How To Train Squirrel Dog To Bark On Tree? [6 Easy Ways]

Squirrel dogs are trained to hunt squirrels and you must know how to train dogs to do this. It is very famous in areas in and around the United States to train a dog with an ability to hunt smaller animals. Squirrel dogs are small canine breeds that are bred to hunt small prey like squirrels. 

Here’s how you can train squirrel dogs to bark on trees. 

1.Socialisation

One of the best ways to train a canine is through bonding with a puppy. Begin this step as soon as you have brought your pup home. Pet and brush him daily to get used to physical contact. To develop his loyalty to you, do things like hide and seek and fetch. This comes in handy when giving them hunting orders.

Training your dog in positive interactions and it will help build a lasting bond between you and your pup. As they learn commands, praise them often and play together a lot to build trust. Even if you try to give your dog basic training, hitting or yelling at your puppy will damage your relationship.

Let him socialise. This is essential when going squirrel hunting with other dogs.

2.Exercise obedience

Start training your dog between the ages of 4 months and 12 months. Start with the simplest commands like “sit,”, “come,” and “stay.” Start with simple commands like “Tree” and “Squirrel”and go upward to more complex commands like “Squirrel” and “Tree”.

3.Be Patient

Once you get a canine, give him time. Just like human kids, not every canine has a different maturity rate. Once in a while, you need to have a dog in the woods at 4 to 5 months old and train them to hunt down squirrels. 

4.Sharpening tracking instincts

You can scatter treats and allow your dog to track treats. Canines have great scent-tracking ability. Therefore, you can enhance this ability. Before 12 weeks of age, you can start making a line of treats in your yard or house. It will help you sharpen your canine’s skills by hiding the treats round.

5.Preparing for the Hunt

You need to allow your dog to smell the squirrels. You can start training the dog with squirrel tails, dead squirrels, or hides at the age of 3 to 6 months. You can use this crucial time to train your canine to check the trees for decoy and tell you when they find them. You can reward the dog with treats when the dog barks at the squirrel.

Another thing is you can use squirrels in a cage. If you have less time to train your canine, this can help a lot. You can capture a living squirrel and keep it in the cage. Keep the cage on a higher surface like a table and allow your dog to roam around it. When the dog develops interest in it, he will approach the care and start investigating what is inside. When he starts to bark, encourage this behaviour and offer treats. 

6. Reward Your Dog’s Correct Behaviour

Discourage Wrong Behaviour And Reawrd your Dogs for Positive Actions. This is the best thing you can do to make your dog understand what is right and what is not. Therefore, if you want to make your canine understand that barking at squirrels is right, then you need to reward him when he does that. 

Every time you see an inappropriate behaviour from your dog, you need to discourage it immediately. 

4 Dog Breeds For Squirrel Hunting

Mountain Cur

The dog breed was developed by early American pioneers as a farm dog. The mix of dog and terrier blood produced a small and intelligent dog that served as a herding, hunting and guard dog. At present this canine breed is one of the most famous squirrel hunting breeds.

Jack Russell Terrier

Many Jack Russell owners find, the hard way, that this compact four-legged friend hides a big personality, and for this reason, this breed is often turned down for adoption. However, this breed is extremely intelligent and courageous, and hunting prey is a surprise for their small size. You can introduce this breed to the squirrels and let its instincts do the rest.

Beagle

Most people relate this canine breed with rabbits, however beagles have high prey drives, a distinctive nose and loud voice, and with the right training make excellent squirrel dogs. They also make excellent family companions.

Border Collie

This canine breed is considered the most intelligent of all canine breeds. However, this interesting trait sometimes translates into misbehaviour, especially when the canine is out of work. Task-oriented Border Collies learn to hunt squirrels very quickly.

How do you calm a dog down with a squirrel?

Here is how you can stop the dog from chasing squirrels – 

1. Distract the dog with the “Look at that” game.
2. Practising the prey situation
3. Keeping your dog safe requires mastering recall even in the most distracting conditions. When you sound the recall even in the most distracting conditions, your dog will become less fixated on prey and will listen to you

When should you start training a squirrel dog?

Training puppies with squirrel tails, hides, or dead squirrels should begin around the age of three months to six months. In this time, train the pup to find the decoy by looking up trees and alerting you when they find it. When the canine starts barking, you can reward him with treats.  

Are squirrel dogs good pets?

The Mountain Cur, Beagle, Jack Russell Terrier, and Border Collie are good squirrel dog breeds. They are great family dogs, are great with children, and are very loyal companions with the family.

What is a squirrel dog called?

Their hunting style and size provide more clues about their identity than their appearance. Generally, feists work above ground to catch small prey, especially squirrels, but they are capable of hunting both above and below ground.

Why are dogs crazy about squirrels?

While some canines may just want to have a fun play session with a squirrel, there are a few others who see the animal as their prey and the predatory instincts take over. Canines that are predator hunters try to capture their prey – and either eat it or blow it out.

Why do dogs always bark at squirrels?

There are various explanations to this , including that it is just an attention-seeking behaviour of the dog, or that the canine is actually scared. However, he thinks chasing squirrels is a good strategy. Or maybe the dog is just making a mischievous act.

Why do dogs love squirrels so much?

They are programmed to hunt down creatures like squirrels and consume them to live. Hunting creatures is part of a canine’s survival instinct. Additionally, humans may also have encouraged this behaviour because it was beneficial to them. Many sporting canines were bred to scare and chase small animals.

Final words

When your squirrel dogs are puppies, they must be kept in the woods. It takes a lot of exercise for a squirrel dog to learn canine training tricks. It is great if you start when your canine is a pup. This will allow him to understand better. Afterward, you can start teaching your canine how to sing the squirrel. 

I hope you enjoyed the article. I will be back soon with more interesting and informative pieces of writing. Till then, stay connected. Thank you.