Cover Hunting

[springer163 0]

hey lads thought id run this by ye , im looking to know have ye any methods for training a dog to go to cover , i have springer who is slow in coming on and doesnt even follow the older dog , have ye any methods/games ye use .i know rabbits should pull him in but they are scarce

[BIGLURKS 874]

Have u tried it on a lamp my cocker here would only check cover if it had a scent leading into to the cover which is fine if there is always scent so I spoke too a old friend that used too do a lot of rabbiting and advised me too take the dog out on its own lamp the rabbits make sure the dog sees them before they enter cover and let the dog off too chase into cover and then try the dog during the day after the night on the lamp it was like a switch clicking on in my cocker he will enter cover and hunt without being told now

[springer163 0]

thats something i never thought of and sounds like an idea,trying to get that close to rabbits at night could be the problem but im gonna try it

[springer163 0]

any other methods or tricks that make a dog think he is going to cover for a reason? is there an unorthodox method ye terrier lads use to get them to run and stay in cover

[squab 2,875]

get it out early morning plenty scent still on the ground put the miles in and with a bit luck the penny will drop soon enough,took me a week and walked prob 40 miles of cover and hedgerows before mine switched on and got in amongst it.

sorry no tricks just keep getting it out there and try put some rabbits infront of it, if they that scarce find somewhere its busting with them got get it interested

[springer163 0]

cheers lad will try and locate them

[wirral countryman 2,110]

You can get a bad one in every litter mate,some dogs are just poor,is it well bred from decent workers ??? most springers I've seen have crashed through cover without much prompting,had more trouble keeping them back in close,might just be a duffer,WM

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

hey lads thought id run this by ye , im looking to know have ye any methods for training a dog to go to cover , i have springer who is slow in coming on and doesnt even follow the older dog , have ye any methods/games ye use .i know rabbits should pull him in but they are scarce

 

I think the best solution would be to get him somehwere where you KNOW there are rabbits about and see if he follows them into the cover etc?

 

Im taking my young bushing bitch somewhere this afternoon where i guarantee there will be 20-30 rabbits mooching around and im hoping she follows them to cover and gets the hang of it this way.

 

Cheers

Gaz

[marky180868 19]

Try covering a tennis ball with your spit,just roll it into long grass first then as the dog gets that hang of it move on to a few bushes and gradually build it up, patience and 10 mins a day ATB