Help with mountain cur (squirrel)

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getfoxy

New member
I have had this dog for about a year now. He is a year and a half old. This is my first ever attemp at "making" a squirrel dog.

I havent had him in the woods this year yet because of all the leaves on the trees. I think the dog has potential, he goes nuts over a squirrel (pun intended) and is not gunshy, plus he listens very well and knows exactly when he is being spoken to.

He will tree a squirrel tail pretty well as it is but the problem is 1) I dont know what to do when it gets to this point (see video link) Hopefuy it works

2) He refuses to give me the tail orsquirrel when it hits the ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJewwDBy_-M&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Any advise is greatly appreciated

I just took a short clip out, he had already been going at it for abou 10 minutes steady.
 
Gary, you need to get a toy squirrel with real squirrel scent. He won't release because he sees it as HIS squirrel. It's competitive to him. You need to keep your cool and let him release. Get a check chord and bring right to your side. (heal command) Congratulate and praise him anytime he releases the toy. Make him want to relase because he will see how happy it makes you!

My lab will drop a duck/toy on the command of "drop" everytime. My Chesapeake will do the same with "thank you". This is how I have trained my bird dogs, so I hope it helps.
 
another thing to try is give him a treet while he is holding the squirl. he will have to drop it to eat the treat. once he gets used to it, act like you are going to give him the treat, but dont right away, pet him up, and praise him good, then give him the treet, he will learn that the treat is because he droped it. oh yeah, make sure to tell him "drop it" every time.
 
try to get a live squirl in a trap for him, let him bay it a little, then turn it loose, let him go when the squirl is almost to a tree, he will get the point pretty quick. lots of time in the field with him, and shoot lots of squirls out of trees to him, whether he sees them or not,(its better if he sees them) he will learn quick.
 
Originally Posted By: Jesse lackeyanother thing to try is give him a treet while he is holding the squirl. he will have to drop it to eat the treat. once he gets used to it, act like you are going to give him the treat, but dont right away, pet him up, and praise him good, then give him the treet, he will learn that the treat is because he droped it. oh yeah, make sure to tell him "drop it" every time.

That's a good idea, Jeese. I usually just gave a treat after the release. But, yeah...Good idea!
 
thank you sir, i do what i can! haha,
But really, i have found that it is easier to trick a dog first, then let them think it was their idea later rather than try to teach them. let them teach them selfs.
 
I started training my pup to "give it" from the get go & every dog should learn a command to do the same. I don't think it's ever too late to teach them to "give it" , "drop" or whatever. And you don't necessarily need to train that command with a squirrel, any favorite toy will likely work better to start out with!

The point you need to remember is that once the dog does "give it", praise the dog then give the toy right back!
A dog will learn much faster & more willingly to "give it", once it realizes that he's only gonna "give" the toy up for a few seconds before getting it back! The first few times, praise or reward the pup immediately for "giving it", then let him have it back to enjoy a while. Keep it fun & he'll start bringing toys to you just so he can "give them" and get rewarded! (basic retrieving
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The reason for giving the toy right back is that if the pup "gives it" and you take the toy (squirrel) away, then the pup will be hesitant to "give it" next time. Make sense?
Once he's got the "give it" part down, then you can get him used to you (the boss) claiming & keeping the toy. You, as the boss own everything, you just let him play with your toys, so YOU have the ultimate say in what he gets to play with...

But again, start off with making sure he learns what your command is FIRST, then move along & reinforce that it's YOURS.
That's why learning with a toy is preferable to using a squirrel, IMHO. By that time he sees another squirrel, he'll have learned the foundation of your command word & has no excuse NOT to "give it" back to the boss. If he doesn't, then you can get a little harder with him & impose your dominance over him if needed...

Curs are VERY smart and very sensitive, so they respond well to positive reinforcement and gentle correction. Being too harsh right off the bat will not go well for either of you. Give him the opportunity to learn you command & most likely he'll be happy to please you!!!

good luck!
 
Thanks Guys! Lots of good info.

Heres another problem, I cant get him to accept treats? When a squirrel is in the picture he isn interested....What are you using for treats?
 
Freeze a Squirrel... offer it to the dog. When he takes it, clamp his jaws around the squirrel, and make him hold it. He will most likely let go to give his teeth a break. They do that with Bird Dogs when they are too hard mouthed. My Lab learned that and the hard mouth went away. Good Luck Gary. That was years ago.. maybe there is a new method? Kinda like not spanking your Kids?
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Do you give him treats regulatly? If not then he probably wont pay a whole lot of attention. I use the real small milk bones. They are about the size of a quarter, i buy them bulk at the feed store.
 
Originally Posted By: getfoxyThanks Guys! Lots of good info.

Heres another problem, I cant get him to accept treats? When a squirrel is in the picture he isn interested....What are you using for treats?

That's why you need to start teaching him the command with a TOY...
 
Originally Posted By: getfoxyThats what Ive been using is the milk bones. He dosent pay a whole lo of attenion to them

Try a center-cut pork chop, or a 16 ounce ribeye.
 
Gary, he may be just associating the treet with food. If treets are going to work for you, regardless of whether you are trying to make him drop a toy, squirl, or something as simple as sit, he has to associate the treet with "i did good" set him up for success, get him to doo small tasks, and praise him real good, pet him up, rub his ears, whatever works, then give the treat. Make him understand that it is a treet, and not a tiny little meal, then when you give him one he will know that he did something good.

You have to train him to understand "treet" in order to use a treet to train him. So, if thos is a method you want to try, you need to keep lots of treets on you all the time, and use them allot!

Hope this helps.
 
Originally Posted By: fw707Originally Posted By: getfoxyThats what Ive been using is the milk bones. He dosent pay a whole lo of attenion to them

Try a center-cut pork chop, or a 16 ounce ribeye.

I prefer at least a 22oz porter house!
 


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