Squirrel Fur

12-2-06     Hunter and I got a chance to go to the woods this morning, by ourselves (without our other family dog). It was a fun time, but we didn't get close to any squirrels. I saw two at a short distance in the woods, but we weren't able to get to them before they got away from us. I was happy though, because when we got the area that they had been in, Hunter started really sniffing a log. They must have been on the log, because he walked the whole 7 foot log down and back with his nose right on it.

I'm hoping to go back out in the late afternoon, and hopefully I can get Hunter close to one for him to see a live squirrel. I really want to get him experienced with knowing that squirrel is the game that I want him to hunt. All in all, I feel that he is doing pretty good. He will listen to the "come" command really good, when we are alone and without distraction.

1-20-07     Well over the past month or so, it has rained off and on at the times that I would had available to take Hunter to the woods. I've had him in the woods about 5 times since I last wrote and he heard a squirrel in the leaves once. I don't think he had any idea that it was a squirrel, but he ran a short ways to it and barked. I never saw it tree and he didn't get out sight and turned around and came back to me.

I have had 2 live squirrels in a trap for him though. The first one was pretty tired and I let him get a smell of it while it was in the trap and then released it about 8 feet from a tree. He followed it to the tree and looked up, but then immediately came back to me without being phased much by the experience. The second one, I let him smell and play with in the trap a little and then turned it loose a good 15 yards from any trees. Hunter got a late jump on it, but stayed on it for about another 20 yards through a small group of trees and then lost it. That squirrel didn't ever tree in sight either. I followed him and tried to encourage and excite him. He kept going back to spots that the squirrel had jumped through at and would sniff the ground good.

I would say that with some more time in the woods, he will make a good squirrel dog. I just haven't been able to get him in the squirrels in the woods yet. Everytime we go, we're lucky to see one up a tree at a distance and Hunter doesn't even know it's there. He is getting good at looking up at the birds that are eating the corn and seeds that I have out to attract the squirrels close to his pen. Still no squirrels that I've seen close in the yard either. I'll try to get a picture if I do the trapped squirrel thing again so you can see an action shot and see how he is growing.

Hunter's 3rd Progress page has even more updates on Hunter's Progress.