monkeyboots Posted December 27, 2008 Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 myself and 2 mates have got a bit of land to put a rabbit pen on , we have it fenced off and put branches etc in it , all we need now is the rabbits , the farm we have the pen on has rabbits in most fields and the farmer has no problem with us putting a few wild ones in the pen, now i think it will be a waste of time cos the wild rabbits will threw time dig in and just run down the holes as soon as we enter the pen , so i say go for the tame rabbits but my 2 mates say go for the wild 1s any advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanielboy Posted December 27, 2008 Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 i read somewhere that it is better to use wild rabbits as they give a better flush reaction for the dogs. I think i read it in one of the training spaniel books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fallarben Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 thats right spanielboy its said that wild rabbits sit in cover tighter so as dog needs to push them out were as tame rabbits dont bolt as such they just keep bobbing about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jef Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 We were just talking about this this morning. How big is you pen? And how many rabbits? Is the exercise to steady the dogs to rabbits or flush them? I want to try this in the spring as one of the shoots I beat on has a lot of rabbits and gorse and the dog spent most of her time chasing them rather than the pheasants. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new to the flock Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Wild rabbits are hardy and will flush well for the dogs. The only problem I could forsee for you is that your rabbits like to dig and you may well end up with bunnies that hold up after awhile. If you decide to go with a tame rabbit that does not dig in much I would suggest a dutch rabbit as they will bolt and flush very similar to a wild bunny. NTTF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryhawk Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 On a Openshaw Springer training video i saw a while ago he was using tame rabbits in his pen. This was filmed during the 90's though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyboots Posted December 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 We were just talking about this this morning. How big is you pen? And how many rabbits? Is the exercise to steady the dogs to rabbits or flush them? I want to try this in the spring as one of the shoots I beat on has a lot of rabbits and gorse and the dog spent most of her time chasing them rather than the pheasants. James i would say the pen is about 1 acre in size , we havent put the rabbits in yet should have a few wild 1s in it this weekend , we want the dogs to be steady to flush on rabbits as my mate has a well bred pup and wants to give field trials ago we are also putting a few wing clipped pheasants in it as well the local keeper has a few for us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greybeard Posted January 12, 2009 Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 Wild rabbits if you can hold them in and keep them in. But I have used tame rabbits with great success. What you are doing here is teaching the dog to ignore a creature (rabbit in this case) as it appears under its nose. The dog doesnt know if its a tame rabbit or a wild rabbit nor does it care. There is some advantage to having a rabbit that doesnt run to the next cover. A tame rabbit may just run a few feet and be even more of a temptation to your dog therby creating an even steadier gun dog. Don't dismiss tame rabbits. They can be a real bonus and teach great steadiness in gundogs -- ideal for the discipline of field trial as they take no prisoners during competition so a rock steady dog is an advantage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanielboy Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 just out of interest where abouts in NI are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyboots Posted January 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 just out of interest where abouts in NI are you? north antrim way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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