# Can you train a beagle to....



## johnnycake

bird hunt? 
I had a pointing lab before, and loved her. So now, my wife wanted a dog.....and since we are going to law school on the east coast in a year and a half, we went with a smaller dog but I still wanted a possible hunting dog. Hence the beagle. 
She is 10 weeks old, reasonably well house trained, kennel trained, leash broke, and obeys the come command. She is a pretty smart dog and I know that beagles have excellent noses. What are the odds, any experiences out there, for training a beagle on upland birds? I am fairly confident I can get her trained up on rabbits, but have curiosities about say, pheasants.


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## JERRY

Beagles will do anything for a treat. I'm sure it can be done.


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## Packfish

If there are rabbits where you bird hunt- kind of a lost cause- Had one as a youth- the only way I could get him to come back was to fire the shotgun- then he thought you were on a rabbit.


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## Bax*

> The first Beagles date back to the 1500s. *English hunters would take packs of these dogs out on the hunt tracking rabbits, hare, pheasant, quail and other small animals.* The breed probably originated as a cross between the Harrier and other types of English hounds. The dogs have since become one of the most popular breeds in the USA. The breed can hunt alone, in pairs or in packs. The name "Beagle" may have come from the French term "be'geule," which means "gape throat," referring to the dogs baying voice. The name may also have come from the dog's size, stemming from the French word "beigh", the Old English word "begele", or perhaps the Celtic word "beag", which all mean "small". *He has also served as an excellent narcotics detection dog* and makes a fine family companion. They were first recognized by the AKC in 1885.


http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/beagle.htm

I would say there is hope. Maybe not as a retriever, but there is hope


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## WeaselBrandGameCalls

I can't speak for all of them, but I had a great bird hunting beagle back in the 70s. He'd trail any hot track I put him on, even bobcat. Quail and pheasants were the main birds I hunted back then.


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## 90redryder

From my experience with beagles, training one on upland game would be nearly impossible. Im pretty sure its the complete opposite of what they were bred for. Beagles have great noses but when they get on a trail they block everything out and the only thing on their mind is to find whats at the end of that scent trail. Im not saying it cant be done but it is highly unlikely. If I were you Id just enjoy taking your beagle out to chase up rabbits like they were bred for.


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## ROI

Before I was old enough to hunt, I had a beagle that went with me everywhere. Since there were very few rabbits where I lived,she started trailing pheasants. It wasn't the prettiest hunt, when she started to bay you had to run along with her until the bird came up. But she put a lot of birds in the air.

Word got around and older hunters started asking me to go with them. They shot a lot of birds over her. When I turned 12, we hunted everyday of the season. It must have looked strange to hear a hound baying and watch a twelve year old running across the field after her, but we shot a lot of birds. 

I didn't do anything to train her, she just wanted to hunt and pheasants were what was available.


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## johnnycake

Thanks for the info. I think that this will work out well.


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## Pops2

fairly common in the "midwest" to use them as flushing bird dogs, like spaniels w/ more nose.


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## flint

When I was a teen I had a beagle that was great on birds. We lived in Ohio and the pheasants would crawl into the nastiest, thorniest briar patches one could imagine. Bird dogs would get torn to shreds trying to go after them. The beagle was small enough to get right in on top of them. He was also great at finding cripples. 

As mentioned previously, his hunting drive was so great that if we bumped a deer, rabbit, fox, or almost anything else he might be gone for hours. That was before the days of shock collars so they might be easier to control today.


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## massmanute

Where I work there is a guy who grew up in rural Ohio. He told me that lots of the people there hunted pheasants using beagles. He didn't elaborate on the specific method used.


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## johnnycake

Well as an update on this dog (since the thread came back) she is the prissiest dog ever. She finds pheasant/grouse wings I had like none other, but take her into the field and she is glued to the back of my leg. Hates the mud, water is even worse.
In short, as a hunter she is a total and complete failure. On the other hand, she is the sweetest dog I have ever had, and is amazing with my baby girl, so good enough for now I guess.


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## massmanute

johnnycake said:


> Well as an update on this dog (since the thread came back) she is the prissiest dog ever. She finds pheasant/grouse wings I had like none other, but take her into the field and she is glued to the back of my leg. Hates the mud, water is even worse.
> In short, as a hunter she is a total and complete failure. On the other hand, she is the sweetest dog I have ever had, and is amazing with my baby girl, so good enough for now I guess.


We had lab once that hated the water, didn't like to fetch, and was strong willed about obedience training... kind of the opposite of what a lab is supposed to be, but we enjoyed the dog nevertheless as a pet.


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