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I have a one year old male beagle that is 110% hunt driven. Not a bad thing but when he’s hunting there’s no way to call him back even if not on a track. He just keeps hunting. Makes me nervous when we get close to a road that he’ll get on one. Thinking it’s time to invest in an e collar but don’t want to shock him for doing what want him to do. Any help would be appreciated
Sounds like you got a good one. A beagle you can call off isn't much of a beagle....
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An E-collar will not help unless you train the dog to come to your whistle and use the e-collar as reinforcement. If you decide to light up the beagle , it will only confuse him and make him run in any direction to avoid the light up..... E-collars are not the answer to all problems....
I trained my beagles to come when called, by making a unique call. It took a summer to do it, but I founded my idea on the fact that beagles are "opening up" to tell the rest of the pack they were onto something. So, me "opening up" meant, I was onto something. If I bumped a rabbit, or saw where one crossed, I would drop my hat, make the call, then go get the beagle, leash it, and walk/drag the beagle to my hat. then unleash the beagle. Doing this every day through out the summer resulted in a beagle that would come when called.
Still, a good idea to get yourself between the beagle and any road, using a bell helps you track a silent beagle.
I had a few beagles when I was younger, yes it is hard to do but with lots of patience, practice and time, it can be done....it just isn`t easy. As was already state, not sure the ecaller is the answer.
A fellow that raised and trained many Beagles over the years now gone, always claimed that a horn is the best way to call off Beagles he always carried one [old cow horn ] and demonstrated this to me many times over the years.
But , you have to train them to recall when they are just weeks old and this has to be kept up.
Myself I did this with my hounds which I ran on coyotes, often times they did not like it[being called off] but did return.
The cow horn I used, I adapted a trumpet mouthpiece to it which made it easier to blow.
There are many books written by old houndsmen , and many of them used horns to recall their hounds.
Beagles are after all , "dogs" all dogs can be trained.
I would invest in a Garmin Alpha. There is lots of information from the manufacturer and online about recall, tracking, trash breaking etc. Every responsible Houndsman has, or should have a system for tracking and controlling their Hounds.Quote:
Originally Posted by cedar
Well you might not think he,s on a track but he,s on something his nose likes .LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by cedar
The first thing you have to remember is that hounds are hunting for themselves,you are just tagging along.With that in mind you need to try and control the situation yourself before it gets out of hand.Firstly what are you hunting with this beagle? Rabbits, cotton tail, snow shoe, jacks.Do you want to hunt deer.
If your beagle is "mouthing" giving voice while running then he is one some scent.Its kinda up to you to know what scent he is following.
The process of elimination now would be to look at the snow and see what tracks he is on.
If you don,t want him running deer do not release him in an area frequented by deer.If you want him running cotton tails,take him to a small bush area and let him run the bunnies until they go to ground.The dog will stay in the area and the rabbits will stay in the bush most times.A cotton tail will only run a small area,easily enough for you to to observe and retrieve you dog.If on the others hand your running snow shoes you can expect them to run out a mile or more and eventually circle back,so you need to expect this from your dog he will follow that snow shoe and could take an hour to get back to you.If your running jacks expect a 5 mile circle and you might be there awhile,you may not get him back especially if he cuts a fresher track half way round.
When I trained my first beagle he was probably about your dogs age but because I had limited time and lived in the City I would say that he was about 3 years old before I could call him a good rabbit dog,not his fault mostly mine.
You can shorten this learning curve for you dog by exposing him to places and the desired species.If you want him on rabbits and only rabbits an enclosed area with a released domestic rabbit will help.Let the dog go on the scent and allow him to run that bunny, you will probably be able to stop him killing the rabbit after he has run it away,s.My first dog did not know how to kill these rabbits at first and tried to give them a bear hug.
If you can find a beagle club near you some of them have training grounds where they might invite you into.There was one out your way years ago in Clappison Corners but I would think its now gone.Losing a beagle while out is not unusual you just don,t want him running miles on a deer scent if at all possible.
Found this link that might give you some help https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537905746444707/
In this video you can see the hunter is in a overgrown orchard area and the dog is probably on cotton tails,the hunter can easily keep up with the dog and knows from the past that the rabbit will run a small area.This is taken from the above link where there are more
https://www.facebook.com/filippo.dan...7542774963940/
Every dog I've had over the years was trained to come to a whistle. Right from the get go when I would feed them I'd blow a whistle and tell them to come. Everything when training dogs is done by association. They associate the whistle to something good, i.e. a reward, be it dinner or a treat.
When I took them out for walks in the woods as a 10 to 12 week old pup I'd have the whistle with me. I found a pup would never wonder off too far always checking or looking back to make sure they could see you. At that age they hadn't learned to use their nose to either follow their own scent or to pick up your scent and follow it til they found you.
What I would do is wait for an opportune time to duck behind a tree and when they looked back and couldn't see me they would panic and run back past where I was hid. When they got down a ways I'd blow the whistle and follow the sound back til they saw me and their tail would go a mike a minute when they did. Again association, in this case finding me...
On more than one occasion prior to the GPS units, and was using a Wildlife unit at the time, I've had dogs out after dark that took either a bear or deer out and were in an area that had no road or trail access to it. This one night I got to within about 6 to 700 yds away from the dog. It was pitch black out and not a bit of wind. I got on the whistle and heard him let out a long bawl like saying I heard you and am on my way don't leave. Every time I sounded off on the whistle he would sound off to let me know he was coming. Took him a good 20 minutes to find his way out to me... We were both happy campers to be reunited.
Again association... That been said, I've never owned a dog that I could pull off a scent when they were running hot...
X2Quote:
Originally Posted by BDH
Ran beagles for 20 years long before there were e collars. Trained to the whistle and used a bell.
Today I would use : trained to the whistle, bell and ecollar reinforcement. Even then a decent beagle will ignore you if hot on a trail.
Also investigate the Garmin Astro 900 (legal in On) for added confidence in knowing where your dog is.
Sorry forgot to mention, they have mini collars specifically designed for Beagles. Why not have the latest technology for your convenience, peace of mind, and the safety of your hunting partner.
I used to run beagles way before the Astro gps trackers existed. If I was still into beagling or any other hound it wouldn’t get turned loose without a tracking collar. Now, knowing where your dog is won’t stop him from tracking game but it can help you cut him off if he’s heading for trouble.
Thanks for all the advice. He comes fine at home when called but a totally different story when he’s hunting. We hunt cottontails and he’s fantastic at working the cover to get them moving and running them. I’m lucky he doesn’t run trash. No chasing squirrels and we’ve bumped deer and he shows no interest in them. He’s 100% driven by rabbits. I couldn’t have asked for more in a beagle but would really like to get him to come back when called. I’ll keep working with the whistle and up the training sessions
Sounds like you got a great dog there, good luck with the training....beagles running rabbits are the best :)Quote:
Originally Posted by cedar
Do the whistle/call training that's been recommended, and it will save you a lot of time and aggravation. Having said that, it can be nearly impossible to get a fresh dog off a hot chase.
To be honest, we avoid spots that are immediately next to busy roads. If the chase is heading that way, we do our best to have someone cut off the dog.
Your dog will soon learn to associate the sound of a gun with a good thing, so as a last resort to get a dog to come back we will fire off a shot or two, and immediately call the dog. Its a bit of a dirty trick, but it works if you use it sparingly.
Sounds like you have a plan for recall. I would advise you to be proactive on trash breaking. A Beagle that is worth its salt and naturally trash proof is a very rare thing. I'm sure your Beagle's pedigree is full of Hounds that would take deer.Quote:
Originally Posted by cedar
The catch 22 of breeding Beagles. We have been breeding them for hundreds of years to pursue game with zeal and determination totally autonomously, and then ask them to leave the chase and come to heel. Its a tight rope walk between "hunt" and "biddability". The intelligence of the individual hound is important in this.
Now there's a good idea ! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by ninepointer
I don't think we should be recommending gun shots as from of communication. Its small game season there could be random shots fired at any time.
Gunshots as a recall is a once a season, totally lost my dog last ditch effort. You need to convince your dog coming back is a good thing. If you can call your dog from the backyard into the house for supper, you are off to a good start. You could advance the training, in the summer time, feeding your dog at random areas. Long leash, whistle him in, feed him. Beagles like food. You may end up having to carry treats while hunting, but its a small price to pay.
Just spitballing ideas now.
I have two beagles and I run tracking collars on them with my cell number on them
dogs will come back or sometimes a road trip
I have a tracking system and collars for sale if interested
Check out the walk with wick encyclopedias. They are about training coon hounds. But have great tip for basic obedience. The cheapest place I found them was from Double U Hunting supply out of Washington State.