Mice to start off terrier?

JD Green

I got a new pup last week and my mother of all people said that I should give her live mice to get her used to killing rats, what do you all think of this? Have any of you heard of it being done before? She's 11 weeks old by the way. Also how would I catch a mouse live?

Thanks

dodderangler

Think there is some stupid law about feedin live even though it's only a mouse
Start her off with dummy rats man they can be gotten on eBay as I know
And when she catches it and 'kills' it praise her and then introduce her to farmyards with rats and mice
With most terriers it's in their blood as they were bred for it
If like to hear how this dog gets on in the future
Best of luck with it. Rattin is a lost sport and very few do it

rsole1

dodderangler wrote: »

Think there is some stupid law about feedin live even though it's only a mouse
Start her off with dummy rats man they can be gotten on eBay as I know
And when she catches it and 'kills' it praise her and then introduce her to farmyards with rats and mice
With most terriers it's in their blood as they were bred for it
If like to hear how this dog gets on in the future
Best of luck with it. Rattin is a lost sport and very few do it

I have four JRT's and I never taught them how to catch rats, mice or even one of my parakeets. The little swines broke into my aviary one day jumping up trying to catch the budgies. As for digging that's definitely not been taught to them.

Good luck.

patdahat

90% of terrier's will kill rat's naturally in them to do so, get an old face towel tie a string onto it and pull it around the house and see if he will catch it and start shaking his/her head, then just get him some toy's to play with and he'll be a grand rat killer.

cavan shooter

JD Green wrote: »

I got a new pup last week and my mother of all people said that I should give her live mice to get her used to killing rats, what do you all think of this? Have any of you heard of it being done before? She's 11 weeks old by the way. Also how would I catch a mouse live?

Thanks

Very cruel...

Old Warick.

If your pup is only 11 weeks old then it's probably not fully vaccinated yet.
For it to be around mice or rats would leave it wide open to Weils disease.
At 11 weeks old you should be getting your pup used to people and noise etc.
Plenty of time for a bit of pest control yet.
To let a mouse or a rat out of a trap for a terrier to catch is illegal and it doesn't teach them how to find their own quarry anyway.
IMO if a pup is physically able then 7 or 8 months is enough to start them ratting, and even then only a smalll bit at a time.
Encourage your pup to scrap or dig at anywhere there might be a rat and hopefully at some stage he'll find one and maybe kill it.
Progress slowly and encourage him as he goes along.
Then eventually you'll end up with a little hoor who'll get you into trouble every chance it gets, probably kill your neighbours cat and bite the mother law. Welcome to terriers.

Longranger

Old Warick. wrote: »

If your pup is only 11 weeks old then it's probably not fully vaccinated yet.
For it to be around mice or rats would leave it wide open to Weils disease.
At 11 weeks old you should be getting your pup used to people and noise etc.
Plenty of time for a bit of pest control yet.
To let a mouse or a rat out of a trap for a terrier to catch is illegal and it doesn't teach them how to find their own quarry anyway.
IMO if a pup is physically able then 7 or 8 months is enough to start them ratting, and even then only a smalll bit at a time.
Encourage your pup to scrap or dig at anywhere there might be a rat and hopefully at some stage he'll find one and maybe kill it.
Progress slowly and encourage him as he goes along.
Then eventually you'll end up with a little hoor who'll get you into trouble every chance it gets, probably kill your neighbours cat and bite the mother law. Welcome to terriers.

+1
My terrier is two now, and I never had to introduce him to caught rats. I started off with a dirty old teatowel and then again dummy rat. Now he finds his own every chance he gets,also popular are cats,rabbits,crows, pigeons,teddy bears,lego,radio control toys and two hundred euro hunting boots!
GOOD LUCK:-D

dogsandguns

if iwere u i would keep them away from mice and rabbits if its for digging the occaisional rat is fine as when they start there digging careers if there is rabbits in the burrrow they will perfer to go after them cuz they don t bit rats are fine duo but make sure ur terrier is vaccinated cuz they do get bit da first few times hope this helps u

dodderangler

dogsandguns wrote: »

if iwere u i would keep them away from mice and rabbits if its for digging the occaisional rat is fine as when they start there digging careers if there is rabbits in the burrrow they will perfer to go after them cuz they don t bit rats are fine duo but make sure ur terrier is vaccinated cuz they do get bit da first few times hope this helps u

Thumbs up on that mate
I've bolted rabbits plenty of time with the ferrets but I always know when a rat is there and a rat won't back down against 2 rats if it's big enough so I know what ya mean saying terriers prefer rabbits to rats
I prefer rabbits to rats
My old ferret even bolted a fox cub but rats won't stand down and when a rat hits the nets I just use the shovel to kill it
I ain't puttin my hand near that vicious Cnut
Atb
Ps start up a diary of the pups progress
I'd love to read it

JD Green

Thanks for all of the replies lads, I've decided to not feed it the live mice.

dogsandguns wrote: »

if iwere u i would keep them away from mice and rabbits if its for digging

Would using it for ferreting destroy it her for digging so?

atb

thelurcher

JD Green wrote: »

Thanks for all of the replies lads, I've decided to not feed it the live mice.

Would using it for ferreting destroy it her for digging so?

atb

I will play this game and pretend you're not an anti

No terrier man 'feeds' live animals to their dogs - what would be the point of that
It could actually be construed as 'baiting' - don't listen to idiots that may tell you to 'give it a rat in a cage' etc. - they're usually clueless and have never had a working terrier in their lives.

Enjoy your terrier for the next 12 months - get it out and about as much as you can - work on the simple things like straight forward training and socialize it as much as possible. Show it the country side - cows, gates etc.
Then when you think the terrier is mature enough you can start working it.
Trust me - follow this advice and at least you can't blame yourself if the dog doesn't work out - so few do - and it certainly won't be for lack of getting a live mouse at 11 weeks

As for rabbits - most of the lads I know do a bit of open hunting with their terries - I've never had to dig to a rabbit with any of them - these are not stupid animals - they figure out what this game is all about a lot faster than most humans. Just be careful it has a finder collar on in case it goes in on a fox.

Eddie B

thelurcher wrote: »

I will play this game and pretend you're not an anti

No terrier man 'feeds' live animals to their dogs - what would be the point of that
It could actually be construed as 'baiting' - don't listen to idiots that may tell you to 'give it a rat in a cage' etc. - they're usually clueless and have never had a working terrier in their lives.

Enjoy your terrier for the next 12 months - get it out and about as much as you can - work on the simple things like straight forward training and socialize it as much as possible. Show it the country side - cows, gates etc.
Then when you think the terrier is mature enough you can start working it.
Trust me - follow this advice and at least you can't blame yourself if the dog doesn't work out - so few do - and it certainly won't be for lack of getting a live mouse at 11 weeks

As for rabbits - most of the lads I know do a bit of open hunting with their terries - I've never had to dig to a rabbit with any of them - these are not stupid animals - they figure out what this game is all about a lot faster than most humans. Just be careful it has a finder collar on in case it goes in on a fox.

At last, someone who know's what he's talking about! Don't introduce your pup to any quarry until it's a year old! Some dog's mature quicker than other, and so 12 months is a good age to start, be it rat's or fox! If you introduce a dog to early and spoil it, then you may have ruined a good dog!