Gun Dog Forum

Ruger my black lab/flat coated retriever has an obsession with squirrels. If there is one in our backyard he will watch it for hours. I am afrain when I take him grouse hunting next year he will lose all focus because of a lousy tree rat. Any suggestions for taming the squirrel chasing beast within him.

By the way we can't hunt tree squirrels in Montana,legally, so allowing him to become a squirrel hunter isn't an option.

Any ideas?

I don't think watching a squirrel for a length of time means he is obsessed with them. What else interesting is there for him to do during that period of time? I like to watch them also and I like to hunt them and eat them and I can't see the connection to a rat. Just got through deer hunting and I sat and watched a hundred of them for 7 days but still don't feel obsessed.

Get your dog in the field on birds and he will forget about squirrels if you do.

Ezzy

hahaha i love them so called tree rats, they are a lot of fun to hunt. I have even gone as far as sitting on logs with my dog beside me, shooting the squirrels out of trees, and havin the dog retrieve them for me.

Labman, I don't believe there are any prohibitions about shooting "tree" squirrels in Montana. I think you may be confusing fish and game laws with city ordinances that do prohibit shooting within the city limits. In fact I believe that "tree" squirrels can be hunted year round. Let me know if I am wrong. However, It isn't very likely that you would find a fox squirrel outside the city limits in Montana.

labman21 wrote: Any suggestions for taming the squirrel chasing beast within him?
Any ideas?

Our dogs also enjoy tracking squirrels and rabbits. We have trained them to ignore their furry interests while bird hunting. When there is no bird season, then we allow them to trail and point them.

We used the e collar to teach them to ignore the mammals while bird hunting. After a few lessons, we now simply tell them to hunt the birds and they comply. It was not hard at all.