In early December, when the deer hunters end their season, a great opportunity arrives for those looking forward to enjoying the succulent meat of hunted rabbits for dinner. Beagles have been great companions of humanity for hunting games such as rabbits. But have you ever seen a beagle chasing rabbit? If not, then that means you haven’t trained your beagle! Famous for their great abilities of jumping, scenting, running fast, baying (a unique bark of beagles), and tracking trails, beagles have to be trained from their early age as puppies to sharpen these skills to make them excellent hunters. Once you have the right kind of hound for your hunting, there are several things you should do to make your beagle a great predator.
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Chasing Rabbit By Great Beagles
The act of hunting with beagles is called ‘beagling.’ beagle chasing a rabbit or beagling for bunnies is very popular among the hunting community. Beagle is an excellent breed of hound. It was bred from wolves, and hunting is in its instinct. So naturally, a beagle should hunt a game without hurting it. However, many people have this question pass through their minds whether beagles kill rabbits. The answer is, ‘yes. Hence it falls on the dog’s owner to train it well so that it becomes a headhunter, not a killer. To get it ready for hunting, you need to understand its nature and prepare it well to do its job. Just as any other pet who gives heed to its owner, beagles are required to be tamed properly.
For rabbit hunting with beagles, the job is even tricky. Therefore, don’t ignore the significance of developing a trustworthy bond with your dog. Beagle, loved by adults and kids alike, is very fun-loving, merry, and friendly. It likes to explore its new environment at its own pace and takes its own space to build trust. An owner that cares about its regular exercise and gives it the love it seeks is the only one who can get hold of its faith. Beagle needs plenty of playtimes rather than just a walk around your neighborhood.
How to Train Your Beagle to hunt?
Be friendly and gentle with it and allow it to get to know you. Despite being very friendly, beagles can also be very stubborn if you push them too hard. Don’t haste to train it or ask it to start hunting without ensuring proper motivational factors. The best thing to do with a beagle is to allow it to be familiar to you. As he lets you scratch his belly, it’s the green light that you have gained its trust.
The sound of every hound is different. The more time you spend listening to your dog, the better you’ll get to know its style. For example, during rabbit hunting with beagles, the sound of the persuasion will give you the idea that your pet is on its right track. When the sound stops, it means the dog has momentarily lost the way of the game.
One of the key parts of training your beagles is to give them obedience training to ensure a lasting bond between you and your pup. The obedience training should start as early as possible, while the training for hunting rabbits may start later.
Getting a Beagle Puppy Ready for Rabbit Season
Beagles are hounds by nature. So, what do beagles hunt? Beagles usually hunt hare and rabbits. Other prey on their list includes – game birds, roe deer, red deer, bobcat, coyote, wild boar, foxes, and stoat. During the beagle rabbit hunting training, the owner should cash the instinct qualities of the dog. One of the typical natures of a beagle is its determination to hunt its prey and its relentless chasing of the game until the mission is accomplished. While hunting, beagles may be wary that they may lose their owner if they run too far away. It needs a comfort zone in you to focus on their prey. Don’t let it lose track of you while they chase the rabbit. Give it instructions and constantly make conversation with it to assure that you are around.
How Are Beagle Perfect for hunting?
Small but compact and hardy, beagles contain a lot of stamina. Unfortunately, they have great jumping skills, which have reduced significantly among the modern breed due to their popularity as a family pet. Your pet regularly needs to be on the run for at least a few hours to stop him from getting overweight. Allow him to jump. If you give it time and opportunity to play and exercise, it will show its loyalty. During the hunt, this animal will become your great companion and continuously seek prey.
Beagles have a great ability to sniff, which offers them the edge over other breeds of dogs to hunt. From an early age (between 5 to 7 weeks), familiarise your dog with the scent of games. Allow it to be frequent around the hunting places for sniffing the trail of rabbits. The wonderful sense of sniffing is one of the key elements that help the beagle read the freshness of rabbits’ trail.
To make him smarter, let him find his way to familiarise himself with the things around him so that he may learn from experience. For example, while getting your puppy ready to become a hunter, you should let it run with bigger beagles. Such situations will help it gather experience, learn from mistakes, follow its elders and perform better. But, of course, it would help if you did not force it to learn, nor should you try to teach something that it dislikes.
There is one more thing you should not do during the training process: shooting near the beagle at the early stage of the training process. Such a thing will freak out the animal, resulting in an irrecoverable trauma for its entire life. So instead, you need to start shooting from a distance to make the beagle used to the sound of gunfire. Then, as the days and months pass by, you can bring the gun nearer and eventually shoot very close to your pet.
Hunting With Beagles
There are some specific reasons behind a beagle chasing rabbit. Rabbits instinctively circle within a small range or area around their houses. Despite the beagles chasing rabbits, they will not leave this area. When intimidation stops, the rabbit stops and again gets back to its place where they initially hopped out.
Rabbit has a habit of stopping momentarily during the pursuit of its chase by the beagle. They tend to look back when they manage to create a safer distance between themselves and the dog. At this moment, the dog usually stops. Thus, chasing after a rabbit beagle picks up the habit of running like rabbits. As the rabbit stops, you can shoot the rabbit.
Training the beagles to hunt rabbits can differ from person to person. There are many techniques you can adopt to train your dog to chase a rabbit. However, one should not assume various techniques for hunting rabbits as doing such will confuse the dog. For example, some beagles will bark once upon the sight of their prey, while others will keep barking during the entire pursuit of chasing the rabbits.
The Do’s And Don’ts Of Beagle Hunting
During the expedition of a beagle chasing rabbit, the dog’s bark sounds like music to the hunters. This sound can be heard even from deep inside the woods. In addition, the animal has a unique bark called baying. Some hunters reported that the baying sound is so all-encompassing that they remain shrouded by the intoxication of hunting for a long period without a trace.
Beagles can hunt on their own as well as in packs. Beagles can maintain a wonderful harmony among themselves during the hunting expedition. Many hunters prefer their beagles to hunt in groups. By tracking solo, a beagle can maximize its capacity, and it boosts the dog’s level of confidence. While hunting in packs, the scent of rabbit trails may become divided among the beagles and may result in a long time for the dog to find its prey.
Your Beagle Will Handle Itself
Beagle has strong instincts, which make this breed unique among its genre. The professional hunters keep advising that this dog should be let alone find its way and learn new things independently. Hunters or owners of these dogs should never push it hard to act so quickly. Rather it is advised that one should go slow and be patient with the dog. It is a friendly and cheerful dog, and you should keep it that way. As beagles are very playful, their owner should always ensure that they are given regular care with their play and exercise time. The two most unique of its characteristics are its tremendous sniffing capacity and superb stamina. It is the hunters’ choice to use these skills in the right way to make their beagles great hounds.
Conclusion
If you are on the objective of your beagle training for the hunt and you are wondering how to train your beagle to chasing rabbit, then this post will prove to be useful to you. Beagles chasing rabbits is a common act, so instinctively, they are hunters. Therefore, it wouldn’t be much of a challenge to teach your beagle how to hunt.
FAQ
Are beagles good hunters?
Answer: Every dog has an inert tendency to hunting. If pampered, they can all be hunters. Beagles have some unique qualities which are very different from other dogs. Their enduring stamina, superb strength, special barking, excellent scenting capacity, and the wonderful ability to follow the trails of their prey make them not only good hunters but great hunters.
Why do Beagles run like rabbits?
Answer: Beagles are small in size. They can run very fast with small leaps, just the same way rabbits do. They run and momentarily pause. A rabbit does the same thing. This is why the running of beagles may seem similar to that of rabbits.
Will a beagle kill a rabbit?
Answer: It may depend on the situation. A well-trained beagle should not kill a rabbit. However, beagles can be stubborn at times. On the fit of their stubbornness, beagles may kill a rabbit.
What do beagles hunt?
Beagles will hunt any herbivore smaller than its size. You can train your beagle to hunt larger animals, but instinctively, it will chase smaller animals.