First hunting lesson.

Inspired by the hunting exploits of my friend Dave and his Siberian Laika dog, I decided to train The Raging Bulldogges to hunt squirrels.  So first, I made them a squirrel.  The string is so I can drag it along the ground to make a scent trail, and tie it to a branch.  

My friend Rhonda made fun of my squirrel, and said it looked like a kitten.  She's mean.  

So I squirrelified it a bit more.

Then I bought some nifty Squirrel Scent.

I sprayed it on the squirrel.

Then let The RBs out of the car to play with the squirrel.

I took them to a spot in the park where we don't usually go, and tied them to a log.

I dragged the squirrel by the string to lay a scent trail.  I made the first one easy, along the ground and onto a big log.

I let them all go.  It was a mad free for all.  Otto went right to the scent, and even jumped on the log.  He finally found the squirrel!  After that, I decided to try them one at a time.  This is Suzy on her first attempt alone.  

It took her a while, but she managed to find the tree.  She didn't really "get" that the squirrel could be up in the tree.

  

I had to give her a hint.

This is Ivy in the ivy.  She's Otto & Suzy's mom, and a no-nonsense character.  She's also smarter than any dog shoud be. 

She followed that trail like her nose was on a hook.  Went right to the tree, and then couldn't care less, even when I showed her the squirrel.  Ivy only cares about 2 things in the world.  Dinner, and her ball.

This is Otto on his try alone.  You can see the squirrel in the tree.  He followed the trail, but went beyond the tree.  He kept cirlcling the tree, until it finally occured to him to look up.

Unfortunately, he's not looking in the right spot.

NOW he's got the idea!

Gonna get that pesty squirrel!

Killing the squirrel.

The squirrel after our first lesson.

I'll have to make another.  I really thought that denim fabric would last longer!

All in all, we had fun, and I think they did well on their first hunting lesson for 3 little bulldogges!