Ive got a new puppy and plan on trying to run squirrels with him. Never had a squirrel dog, but thought if I could trap a live squirrel, and let the dog bay him in a round cage, he might grasp the idea a little sooner. So how to trap one? Corn in a box trap after the acorns drie up? Any body got better ideas/experiences? Any body good squirrel dogs and willing to share some training ideas? The puppy, Sam, is a six month old Catahoula/Leopard Cur bred out of a line that has produced real good cow dogs and hog dogs.

Not too sure about the US but squirrels love nuts
and I used to put them in small, drop trap cages (essentially a rectagular box covered in wire with a door on top set to drop closed when they pressed a lever) for the birds but the squirrels used to get in and get them and of course set off the trap.

You can also just set up a wire cage / trap on a stick and pull the stick away once they are underneath.

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Just get yourself one of the smaller box traps and use nuts or apples for bait. I suggest the smaller trap because if you use a bigger one that a possum or a coon can get in, you'll probably catch them instead of the squirrel you're after.

Coincidentally, do you plan to run coons with this dog too? I had a couple of blackmouth curs and they were both superb coon/squirrel dogs. They would actually tree both: squirrels in the daytime and coons at night. I trained them on coons, but they both picked up treeing squirrels on their own just by me taking them along when I went squirrel hunting. They are pretty smart dogs.

Im not much of a con hunter, gonna try and keep him interested in squirrels. Never had a squirrel dog, got any tips on getting him started?

Unless you have a buddy who has a squirrel dog that's already treeing, your idea of trapping a squirrel is good. Other than that, I just took mine hunting. Praise them when they show an interest in squirrels, and they'll figure it out.

If you don't have a live one, use a freshly dead one. Lay down a scent trail by dragging the squirrel. End it a a tree and continue the scent trail up the trunk. Put the squirrel just out of reach so the dog sees it in the tree. When she finds it, praise her and let her worry the dead squirrel.

I once trained a young black and tan coonhound that things climbed trees by taking her for walks. She would range out, then return to me. When she was gone I'd walk off, then climb a tree. She'd follow my scent trail to the tree--I'd call her to get her to look up. That's how she quickly learned that things go up trees.

How about using a seed bird feeder in a cage

And once you catch your live squirrel what do you plan to do with it? The first thing should be not to reach in to get him.

The dead squirrel drag works just fine and I would add to let the dog have a good chew after he finds it. You will be surprised how quickly the dog learns what you want, and then after that try to remember to just have fun.

Get the squirrel drunk on fermented fruit then put a muzzle on him

Boom Stick about gave me a heart attack laughing after reading his comment.
On a serious note, I think going squirrel hunting and rewarding the dog if he shows strong interest and showing appreciation when the dog does what comes naturally.

if you absoltly have to get rid of a few youtube squirrel snares and youll see a few you can make very easy personaly id set up a squirrel ramp style snare and youll take quite a number out youll be surpized.

Live trap with apples or peanut butter,....get the correct size or you will other critters also. When I bait I'll rub the apple or peanut butter at the entrance and then put the majority on the trigger plate. You don't have to reach in to get him just dump him out when you get him where you want if you have to pull him out use leather gloves. Good luck

a company named "have a heart" makes a great small trap for squirrels. bait with black oil sunflower seeds. after you have allowed the dog to worry the squirrel while it is still in the cage, take dog and caged squirrell to a field. open cage, squirrel will run out and dog will chase him. dog can use both sight and smell to follow squirrel. do this 4-5 times (of course you have to trap a squirrel each time. then take dog on a hunt. dragging dead squirrel from tree to tree around your yard is also good training. for more squirrel hunting and dog stuff, check out www.squirreldogcentral. good luck.

Shelled pecans are like cocaine for squirrels.