Shiba Hunting

Comments

• toecari

  March 2009 edited November -1

  I've heard of using a "flirt pole" before. It's a horse (lunge) whip with a toy on the end. Kinda like a cat toy on steroids
• obuk

  March 2009 edited November -1

  We use a flirt pole sometimes, one of us runs with it (outside) the other one holds a long leash with Mochi attached and he runs around trying to "catch" the rabbit. It wears him out and he loves it. Other than that, I have never tried anything close to hunting.
• Calia

  March 2009 edited November -1

  Maybe look up lure coursing. It's often times used for greyhounds and consists of basically a motor pulling a cord with a rag on it.
• primitivedog

  March 2009 edited November -1

  OOOH, games! In our house, we do tracking games. And they love chasing and pouncing on just about anything. We've also had opportunity to catch- and yes, kill- many mice in the house, as well as moles, voles, mice chipmunks and one squirrel on our walks. They hide in the leaf beds along the side of the road and the dogs will smell them or hear them and before I know it, they've pounced and nailed the little critter. They're quite efficient about it. I have only heard two scream before being killed, the rest were gone before I think they knew what happened. The nice thing is that once dead, the bodies aren't of interest to the dogs. They will allow me to pick up the dead with "leave it" command, although the attention to every slight movement I make is intense. I think they're making sure it won't come alive again! One game I haven't tried but others say is fun is a laser pen. We did have a wind-up toy mouse but that was gone in two seconds. Those stuffed songbirds that chirp and whistle don't last long either. You can imagine my concerns when I found a tiny baby kitten in a storm drain while traveling through S. Carolina. It was two months before I could even consider it safe size to be introduced to the dogs!
• lindsayt

  March 2009 edited November -1

  Flirt poles are fun, and I definately would give lure coursinga try. If there are any hunt or lure clubs in your area with practices, go and watch, ask them where they get their gear. As a consequence, however, you will be ramping up the prey drive, so you should be working very hard on focus and recall commands in fenced in areas and/or never plan to let your Shiba off leash.
• SophieMonster

  March 2009 edited November -1

  Thanks for all the suggestions!
• santuzza

  March 2009 edited November -1

  I want to get a flirt pole for Tosca but don't know where to get one. Until I find one, Ms. Tosca's hunting abilities are confined to killing stuff in the yard (much to my dismay). It's like having a cat; she leaves the little dead something or other on the doorstep and looks ever so proud.
• tetsuo

  March 2009 edited November -1

  Hi im Tetsuo
  try this site everthing iv'e received so far has worked fof my Akita.
  
  http://www.trainpetdog.com/Akita/index1.php?page=members&a=kw:akita+puppy+training|cgn:AkitaPuppyTraining|cgid:1177226318|tsid:7072|cn:PuppyTrainingTrainPe&src=em6
• obuk

  March 2009 edited November -1

  I made mine like this:
  
  http://www.dogster.com/forums/Behavior_and_Training/thread/541507
  
  FLIRT POLE
  
  It is a very useful tool because you won't get tired out while you can have your dog running and burning energy! You can make one very cheaply.
  
  Get a 6-7 ft piece of 3/4" pvc pipe from Home Depot (should be about $2.00) and about 25 ft of thick nylon cord. Tie a big knot in one end of the cord so it can't slip through the pipe and feed the other end through the pipe. Now tie a toy, something big or weird like a stuffed animal to the end of the cord (the end without the knot in it).
• toecari

  March 2009 edited November -1

  get one of these and tie a toy on the end. I think it's alittle lighter than a pvc pipe. I haven't tried it yet (no shiba yet)
  http://lunge-whip.com/