[profdlp]

Otis appears to be quite the aristocrat!

 

[Deehntr56]

Otis. ♥♥♥

View attachment 56276

Great Name -reminds me of John Belushi's Animal House:

 

[bluedog]

Otis 15 weeks old. We've been out a couple times with the big dogs. He just started using his nose with intent in the last 2 weeks. Still no interest in rabbit scent but he's starting to follow the other dogs as they are tracking. It's going to be fun watching this pup progress.

 

[profdlp]

He has a real "look" about him that makes him stand out. Bet he's going to be a winner.

 

[bluedog]

Lucky on the left and Otis on the right. It doesn't take a pup long to figure out the sun spot is the place to be.

In other news, Otis opened up on a rabbit trail last weekend. OK so he only barked twice but it is a start. I am having so much fun with this pup if you don't count all the times that I want to kill him. LOL

 

[profdlp]

I think wanting to kill a beagle comes with the breed. It took mine over four years to finally decide that listening to me once in a while wasn't such a bad thing. For the last year he has been great, so glad I stuck with it.

 

[bluedog]

Go Otis! He figured some things out yesterday. 🥰🥰

I just uploaded it to a YouTube short. Maybe I'll upload the longer version to a regular video some time. It won't let me embed the YouTube Short so here is the link.

Here we go Otis!

youtube.com

 

[profdlp]

Atta boy, Otis! Looking like a pro already! 😁

 

[bluedog]

Atta boy, Otis! Looking like a pro already! 😁

I was so excited! Once he followed Lucky into the brush, he was on his own. He kept barking. They pushed the rabbit across the creek so I had to cross the creek myself in case the rabbit either ran for the road or ran for my neighbor's equipment shed. They circled the rabbit back around to where it came from and then lost it up by the corn field. Otis was barking the whole time. It was SO cool to listen to him.

 

[bluedog]

Otis is coming along slowly but surely. Saturday and Sunday I had Lucky and Otis out together. Lucky always struggles in warm dry conditions. We found a few rabbits to run but it just turned into a bit of a mess with two dogs trying to do two different things.

So yesterday I took Otis out by himself. I am getting so tired of busting brush but I'm doing it because I have to. The thickest areas I cannot get into but fortunately we have corn this year and up until the time the corn is harvested, the rabbits do like to hang out in the brush along the edge of the fields. I can bust through most of that area. So yesterday I kicked up 4 rabbits for Otis. All 4 ended up in the cornfield. Otis tracked all of them well up until they got inside the corn. Then it varied. 2 of the rabbits he could not track past 10-20 yards inside the corn. Another he made it 60 yards. The last one was a bit farther. He has come a long way in the last couple weeks.

This was one of the tracks as the rabbit made a half loop through the pasture before making a right turn and heading into the corn.

Otis, 6 months old.

 

[hungryhollow]

Good looking pup

 

[bluedog]

This is the compilation video of the 4 rabbits that I jumped for Otis this past Monday. We will have our ups and downs along the way but Monday was a very good day.

 

[bluedog]

It was very nice to be able to run the dogs midday during my gun week vacation and even nicer to be able to actually hunt since they changed the rules. It definitely helped keep their energy level down. I had not shot a rabbit yet on the farm this year. We still have standing corn which provides for long runs in circles in the corn but not many shot opportunities. But slowly I was learning where the rabbits preferred to cross when running out of the pasture and into the corn. Sunday the 4th, I took both dogs out for a spin through the pasture behind the barn. Otis was the first to open up on a track with Lucky not far away. The two dogs followed the track as the rabbit made its way down toward the creek at first. I took the opportunity and ducked under a strand of barbed wire to stand in the open area between the pasture and the standing corn. The old dog and the pup pushed the rabbit in a nice big circle around the brushy pasture. I was ready when the rabbit tried to make its way to the standing corn. One shot and the rabbit's run was done. I left the rabbit lying where I had shot it and I went back under the barbed wire and into the pasture to help encourage Otis. He doesn't run from a gunshot but I can tell it causes a bit of concern for him. I wanted to make sure he was happy and enjoying working the track. There was a few minor missteps as the pup missed the first big turn toward the corn but it didn't take long for him to get back on the track and finish it to the end. I'm calling this Otis' first rabbit. Not solo but he did good on the nice full circle track. Now that gun season is over, I will have more opportunity to work him solo. I actually did take him solo on the next day, Monday and he ran 2 different rabbits around and around in the standing corn. We were out about 2.5 hours. He turned 7 months old yesterday.

Otis and Lucky and the December 4th rabbit.

 

[hungryhollow]

I really like your story and photo. Keep up the good work.

 

[profdlp]

Great story. It made me feel like I was there - and I wish I was!

 

[Deehntr56]

Good Story and glad to see Otis "growing up". Good Teachers produce good results-it also helps when you have good students!!!

 

[bluedog]

Otis got what I am calling his first solo rabbit yesterday. The story is up in the blog section. 😊