Train a Squirrel Dog

Training a squirrel dog begins as soon as you bring your new puppy home. The first year with your pup requires your time and patience. During this time, you need to focus on socialization, tracking, and hunting. This means building your dog’s bond with you, as well as their instinct as a predator.

Steps

Socializing Your Puppy

1. Bond with your puppy. Start this process immediately after bringing your puppy home. Pet and groom them regularly to get them used to physical contact. Play games like fetch and hide-and-seek to develop their loyalty to you. This will be helpful when giving them hunting commands. Games will also sharpen their hunting skills.
2. Let them interact with other dogs. This is important if you plan to go squirrel hunting with other dogs. Dogs learn new things very easily between the ages of three weeks and 12 weeks. During this time, allow as much contact with other dogs as possible. Make sure the other dogs are properly vaccinated and protected against heartworm if your pup has not received all their shots yet. Reward your pup treats to form positive connections with these experiences.
3. Encourage interaction with other humans. If you hunt with friends, even occasionally, your puppy should be comfortable around other humans. Invite your hunting buddies over, or bring your puppy to their houses. Begin this process before the age of 12 weeks.
4. Work on obedience. Begin obedience training at around 8 to 12 weeks old. Start with basic commands like “Come,” “Sit,” and “Stay.” Work up to Teach Your Dog Advanced Commands like “Squirrel” and “Tree.” Start by leading your leashed pup to a tree and saying, “Tree” in an assertive voice. When you see squirrels, point to them and say, “Squirrel.” Reward them with treats to make this a positive experience.
   • Puppies have a very short attention span from birth to about 20 weeks. Don’t expect your commands to work for more than a minute or two during this time.

Sharpening Your Dog’s Tracking Instincts

1. Scatter treats. Dogs are born with incredible scent-tracking abilities, but hunting dogs need to rely on them constantly. Before the age of 12 weeks, start by making a trail of dog treats in the house or in the yard. Sharpen the pup’s skills by hiding treats behind furniture or under rocks. This will help to sharpen their sense of small.
2. Walk your dog in the woods. Around the age of 12 to 14 weeks old, start taking your puppy on short walks through the woods. Make each trip about 10 to 30 minutes. This allows the puppy to get "woods wise" (becoming familiar and comfortable with the different sights, sounds, and smells of the woods).
3. Train with raw meat. Tie a piece of meat to a string or leash, and drag it around the yard. This will create a scent path for the dog to follow. Start with easy distances of about 10 yards (9.14m) in a straight line. Gradually increase this difficulty by creating longer distances of curved paths. When your pup becomes really skilled, take the training into the woods. Reward your pup by leaving a small number of treats on the on the path.
   • Don’t let your dog eat the meat to avoid the risk of bacterial poisoning.

Preparing Your Pup for the Hunt

1. Get the puppy used to the smell of squirrels. Around the age of three to six months old, start training with the pup with squirrel tails, hides, or dead squirrels. Use this time to train the pup to look up trees at the decoy and alert you when they find it. When your pup starts barking, reward them with treats.
2. Use a caged squirrel. This step is useful if you have limited resources for getting the pup into an area with squirrels. Trap and place a live squirrel in a cage. Set the caged squirrel in an elevated location like a stump, picnic table, or brush. Casually walk your pup near the area where the caged squirrel is located. As the pup’s curiosity increases, they’ll move in closer to check it out. Once they start barking, pet and encourage them.
   • You can also do this with the caged squirrel having a rope tied to it. The rope will allow you to raise the squirrel up a tree so you can get the pup barking up. Once the pup consistently barks at a caged squirrel, move on to the next step. Be careful to not overdo the caged squirrel. Once or twice is plenty!
   • You can skip this step if the puppy already barks up at a wild squirrel.
3. Play catch-and-release. Turn a caged squirrel loose in an area where the squirrel's choices of trees are limited. Let the pup chase and tree the squirrel. Even if they don’t tree, reward the pup with treats and praise.
   • Never release a caged squirrel more than a couple of times.
4. Train your dog for gunfire. When your pup is about 14 weeks old, begin to add sporadic gunfire into outdoor activities. Start by having a friend fire a low-volume pistol loaded with blanks from a distance. Reward your dog with treats to train them to anticipate the sound. Gradually decrease the distance, firing the gun into the air. Eventually replace the blanks with real bullets or shells.
5. Take your puppy hunting. Your pup should be ready for the hunt by age five or six months. Start with several short sessions per week. Gradually build up to longer, less frequent sessions. Always reward your dog with treats and praise afterward.

Tips

• All of the ages above can vary a great deal, depending on the progress of your pup. Treat training like dealing with a child. Don’t place too much on them too early.
• You’ll never be able to teach dogs to hunt or tree. Obedience training simply teaches dogs to respond to your commands. Some breeds, such as feist and curs, are more hard-wired to hunt squirrels than others. Let nature play its part.

Related Articles

• Train Your Dog to Hunt
• Train a Dog for Rabbit Hunting

Sources and Citations

See also

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• Find and Choose a Dog Trainer
• Stop a Dog from Pawing
• Train a Dog
• Train Your Puppy
• Train a Guard Dog
• Train a Scared Dog to Go Down the Stairs
• Train or Help a Puppy Stop Crying when Locked up or Outside
• Train a Puppy Not to Bite
• Train Your Service Dog Without a Professional Trainer

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