It's my fault not hers

[RobertoM 0]

Hello All

 

Grateful for advice from the old hands on here if you can spare the time.

 

I have a two year old Beddy Whippet that I have had since a pup. She is a great family pet but she is also walked where there are rabbits every night. She has a great prey drive in that she chases every time she sees a bunny, Fox or even a songbird. The problem is she doesn't want to catch anything just chase. She did catch 4 rabbits last summer and I thought we were away but no, back to the chase only. When she did catch I think it was with her paws first in a pounce rather than a snatch.

 

How do you get over this? Any ideas?

 

Thanks

 

Rob

[luke 2]

i would give it a dropper mate to see if she is going to kill

if she isnt i dont think she is going to at that age strange

for that cross atb

[lamp+battery 98]

as luke say`s give it a dropper and if it dosent then you could try throwing a rabbit skin raped round a pop bottle full ov sand a few times to get it used to fur in its mouth then try again you never no, good luck mate let us no how you get on

 

 

 

lamp

[RobertoM 0]

i would give it a dropper mate to see if she is going to kill

if she isnt i dont think she is going to at that age strange

for that cross atb

Thanks mate. Yes a rabbit skin round a bottle. I will try that and tell you how I get on. Course the problem will be shooting the rabbit as she wont catch it

[lamp+battery 98]

dose none ov your mates hunt? if not you could find a road kill rabbit if you havent got a gun just in thought

 

 

lamp

[RobertoM 0]

dose none ov your mates hunt? if not you could find a road kill rabbit if you havent got a gun just in thought

 

 

lamp

 

I do have a decent air rifle so I will do as you suggest. I don't know anyone round here that hunts so I get my advice from on here.

 

Thanks for your help

 

atb

[RobertoM 0]

dose none ov your mates hunt? if not you could find a road kill rabbit if you havent got a gun just in thought

 

 

lamp

 

I do have a decent air rifle so I will do as you suggest. I don't know anyone round here that hunts so I get my advice from on here.

 

Thanks for your help

 

atb

 

Sorry, just realised I posted in the wrong section

[Pignut 4]

Is there any way you could both go out for a day with a huntsman and some fanatical terriers.

 

I had a Bedlington/Whippet cross when I lived in town and, like you, we would go for walks and she would chase everything in sight. She never killed a thing. She was a town dog so to be fair, there wasn't much to kill and I often wonder whether she actually had the killing instinct. We never found out coz I only moved to the countryside along while later.

 

Anyway, back you to. I think the fake bunny is a great idea. But my lurcher probably wouldn't give you a thank you for a dead one, nor bother to pick it up even. A disdainful sniff would be your lot. I would go out with some fanatical terriers who want to do a bit of digging. Encourage her to join in and watch her.

 

Go for a walk with them and if a rabbit gets put up, then she has the advantage with her speed and if she is in competition with a terrier, then it might cause her to choose to get the rabbit rather than them. A little competition is a good thing in this case. My lurcher catches rabbits and brings them to me. The terriers are too slow - they can dig one out, or catch them if they are trapped, but rarely get one that is running past! The lurcher, however, can.

 

So, go and find someone experienced and go out with them. Hang onto their every word and give your dog the chance to watch other dogs at work. The majority of dog hunting is about watching the others, not about the human trying to give the dog ideas. I mean, your dog doesn't see you chasing and killing rabbits, does he?

 

Good luck.

[skycat 6,174]

Funnily enough I've just being doing some research on this! If a dog has neither the breeding (instinct) or had had the necessary training when young (as in the opportunity to chase, grab and kill what it chases) it becomes a lot harder to get them to do it when older. There are certain 'windows' in time during a pup's development which allow them to learn certain things at certain ages, once those windows are closed it becomes far more difficult to teach them.

 

When I say young, I mean only months old: I always train my pups on rabbit skin dummies from an early age.

 

Try dragging a rabbit skin dummy around the garden or field on a long piece of string, letting it bounce around this way and that: even try and get the dog to play tug of war with it (you can extinguish that side of the behaviour later). Make it all a great game and never get cross if the dog doesn't do it straight away.

 

Once took me days to get a Deer/Grey pup to pick up a dead rabbit, even though she'd been trained on the dummy all her life. Got there in the end though.

[RobertoM 0]

Ive moved the post up here mate as you should get more response.although the advice that's been given already is sound..

Millet

 

Thanks for this and to those that have given advice so far. The frustrating thing is that we are nearly there. By that, I mean that she has done it before so I am sure she can do it again. I agree with you, Pignut, that I am sure that if she went out with some fellow hunters she would soon get it. Anyone reading this live in the area ? PM me if interested.

 

Skycat, I hear what you are saying. If I got another pup I would do things differently. I will not give up on her though as even if she never catches anything again, she is still a great little dog.

 

Rob