The American Beagler Forum

Well it finally happened, 2 of my pups were caught runnin a deer. At first it sounded like they weren't runnin a deer because thet went in a big circle but I seen a deer causually walk by. The deer was in no hurry, the dog's kept a coming and followed the deer barking the whole way. Should have guessed something was up because they were really burning the track up for a long ways. They are both 4 months old and I'm waiting on the new G-2's that come out at the end of the month. So should I not take them back out till I get the collars so I can bring the thunder or chance it again. I chased them down and gave them the ol' hat thumpin today when I caught them. I know alot of people claim that there dog's have never ran a deer and maybe they haven't but I find it hard to believe. It is very heart breaking when it happens because they have been doing great and they show great promise. They will run 6-7 rabbits each time I take all 3 of them out out 4 to 5 times a week and then this happens. Once a dog is broke will they be trustworthy?

Bayou, don't let it discourage you too much these things tend to happen with young dogs but it would probably be in your best interest not to run them until you get your collars in.The more times a dog runs offgame the greater the chance that they will keep runnin trash.A time or two out with some shock collars will more than likely break em from running deer. Just be positive when you shock em its for runnin a deer and not a rabbit.

If the pups have taken a deer, dont run them anymore until you get your collars in, unless you can drop them in an area where there is no deer. With collars on, drive around late in the evening and spot a deer grazing in a hay field or the like, and set your pups up on the deer. Dont let them see the deer until they are hunting like normal and spook it. When they take the deer, light them suckers up, turn that collar as high as it will go and hold it down as long as it will. My method is to also start yelling "DEER....DEER....DEER" and I also tuck tail and run back towards the truck, just like them nasty deer has lit me up too. If the pups see you are also "afraid" of the deer, it reassures them the deer are bad and can bite back HARD. A hard lesson early on can save your dogs lives (running deer usually means lost dogs for awhile) and can save you lots of headaches later on.

As soon as you bust them on the deer, get them to a known place for plenty of rabbits as quickly as possible and let em run a bunny for awhile and praise them and encourage them every chance. Let em know deer is unacceptable and rabbits are good!

Good luck!

I would lay them up until I got some collars, I have broken about 20 dogs off of deer in the last 3 years and I find the key is consistency. If you make them pay everytime they are easy to break, but if you let them run them without any repercussions then it send a mixed message and it may start to get good to them. I personally have never owned a naturally trash proof hound and it doesn't bother me one bit. Get your collars and then set them up on deer, make them pay dearly everytime and it will make breaking them easier.

Big Dog

Dont worry,we always say that just shows that they have a little FIRE in them!!!!!!

I could probably break them pups in about an hour and quarantee it to work. If you don't get them broke and are interested send me a PM and I'll give you the price.

Thanks for the offer warrdog, but I'm goin to give a shot. What's your method by the way?

My method is one in which I devised after my cousin bought a young dog that was the worst deer burner I'd ever dealt with. He was bad enough that he would quit a rabbit track to take a deer track. I think this young dog was put in a starting pen, where there were deer and allowed to run unsupervised and ran anything that ran from him. I have an open pasture field out my back door and I normally break them by waitng till the deer come out into the filed, put the shock collar on, lead them to the area where the deer were and then lite them up when they take to them. I broke many this way but could not break this one. He'd burn a deer the next chance he got. Tried my devised method on him and he has NOT ran a deer since. If you can't get em broke your way send me a PM as I think I can do it in about an hour and I charge $50.00 @ dog, guaranteed to work.

this is why i dont start pups til they are 8 or 9 months old... they are not mentally ready to make the right decisions.

i always use this comparison... most 12 year old kids are physically able to drive a car... but are they mentally ready to make quick decisions behind the wheel??