Squirrel Dogs
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I took my German Shepard rabbit hunting. I split my sides laughing when he hopped over every cotton row. I bet the rabbit was laughing, too!
Stykbow
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Only squirrel dog I’ve ever had was a beagle, but I’ve hunted over a lot of breeds. Any of them can turn out a great squirrel dog every so often, but if I was picking a dog just for squirrel I’d get a feist. Small, agile and gamey as all get out. If I wanted a dog with a little more size that could handle squirrel and bear, cats, coons, etc. I’d go with a cur. You really can’t go wrong with either one.
All this is making me want a squirrel dog like the feist I had as a teen. We have been soft free for at least 20 yrs, excepting the fact that we feed our son's dogs, maintain a house for them, keep treats in my shop foe em, and bathe and medicate them as needed. They are not bound to either of us , just free spirits, going wher the best chow is.
Interesting about German shepherds being squirrel dogs. My grandfather had a GS and it was a great pheasant dog when we still had wild pheasants.
"The name “Dachshund” is actually German for badger dog. Dachshunds' short legs keep them low to the ground to track scents, and their narrow bodies allow them to crawl into burrows, looking for badgers. Despite their small size, Dachshunds are brave and fierce." AKC.org
Many breeds are just not used for their original purpose, but those traits are still hiding in there waiting to get a chance to come out!
Skychief
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I'm surprised to not see any mention of Jack Russell Terriers for squirrel hunting. My first one was an excellent squirrel hunter. My current pup has it bad for them too. I shot some out to her this fall as a 5-7 month old. She's a natural too, but stingy when it comes to handing them over. She's a work in progress that way...
They're fantastic dogs afield and at home. One just needs to be sure they understand the personality of JRTs before acquiring one. If you are used to more sedate breeds, prepare thyself!!!
Skychief.
They're fantastic dogs afield and at home. One just needs to be sure they understand the personality of JRTs before acquiring one. If you are used to more sedate breeds, prepare thyself!!!
Skychief.
I have a Mountain Feist. She is 2 years old and has been squirrel crazy since she was a pup. I had a hard time finding this breed. I got mine from a breeder in Ohio, D&K. Kennels owned by Dave Nichols. Phone number 330-334-0784. She is a great house dog and just loves kids. She is the first treeing dog I ever worked with. For over 20 years I had trained grouse dogs, Deutsch-Drahthaars, through the German testing system and through NAVHDA. This little Feist was really easy to work with and seems very intelligent. By the time she was 12 weeks old I started her on road killed squirrels. After the 2nd squirrel she was hooked. As a bonus she blood trails deer. She has never chased a deer even though we have them in our yard and fields all the time, but she has blood trailed deer that I have shot with my longbow and flintlocks. D&K Kennels are great people to deal with and I recommend them highly. I hunt squirrels with flintlocks, but went to smoothbores because I kept missing them with the .36, and when training dogs you have to nock them down for the dog to keep interested.
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I never heard of using a dog for squirrels until I watched an episode of meat eater where a guy from I think Kentucky or Tennessee uses his dogs in an unbelievable way to tree them. I don’t recall what kind of dogs they were. I’ll see if I can find it and link it here
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Here in Indiana the DNR use to have a January youth squirrel hunt. 17 years and under. They had local coonhunters bring there dogs (all kinds of dogs)to hunt. I would grab the neighbors kid and take him to one of those hunts for years.great way to get a kid interested in hunting, plus I enjoyed it. The last time we went his brother decided to go, had a great hunt. That got him interested in to hunting and shooting.
My sister had one of those several years ago. J.R. Terrorist I called him. He probably destroyed thousands of dollars of property in his deranged episodes of separation anxiety. I still do t understand their personality. Always reminded me of a child raised without restraints, always wanting his way or having a tantrum.
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I had a dog I was training to tree some years back. He was coming along but he had a hard head and I was close to giving up on him. I also had a mongrel that I didn't think worth wasting my time training. The mongrel turned out to be a natural at treeing. She saw what I was doing and took off like a light and started treeing? As far as what type of dog will make a good dog that will tree. I couldn't tell you ? I do know a lot of fiest are used and some are excellent.
I believe using squirrel dogs is more common in the south than in Yankee land. Dogs used for squirrel hunting are often called "squirrel turners" because they go to the backside of a tree and scare the tree rat into turning back to the side where the hunter is standing ready to shoot. That said, a dog that turns squirrels doesn't need much training, it is an easy task. Therefore the term "squirrel turner" is sometimes used as an insult to people who do not seem to be capable of tasks more complicated than turning squirrels.
Never heard that phrase before...very true! Also funny.
Squirrel dogs aren't rocket science! Dog sees or smells squirrel. Squirrel sees dog and runs up tree (natural response). Dog wants to keep seeing squirrel, so follows it around tree as squirrel naturally wants to stay away from dog!
Basically boils down to a dog that wants to hunt AND is sight oriented to watch the squirrel wherever it goes!
Given the choice between scent driven or sight driven, I would choose sight driven every time for a squirrel dog. If it's a big gnarly tree and the squirrel is laying flat trying to hide, look in the area where the dog is looking. A lightweight pair of low power binoculars can be a big help sometimes.
Malamute
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I had one Malamute that was a good squirrel dog. Wed see a squirrel, shed watch it, Id get ready then tell her "go around", which she did and that pushed the squirrel around to my side so i could get a shot. I found it best to not push the squirrel until i was ready or it went higher up and was hard to see and shoot, so i had the dog pretty much wait until i was ready before going around the tree.
She was a good grouse dog also. They flush from the ground and usually go sit in a tree. I often could hear them flush but couldnt see them because of the thick woods. Once you get the dog to stay and look a them until you can get there and find them and make the shot with the 22 pistol or rifle and CBs or shorts, and it falls out of the tree, they are pretty well hooked on it.
Most of my Mals after that one did great as grouse dogs, but I havent hunted squirrels in a long time.
She was a good grouse dog also. They flush from the ground and usually go sit in a tree. I often could hear them flush but couldnt see them because of the thick woods. Once you get the dog to stay and look a them until you can get there and find them and make the shot with the 22 pistol or rifle and CBs or shorts, and it falls out of the tree, they are pretty well hooked on it.
Most of my Mals after that one did great as grouse dogs, but I havent hunted squirrels in a long time.
Brokennock
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BruceHuxford
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Fiests are better squirrel dogs. The only person I can think of is a fellow who raises them. His website is squireldogdynasty
skwerleater
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SquirelDogDynasty is a good place. I think his name is Kevin. I bought one of my dogs from him. You can get a new pup for a a few hundred or a dog trained on hunting for over a grand. If you check out his site, he lists dogs and pups as he has them and includes videos of the in training.
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