In Praise of Small Game Dogs

It seems that there aren't a lot of posts on here about hunting small game with dogs, so I thought I'd take a minute and brag on my little guy. Tippy is a 10 month old rat terrier who trees squirrels, jumps rabbits, and kills vermin. He is a 13 inch tall, 13lb hunting machine! Hunting small game with dogs is my favorite way to hunt! Anyone else have a dog they use on small game?

I was hoping my Jack Russell would be, but outside the yard there is no control

Looks like Tippy is just waiting for that squirrel to make a false move. "Go ahead, make my day again."

Good job Tippy I hate them tree rats. One down many to go.

I had a few jagdterriers and one, Hilde, was just am amazing girl. I hunted everything with her. She was my girl. I had to put her to sleep last December and it still hurts. Always will inthink. I have a mountain cur girl now. This will be her first full squirrel season.

Just started shooting squirrels over my 8 month old jack russel pup. Now he's got it figured out when I grab the gun, I'll post some pics soon!

Here is my favorite shot of Tippy on tree.

Growing up we always had a couple of mountain twists or cuts around. For a while, we even had a small pack of foxhounds. Because of this thread, I just spent an hour looking at first breeders, looks like my labs will be getting a little buddy in the near future.

R.I.P.

Thanks. Miss her a lot.

I'm glad to hear people talking about small game hunting with dogs. It seems like something of a lost art here in Texas. I had a nice hunt with my rat terrier the other day. It just makes me smile when he starts barking treed on a squirrel!

I think small game hunting in general is becoming a lost art in Texas.

machine73, I think you are right. I have nothing against hunting big game, but squirrels and rabbits are where it's at for me!

Same here. It's a shame a part of our heritage is dying off like that.

Nice job Tippy. Been meaning to take my nephew out for squirrel

Nope. Have always just shot squirrels when I was out and saw them.

We had one named bugger and we lived about 5 miles from where we hunted if Bugger saw us get in the truck with a gun and didn't load him he would run behind the truck until we stopped.

Great pics. That a boy Tippy!

If Tippy sees a gun in my hand he starts spinning in circles with excitement! He lives to hunt squirrels! I appreciate all the comments. It good to see people talking about small game dogs!

Here's my Layla. She isnt the most disciplined dog around and she prefers to babysit the kids but she sure does have a great nose for rabbit.

Hunting rabbits with beagles is a ton of fun! I would like a brace of beagles in the future. I love listening to those little hounds!