Need a dog to train Schatzi to hunt...

[Teresa]

An Earth Dog, hunting dog, Schatzi is not!! We have discovered we have either moles or voles in the backyard. I'm guessing moles at this point. Our neighbor had them in the fall so I'm not too surprised. I was cutting grass yesterday and kept noticing how "soft" the ground was. Then I noticed all the trails. Our backyard needs a lot of work right now, so at least they haven't damaged anything we have just done. Anyway, you would think that maybe, just maybe, my DACHSHUND would have caught the scent of one of these critters and at least have dug where one of the trails were-nope, not at all. Randy said that maybe I need to take her out there at night, when they are active and walk her around the yard and see if it helps! I think she is just a little lazy and doesn't want to go after anything that might require the extra work of digging!!
So, if any doxies want to come to S.C. you can have fun searching for the critters under the ground in our yard and teaching Schatzi some new tricks while you are at it!

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

LOL Hallie doesn't have a hunting bone in her body either Schatzi but I love that.  I'll bet Schatzi would catch on fast though once she caught on to the idea!

[Kathleen]

Oh, be careful what you wish for.  We have moles in our backyard and those same soft spots.  The puppies and their mother take great delight in digging in those spots, going after the moles and now our backyard is a field of craters.  It looks WAY worse than the soft spots and occasional dirt piles did.   

[David C.]

The Zs would be glad to teach Schatzi to hunt:  To hunt for the softest spot on the couch, the warmest spot in the sunbeam and the best position to wait for Jessica to drop food. 

In all seriousness, the Zs would be the last dachshunds to teach Schatzi to hunt.  Zeke has zero stealth or stalking ability.   When he sees something he is all bluster.

While Zora has no troubles killing stuffed animals, her maternal instincts kick in on any warm-blooded animal, be it dogs, hoomans, cats or ferrets.  At the vet the other day, another person brought in an abandoned kitten that was about 4 weeks old.  Zora was extremely piqued by the kitten (as she was when Yamisi brought her over to meet Jessica when Jessica was only two months old).   Perhaps Schatzi has a bit to much maternal instinct to be a hunter?

We have seen over the years on the WW board that the female dachsies tend to be far more accomplished as hunters than their male counterparts.   I think the females are out hunting their male counterparts by a 4 to 1 ratio. 

[Teresa]

Oh, be careful what you wish for.  We have moles in our backyard and those same soft spots.  The puppies and their mother take great delight in digging in those spots, going after the moles and now our backyard is a field of craters.  It looks WAY worse than the soft spots and occasional dirt piles did.   

I'm sure it would be. We are wanting to completely revamp the backyard in the next 6 months to a year. Now, I just have to find a way to discourage the moles before we do so.

[Marcia from MI]

Hi Teresa,

Neither of  my guys cared for underground critter hunting, but let one of those varmints even sit on their fence and look out.  There was the let's play tug of war with the dead possum incident and the Eddie collides with a squirrel incident that come to mind.  As for getting rid of moles here's a link to a message board that tells what to do in an organic way:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/organic/msg0514473626890.html

As for Danni, well she'd rather bark and annoy the big dog behind us - he'd like to make a snack of her, I'm sure, just so she'd quit bothering him.  When she barks to get his attention he just looks at her as if to say "Oh no, not her again."

[Merion]

I will send Zena ...she has great patience.  She waited for just the right moment to get the mole by the porch while I was walking Zack. She leapt from the porch clearing all four step in a single leap. She ran and had it within 4 feet of the porch.  I heard and was yelling for her to leave it....every time I turned back to get Zack in the house she was right back there.  I didn't know what it was until after I got them in the house and went and looked. It was a dead mole.

Merion & the ZZ's


I'zz a great hunter..I'll be glad to come and teach Schatzi the finer points of   :rescue:  hunting.
Zena " warrior princess" 

[Teresa]

Apparently, Schatzi does know something is in her yard. I watched earlier this week as she went out, found a mole hill, sniffed around it, dug just enough to open it up, and the proceeded to roll over and over in the dirt! She is hopeless sometimes, especially when it comes to the critters. Now, to figure out how to get rid of these things...

[papbouv]

When we had the Big Ice Storm and we had no heat for about 5 days a mouse got into Patches crate we could hear it at night all Patches would do is get under the covers. We had to sleep on the couch the water bed had no heater.  She is no hunter either.

[Delia and girls]

Sorry about your mole problem. Gretchen would LOVE to be your exterminator! The girl loves to hunt! Although, she was better in her younger years. The other day we were letting the dogs out - first thing in the morning. Ron went out first, then the dogs, then me. I was half out the door when I heard Ron say, 'Rabbit!" It was too late to herd the 3 of them back in. I saw the rabbit run around the corner of the house with Elli on it's heels and Cyrus right behind her. Before I could even get to the corner, the rabbit runs back and turns the corner to the other side of the house - both younger dogs close behind. It found a spot under the fence to get away, thank goodness. The whole time, Gretchen had her nose to the ground, tail wagging, tracking the smell. Her 12 year old eyes and ears aren't what they used to be, poor girl. She never saw the rabbit. It went right past her TWICE! In her younger years, she would have nailed it. I'm glad she didn't but sad to see her slow down. She was so frustrated. She knew something was in her yard that she could hunt but she couldn't find it!

[hannah]

Might be a training of burying treats of his favorite toy may help..  :thumb:

[Barb]

Toby River and Holly are my hunters.... the other 3...umm not so much !  Bummer for the moles  :crazyeyes: