Dog species used for hunting

Everyone knows that there are two varieties of hunting dogs: those that pursue hunting (hunting dogs by hand or running) and those that stop it (sample dogs) . They are two natural tendencies of the ancestors of the dog: some, like the wolves, formed packs that chose a prey and pursued it until it caught and killed it. Others, like certain primitive dogs from Africa, from Abyssinia exactly, approached the desired prey, crawling to jump on it at the last moment. The selection, as men have practiced it in their canine companions for thousands of years, has sublimated these tendencies and transformed them into basic characteristics of the dog breeds used by man for hunting in almost all the countries of the world, dog species used for hunting.

TO HUNT BY HAND OR CAREER


It is possible to choose between hunting dogs of great hunting and hunting dogs of small montería, according to practice the real hunting on horseback, in which the dogs are used in packs of twenty, thirty and even more, or hunting more modest, in which only two or three dogs are used, mainly to raise and collect the game, which is usually shot by the hunter.


Hound of San Hubert

In hunting on horseback, dogs are used in packs . His role is to follow the trail of the hunt "giving voice" in order to force it to exhaustion for the hunter to finish. These pack dogs obey exactly the same principles as the wild canids, ancient wolves of Eurasia and America, dohles of Asia, or licaones of Africa. Indeed, these canids only attacked the great old males of the species that was their food. They refused to "change", that is, they pursued the same animal from beginning to end, without worrying about other prey that might cross their path or confuse the trail they tracked.Although they destroyed mature animals, males gave the survivors the opportunity to replace them and give new blood to the herd, thus contributing to the strengthening and improvement of the species, since, naturally, they eliminated the older males earlier and favored the mating of the youngest


Gascon Saintongeois

These large hunting dogs are essentially large French hunting dogs . Unfortunately most of these pack dogs, trained especially for hunting on horseback, extremely delicate and very expensive, have disappeared today. Searching for authentic breeds such as the Hound of San Hubert , the Great Hound of Brittany, the Céris, or Montemboeuf, is very complicated in our days.

The main French great hunters used in our days are the Gascon saintongeois or virelade (excellent for hunting on horseback of the deer), the levesque (less fast than the virelade, but more resistant), the French black and white (tireless gallop), the billy (of very fine smell) and the poitevino (very "active" dog). The great Anglo-French hunters "adapted" to deer and fallow deer are the great Anglo-French tricolor or Anglo-Poitevin (born of the Poitevin and the Foxhound ), the Anglogascon Saintongeois and the Anglogascon. They are, in general, excellent trackers, powerful and resilient.The English runners of montería are: the bloodhound (one of the oldest in the world), the foxhound"adapted" to the fox, and the harrier beagle , faster than the beagle and good enough for hunting deer.


Foxhound

The dogs of small montería , companions of the most modest hunter, are used alone or in groups of two or three. Their mission is to raise the hunt and force it to run so that it passes within reach of its master's shotgun. Although they have been specially adapted to hunt hares, these medium-sized dogs are often used in hunting big game.



There are many possibilities of choice between these little burning dogs, who fear neither the water nor the thickets, nor the fatigue, and who are quiet at home and always in a good mood with their master. Among the most important we can mention: the artesian-Norman basset (excellent for all kinds of hunting), the basset griffon of La Vendée (adapted to the roe deer), the dog of Artois (one of the best for hunting the hare) , the nivernés griffon (bottom dog, adapted for the wild boar), the small blue of Gascony (with a powerful "throat"), the griffon basset of Brittany (notable in the thicket), the griffon griffon of Brittany (adapted to the fox and to the boar). Among the English , those that are most used are the beagle (adapted only to the hare), the modern harrier (adapted to the hare, can also hunt the fox and the roe deer), the harrier of the Somerset (very fast on the trail of the hunting) and the foxhound (used in small hunting for hunting by hand of the hare).


Grand Griffon Vendeen

There is a third way to hunt with a dog . It is what is sometimes called «rush», specialty of some dogs, the fastest of all: they hunt «on sight» chasing the hunt and reaching it to strangle it in a few hundred meters. It is the specialty of all breeds of greyhounds and greyhounds and also that of a great wild cat, the cheetah of Africa or Asia, the fastest of all quadrupeds with its outputs at 114 km h. However, the hunter should consult the legislation in his country on this form of hunting, because in many European countries the regulation is extremely severe, when it is not totally prohibited.



Spanish Greyhound

HUNT "IN FRONT OF ONE"

When you want to hunt in this way, there will always be the possibility of making a choice among the great variety of sample dogs coming mainly from France and England, both long hair and short hair.

The way in which the hunt is carried out with sample dogs is not at all like the race hunting described above. When the dog of sample has found the trace of an animal, of the animal for whose hunting it is trained, it becomes disinterested of everything else and, either by the smelly trail left on the ground, or by emanations brought by the breeze, it will slowly go towards the animal eye. Guided by a wonderful sense of smell, which is estimated 50,000 times more subtle than ours, our sample dog will find the hare to the gazapera or pheasant stuck to the ground. It will "block" them, that is, to inhibit them to the point of being unable to flee or fly, which will allow the hunter to be placed at an appropriate distance and order the dog to "raise" the hunt, with which it no longer has more than shooting with your shotgun and ensuring that your skill completes the hunter instinct of the show dog.


Pastor of picardy or picardo

Well trained, the sample dog should know how to look for both feather and hair hunting, with anyone and on any terrain. However, it almost always has preferences and can be very mediocre on the plain and excellent on the bushes. You have to choose.

If you are a beginner, be modest and do not choose the most magnificent of the hunting dogs. The pointer , with whom he dreams, the setter and some other dogs only know how to be auxiliaries of a whole Nemrod.

In France there are two families of sample dogs: the bracos or sample dogs with short hair and the spaniels or long-haired sample dogs.

For the average hunter , the bracos (Auvemia, Saint-Germain, Ariége, Borbonesado) have the advantage of being easy to train, and they have, in most cases, the ability to hunt any animal on any terrain. and calmer than the English dogs, excessively fast and active, and they track very softly.Although they do not replace the English for hunting in great plain, they are remarkable in the rugged terrain, wooded or swampy regions.

Affectionate and tender companion dogs, sometimes even in excess, the spaniels ( French Breton , Picard , of Pont-Audemer) hunt on land and in marsh. One of the most beautiful conquests of the French breeding, the Breton spaniel, excellent on the hare and partridge, in forest and thickets, is a master in the art of hunting the jackdaw and unites its qualities of good dog shows of a good debt collector. Suitable for all kinds of hunting, the Picard is recommended especially for hunting in marsh. If you are going to hunt in deep water, choose the pontaudemer, or a Spanish water dog , with almost waterproof hair, dog species used for hunting.


grifon korthals

Wonderful companion of the experienced hunter, the korthals griffon , excellent in forest and marsh, can also be a good guardian and a playmate for children. The pudel-pointer, girl for all of the German hunter, has been specially created to hunt in all areas. If you are looking for a dog that can easily adapt to life in the city and that besides being a hunter is a good guardian and a good companion for your children, buy a cocker . Gentle and dignified, less exuberant than the cocker, the clumber is a calm and indefatigable hunter.

The Irish setter is a prestigious dog for elegant and experienced hunters and the most fiery of setters.


Irish Setter

The collectors ( Labrador , golden , flat-coated and Chesapeake), wonderful guardians for the children and the house and very close to their masters, are trained only to collect. But if all you need is to have a single hunting dog, buy a braco or a spaniel and teach him to charge.

THE TERRIERS AND THE HUNT IN MADRIGUERA:

Most terriers , because of fashion, have become companion dogs and have lost the qualities of foxholes they once had. If you still want to buy a terrier who is still a good hunter, choose a hard-haired Fox Terrier rather than a Bedlington Terrier or a Cairn Terrier . Extremely brave and dynamic, it is a fearsome enemy of small and medium rodents. Cheerful, playful and intelligent, it is also a very fun companion.


Hard-haired Fox Terrier

The jagd terrier has also kept intact its qualities of work and if it is suitable for the city or the car, it is still a tireless, powerful and biting little terrier, dog species used for hunting.

Dogs are an animal species in which there are many different races, with great differences between them. Both evolution and breeding by humans have been responsible for differentiating some races from others, to reach the great variability that we see today. Here we are going to indicate the breeds of hunting dogs most suitable to practice hunting.

Bloodhounds

They are dogs with a very developed sense of smell, possibly the most. They locate the prey by tracking and shooing it to where the hunter is. As we see, this behavior is complex and requires that the dog has a great spatial aptitude and sufficient intelligence, apart from its portentous sense of smell. The barking of the hound also serves to communicate with the hunter, so he must know how to interpret what the dog wants to transmit according to the type of barking.

Within the bloodhound family we can find different breeds with different sizes and characteristics. The ones we can point out as most popular are the Spanish hound , the basset hound , the beagle or the coonhound , although there are at least thirty other breeds that have been used to hunt all kinds of prey in different countries.

Greyhounds or greyhounds

Equipped with a portentous physique to run, greyhounds are the fastest dogs there is. They also have good vision and have been used for the pursuit of hares and rabbits. Currently this type of hunting has more of a sporting nature, rather than the prey itself, what is appreciated is the persecution. Within this group we find among the most popular the Spanish greyhound , saluki, Afghan hound, Polish hound, borzoi and azawakh .

Podencos

  They are also very agile and fast dogs ready to hunt. It is believed that they are quite old dogs that have inhabited the basin of the Mediterranean Sea for many centuries. They have good smell, sight and hearing, and are used for small game, especially rabbit, and also in groups for big game, forming part of the rehalas, which are groups of dogs between ten and twelve collars (couples ) of dogs of different races that share the tasks in a hunt. We can point out the Ibizan hound, the Andalusian hound or the cirna del Etna .

Pointers

The Pointer or sample dogs are those that locate the prey and point it out to the hunter. Considered the best of the sample dogs, the English pointer has optimal qualities for hunting. Endowed with a fine nose, a slender body and a great resistance is one of the most recognized and used hunting dogs. From this race derives the name of the pointers. Another important dog in this group is the English setter , tireless tracker that usually precedes the hunter to find pieces in the open field, has a very fine sense of smell and is used above all for hunting birds, both on land and in water. We must also mention in this group the German braco that has several qualities that make it an excellent hunting dog: it has great physical endurance, persistence, intelligence, fine smell, bravery and elegance. It is considered the most polyvalent dog to hunt and one of the best.

Collection dogs

  Its function is to bring the prey without damaging it once the hunter has shot it down. This is a complicated process that consists of many specific tasks that the dog must chain with accuracy and for which he must have special skills as well as a perfect training. There are dogs like the springer spaniel or the retriever of Burgosthat charge for parts in addition to other tasks. And there are races specialized in charging both on land and in water, even more complicated work if possible, among which the most prominent are the Labrador retrieverand the Golden Retriever : they are dogs endowed with an impressive intelligence that in addition to their great aptitude for hunting are also companion animals of the most popular worldwide. Regarding the collection in water we must also point out the specific breeds, known in general as water dogs , among which we can highlight the Spanish water dog, the barbet or the poodle that although it is currently better known as a companion animal, is in actually a water dog, both for its appearance and its use in the past for this task.

The terrier

It is a group that includes many races that have been created over time, especially in England, and that share as a common factor their active character and their past as hunters in small prey burrows. They are generally of small or medium size and, although today they are very appreciated as pets, they still retain a powerful hunting instinct. Among the best known are the Yorkshire terrier , the bull terrier or the fox terrier.

Lifter dogs

  These are in charge of locating the prey, usually birds, and shooing it so that it leaves its hiding place so that the hunter can shoot it down. Although different breeds are trained in this work, we can point out the cocker spaniel and other spaniel as specialized dogs.

It should be noted that among the races with more instincts and aptitudes for hunting, not all specimens are equally good, but there will be differences between some dogs and others. The best dog for hunting must possess a series of characteristics such as strong instinct, full understanding and obedience to the hunter, courage to face large prey, the ability to bark at the right time, enough strength and endurance to withstand the harsh conditions of a long day in the bush, and other individual characteristics that distinguish him from other dogs of his breed and make him an exceptional specimen for hunting.