How to Train a Rabbit Dog

How to Train a Rabbit Dog. Hunting, chasing and tracking by scent come naturally to most dogs. Some, such as beagles, are bred specifically to emphasize their enthusiasm for these activities. The most desirable way of training a dog to hunt rabbits is starting young, so this article will address how to train a puppy into a rabbit dog. If you have an adult dog you can follow the same steps, but you must be very careful to keep the dog from hurting your tame rabbit. Above all, be patient and consistent, and always praise your dog when it does well. Repetition is the key.

Things Needed

• Tame rabbit or rabbit scent Enclosed area

Step 1

Wait until your potential rabbit dog is at least three or four months old. Introducing the dog to rabbits any earlier might scare the dog more than the rabbit.

Step 2

Set up an expansive, secure, enclosed environment for your dog to practice "running" the rabbit. About an acre is ideal. If you've got a very large front or back yard this may suffice, or you can rent space in a "running pen" which is stocked with tame rabbits.

Step 3

Let your puppy see the rabbit (for your safety, hold the rabbit by the scruff of the neck). Set the rabbit down in front of the puppy and let it go. The rabbit will run and the dog will automatically chase it. Let them continue until the rabbit tires out and simply stops running.

Step 4

Allow the dog to thoroughly sniff the rabbit before returning the rabbit to its cage. If you have more than one rabbit, you can let the second rabbit run while the first one rests.

Step 5

Praise your potential rabbit dog thoroughly if she begins to bark when chasing the rabbit. Once she's started barking consistently while on the scent, run the same scenario at night so that she has to track by scent alone. Make sure she sees the rabbit before you let it go, and let her sniff the rabbit over once she runs it down.

Step 6

Watch your dog carefully to make sure he doesn't hurt the rabbit--or get hurt by it--once he's run it down.

Step 7

Let your dog trainee run with trained adult dogs. She'll emulate their behavior. Once she's consistently barking as she tracks rabbits in the company of other dogs, she's ready to run alone or as a full-fledged member of the pack.

Warnings

• If you don't have access to a tame rabbit, you can purchase bottled rabbit scent to use as a training aid. Not all dogs will run or hunt rabbits together, so keep an eye out for personality conflicts and, if your dog isn't running well with others, try pairing her up with different dogs to see if they're more compatible.