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Hunting Instinct - Prevention and Control Help!

3K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  David McLendon 
#1 ·
Hi All,

I'm not a hunter, or competitor. I'm looking for some advice/training tips to help me control my dogs' hunting instincts.

This week my 3-4 yr old red Dudley lab mix (adopted) killed a rabbit. This brings our small animal kill count up to two as our 8 yr old beagle/coonhound (also adopted) killed a bird a couple years ago. They both also caught a big groundhog last year, but it escaped.

The lab
- Has a very gentle mouth, and will release things easily
- Unfortunately he does the "shake" upon fetching things (incl bunnies)
- Knows sit, stay, down and come
- Doesn't like to get in trouble and usually doesn't have to be told twice

The hound
- Has a pretty rough mouth (tight grip), will not relsease as willingly
- Is black or white with obedience (she's excellent most times, but when disobedient, ignores 100% - 100% of time involving smells)
- knows sit, stay, come, roll over, etc...

They both know how to fetch and usually enjoy the "find it" game (they wait, I hide the ball, they go find it). I think the hound enjoys stealing things from the lab the most. I understand that dogs are predatory animals and I won't be able to get rid of this instinct, but I must be able to control it better. I also feel like I'm at a disadvantage, as with two animals, I'm dealing more with a 'pack'.
Can anyone pass along any training advice? They're great dogs and we'd like to let them off-leash as much as possible.
 
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#2 ·
The Lab perhaps can be trained and contained, the Hound good luck, I've never seen a hound who's hunting-kill instinct could be controlled, just in the blood with those breeds ;)
 
#4 ·
My concern is that I lose control of them. I can't call them away from the animal 'hunt'. This may not be so bad for one rabbit, but we also have porcupines up here. The lab has already had 2 run-ins with porcupines. I've pulled 25 quills and had to have the vet get the rest. Not cool.

It's good that the lab may be more trainable, as he seems to be the most successful "hunter"...
 
#5 ·
I'd think Porcupines would be self training items
 
#9 · (Edited)
Clearly, the fastest most effective method is e collar conditioning. The +r crowd would tell you that you need to train with high value rewards, but in my experience I've found that even for a pet owner, learning to use the e-collar takes 1/8 as long and is 1000% more effective. If the dogs really know sit and here e-collar conditioning takes about two weeks (less if done by someone experienced). You can buy a good collar for about $300. I recommend Dogtra to most pet ppl because the controls are simple and the transmitter is small.
 
#11 ·
Clearly, the fastest most effective method is e collar conditioning. The +r crowd would tell you that you need to train with high value rewards, but in my experience I've found that even for a pet owner, learning to use the e-collar takes 1/8 as long and is 1000% more effective. If the dogs really know sit and here e-collar conditioning takes about two weeks (less if done by someone experienced). You can buy a good collar for about $300. I recommend Dogtra to most pet ppl because the controls are simple and the transmitter is small.
Yep - it sounds like the collar will be a great tool with immediate effects. We've done high value rewards and perhaps with great time and effort I could get a better response. But a fresh cut piece of meat (or other food) has always lost out to an acutal living, moving piece of meat.

The hound just got 15 quills yesterday. I'm fed up and don't want this to escalate. (Sorry about your Wiem).
It's time for an e-collar.
 
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