Getting a dog used to the scent of game

Fran Ardley outlines the methods she employs to get a dog used to the scent of game

At some point in your gundog’s training you will need to introduce it to live game. This is an exercise that needs careful thought and planning. There are a number of ways to proceed. If you have a friendly gamekeeper you may be able to get permission to walk around the feed rides when the poults are out and about. Otherwise, you may be able to find an area where rabbits sit out alongside a hedgerow. Failing that, you may have to resort to visiting your local duck pond to find a flock or two of feral pigeon.

Rabbit pen

However, by far the best way to introduce your dog to the excitement of live game is to use a rabbit pen. For those of you who are not sure what a rabbit pen consists of, it is basically a large fenced area, ideally with plenty of rough grass, brashings or stick piles to give the rabbits plenty of cover. Though they are called rabbit pens, you may find that they also contain a few pheasants, partridges or even the odd chicken. The use of a pen has two functions: the first is to take your dog’s steadiness to a higher level; the second is so that you can begin to develop the dog hunting on ‘hot’ scent, under strict control and in a confined area. The dog will also have the opportunity to start the process of connecting live quarry with scent, which is a vital aspect of a young dog’s development.

Why and when

There is no doubt that the introduction to live game in a rabbit pen can be fraught with problems and I always assess a dog’s personality and level of training before introducing it to the pen. There is no fixed age when you could undertake this exercise but it is unlikely that a young dog would be ready before it is a year old. It would need to have been trained to be steady to thrown dummies, have a solid stop whistle (though this can be forgotten in the fun of a chase) and your dog should also have a nice close hunting pattern. It is obvious a young dog that has shown it has plenty of drive in relatively sterile conditions (no scent), what we would call ‘hard going’, will need a different approach to a dog that needs a bit of geeing up. A dog lacking in pace may need or even be encouraged to have a little chase of something it has flushed. It is surprising how a dog can change and go up a few gears once it has been stimulated in this way. Alternatively, a harder-hunting dog may well need reining in and tighter control.

How

Unless you are experienced I would recommend you book a few lessons in a rabbit pen with a professional trainer.

That way you will get some good advice and hopefully prevent any problems. There are pens that you can hire by the hour and this may be an option. I would suggest, if possible, you split the session with someone else as an hour in a pen for a young dog is a long time; 15-minute sessions are normally enough and this helps to prevent the dog from hotting up and getting overly excited. The following exercises are built up over a number of visits to the pen and can take some weeks. Do not hurry this process.