What can I do to get my gun dog to pick hares again?

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What can I do to get my gun dog to pick hares again?

You need to re-build her confidence in fur and you can do this by covering some dummies with rabbit skin.

By Peter Blatch

Friday, 11 July 2008

What can I do to get my spaniel to pick hares again? She refuses to have anything to do with them after one she was bringing back started screaming. Have you come across this sort of situation before?

Gundogs
PETER BLATCH says:
Yes I have, and it's not just hares that can prove troublesome - a lively pricked cock pheasant can also put a young dog off retrieving if it manages to kick it with a spur.

I even had a dog refuse to pick a rabbit after one it was carrying started to squeal.

In my view, however, it's a rabbit you should turn to where your dog's concerned.

You need to re-build her confidence in fur and you can do this by covering some dummies with rabbit skin.

Throw a dummy into cover and fire a shot in the direction of the retrieve before sending the dog.

Don't rush this lesson and in time you will be able to swap the dummy for a fresh rabbit.

If that goes well then the next step is to cover one of the dummies with a hare skin and see what happens. If she's confident with rabbit fur and rabbits I can't see her turning her nose up at a hare.