what age can i start working my pup

[lurche 48]

read peoples various comments about working age ,what age can this be seen as being ok, and how often obviously being new to this type of dog

and new to hunting quarry i am only thinking of goin out once or twice a week looking for the odd rabbit at the moment nothing overly stressfull and not every night of the week.obviously once i get into it more and find out whats what i will go out more but what age would this be

[F#CK THE BAN 17]

1st time i took my dog out for a proppa nights work he was 13 months old, some wait longer some don't

[GrCh 856]

Its your dog mate start it when you think its ready, you feed it.

[robwelsh 354]

depends what breed mate, my bitch has only been out a couple of times, and she 18months coming on 19months..but shes 29tts, and still has abit of maturing to do yet, deerhound type lurchers or larger type lurchers tend to need longer for there bodys to properly form..atb mate

[Acuspell 329]

If that is the dog in question under your name, she looks a little cracker. The dog will tell you, take her out for a walk and go somewhere she can have a good sniff about and explore the surroundings without being impeded by a lead. She should be trained to walk close and when you are on safe ground (away from roads) let her go. Literally just let her have her head and explore, sniffing under bramble patches, sticking her head down holes - encourage her to do this. While you are out she will kick up a rabbit lying in some tall grass, or from under a wood pile. There is no harm in letting her run it, it will likely dive under another log, or go to ground or maybe she will catch it. This is how they learn - like us, they learn through making mistakes because there is nobody to tell them how to do it. They have to find out. Let her sniff stuff out of a hedge and possibly catch the odd one - it will only be the odd one. Spring is coming and there will be lots of youngsters about for her to catch, they are also learning about life - the fox, the buzzard, the owl and the man with his dog. The more things you can expose her to, the more experience she will gain, the better she will be in the long run. If you keep her on a lead all the time and try to slip her, many of the early learning possibilities will be lost through your reaction time handicapping the dog. Far better to reinforce the bond with you, the retrieve and then she can work out if a target is worth trying for or no - to start with she'll run at everything, even those out of range....as she gets older she'll get wiser and save her energy for the ones that she stands a chance of catching. her nose, eyes and ears are far better than yours - so let her use them. A dog on a slip is only able to use your eyes and go when you let it.

 

You are right in your thinking though - young dog should be allowed to be a young dog and not pressed. They are like teenagers, don't know when to stop! So restrict the amount of running to allow the joints to harden.