Hi all,
Firstly, I'd like to say I've never used a dog for hunting before so have probably done everything wrong to this point, and don't really know how a deer dog should be expected to perform.
I've got a great little patterdale terrier who's just over a year that I've had since a pup. He's an absolutely great pet and companion but am wondering if it's too late to train him up to be any use for stalking as I really like taking the little feller out with me. Makes a nice hot water bottle if nothing else..! I've sort of indulged his natural desire for chasing stuff by encouraging him to kill rats, pull rabbits out of thickets and take him with me when squirrel shooting with the airrifle as he's good for following up the odd wounded one. I also let him tear into a fox last weekend that I had shot as I thought he could be useful for following up injured ones if that ever happens. However, he's got a bad habit of going after pheasants and actually recently has chased sheep and cows so he's mostly on the lead at the moment. Apparently this morning out with the mrs he spotted a fox and f*cked off for ten minutes so he's probably got a taste from them after the weekend - not good. Generally if I take him out stalking with me on foot, he'll be constantly sniffing the ground and pulling at the lead and will pine and pull if he spots something. I have been working hard on walking to heel over the last two weeks and he can do it perfectly if there's cheese in my hand and no distractions! I've also done quite a lot of training with him for blood tracking and he's pretty good at it I think - I can lay a trail through woodland over about 2-300m with a couple of 90 degree turns in it and he will follow it on a long lead a couple of hours after it was laid, so that is definitely a use I have for him, although if I let him off the lead in woods and left to his own devices he'll chase everything out of the wood and as he's got a damn good nose he'll find everything and clear the whole wood pretty quick. He goes deaf when he's on the heels of something. He sort of points to an extent and has spotted stuff with his nose like a squirrel that was up wind of us that I hadn't seen until he started sniffing in it's direction.
So my question is bearing in mind the above what can I get expect him to achieve with the right training? Can I get him to:
1. walk calmly to heel and not try and chase stuff until I let him. And not pine and pull at the lead when he becomes aware of a deer (or bloody squirrel)
2. Sit at the bottom of a high seat (can tie him up) but reckon he'd be pulling and pining if something came close.
3. Stop chasing livestock.
Cheers, any advice appreciated.
Firstly, I'd like to say I've never used a dog for hunting before so have probably done everything wrong to this point, and don't really know how a deer dog should be expected to perform.
I've got a great little patterdale terrier who's just over a year that I've had since a pup. He's an absolutely great pet and companion but am wondering if it's too late to train him up to be any use for stalking as I really like taking the little feller out with me. Makes a nice hot water bottle if nothing else..! I've sort of indulged his natural desire for chasing stuff by encouraging him to kill rats, pull rabbits out of thickets and take him with me when squirrel shooting with the airrifle as he's good for following up the odd wounded one. I also let him tear into a fox last weekend that I had shot as I thought he could be useful for following up injured ones if that ever happens. However, he's got a bad habit of going after pheasants and actually recently has chased sheep and cows so he's mostly on the lead at the moment. Apparently this morning out with the mrs he spotted a fox and f*cked off for ten minutes so he's probably got a taste from them after the weekend - not good. Generally if I take him out stalking with me on foot, he'll be constantly sniffing the ground and pulling at the lead and will pine and pull if he spots something. I have been working hard on walking to heel over the last two weeks and he can do it perfectly if there's cheese in my hand and no distractions! I've also done quite a lot of training with him for blood tracking and he's pretty good at it I think - I can lay a trail through woodland over about 2-300m with a couple of 90 degree turns in it and he will follow it on a long lead a couple of hours after it was laid, so that is definitely a use I have for him, although if I let him off the lead in woods and left to his own devices he'll chase everything out of the wood and as he's got a damn good nose he'll find everything and clear the whole wood pretty quick. He goes deaf when he's on the heels of something. He sort of points to an extent and has spotted stuff with his nose like a squirrel that was up wind of us that I hadn't seen until he started sniffing in it's direction.
So my question is bearing in mind the above what can I get expect him to achieve with the right training? Can I get him to:
1. walk calmly to heel and not try and chase stuff until I let him. And not pine and pull at the lead when he becomes aware of a deer (or bloody squirrel)
2. Sit at the bottom of a high seat (can tie him up) but reckon he'd be pulling and pining if something came close.
3. Stop chasing livestock.
Cheers, any advice appreciated.