The American Beagler Forum

I have a 6 month old male who is running rabbits. He hit a deer Saturday and took it about 150 yards. When he returned, I whipped his butt, leashed him and took him home. I've read all the advice here about deer breaking dogs and ordered an ecollar that night. My question, will he have to wear the collar forever or will he, at some point, be trustworthy enough not to wear the collar? Our older dogs do not wear collars and I'd just as soon him not have to wear one forever. Thanks.

once my dogs get a year or year and a half old i dont usually worry about deer (or any trash). usually a lot sooner than that you can tell if you have a problem or not. you should know the next dozen or so times out (my opinion) if he is gonna be a problem. just make sure you are smart about shocking him, but also you must be very firm, if he runs a deer, nail him. most dogs that young learn real quick if they have any brains at all. if he continues to do this another 5 or 6 times (again my opinion) with being heavily shocked each time, i would start to worry and then i would probably cull him. i'll put up with a lot out of a nice young dog before they mature, but trash runs are not acceptable.

Thanks Blackdirt. He's a beautiful pup and looks to be full of potential. This is only my third beagle and I don't have much experience with running trash. I've only had one other deer run with one of my other dogs. After I whipped her butt she never offered to run trash again and we hunted her until she was 11. I sure hope I can break him, I like the looks of him a lot. I knew I should have never bought a registered dog.

I think you did wrong to whip your dog when it returned to you after the deer run. He did not know why you whipped him. You have to catch him on the trail of a deer, running it , then whip him or correct him with an e collar. Good luck with your pup!