long been used in tree dog circles for silent trailing and tree power outcrosses. I’ve had a few of each, I don’t prefer either but the right ones can make for sure tree dogs. I know of a family of Elkhound/Kemmers that were bear dogs for the past 20-25 years and they were sure enough big hunting and made really nice dogs anywhere from 1/4-5/8 elkhound crossed back and forth for a few generations. They are about gone or gone completely now but they were fine in their hay day.

 

[crackerdave]

The first dog I ever hunted behind was an Airedale.
Tree dogs come in many forms.