Go Hunting With Beagles

The fact that beagles were primarily bred to hunt hares is what makes them ideal hunting companions. Their strong sense of smell and great stamina are what makes them perfect.

Beagles have long been used as hunting companions. Going hunting without the aid of these dogs may require a lot of hard, leg work and may not ensure you a good number of catch at the end of the day.

One way you can truly enjoy and ensure a productive hunting is to make use of the amazing hunting skills of beagles. All you have to do is take them to the right hunting areas and leave the rest to these sharp hunters. The beagles will track the scent trail and all you have to do is look for the rabbit that are ahead of the beagle. Beagles can track a rabbit scent trail even if it's several hours old. However, hunters should know that a beagle may know where the rabbit is moments ago but may not know where it is now. So do not expect that your beagle can take you where exactly the rabbit is right now.

One can hunt with one beagle or in packs for up to as many as seventy hounds. One to five dogs can be handled by one hunter, in other words, more dogs means more hunters to handle them. The good thing on hunting in packs is a great chance of larger pack to split into smaller packs thus running a good number of rabbits at the same time.

Remember that when going hunting, always know the location or position of your hunting buddies and the way they spread each other when hunting in packs. Keep an eye on how they move and also their white-tipped tails. The reason why they were bred with white-tipped tail is for the hunters to easily see them especially in dark terrain. When shooting the rabbit, the hunter should be very careful to prevent accidentally shooting the dog or a fellow hunter.

Beagles can track not only rabbits. Included in the list are cottontails, particularly desert cottontail and also hares which consist of snowshoe hares, black-tailed jackrabbits and white-tailed jackrabbits. Rabbits run in circles once jumped and pursued, cottontails will make a circle the size of an acre or less while hares may cover a mile or more.

There is no big problem as to the hunting location. Beagles can hunt in hills, mountains, prairies, deserts, forests and swamps. They can track scents over snow, ice and water or even in a hot, dry and dusty road.

Now you can really say, hunting is fun, especially if you have these energetic dogs as your hunting buddies.

Richard Cussons writes articles of various topics. For more information, see Beagles and learn more about Beagle dogs breed here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Cussons

Check Your Labrador For Worms

It could be alarming knowing that your Labrador is infested with worms. What we are talking here are worms, meaning to say, different types of worms. Maybe some thinks that worms are all just the same but, no they're not. Worms vary and are different from one another.

Roundworms

Roundworms, as the name implies, have round bodies of about three to five inches long. They live in the dog's intestines but they do not attach to the intestinal wall like hookworms. Also called ascarids, they consume partially digested foods.

Dogs pick up roundworms by sniffing the ground, especially sniffing other dog's feces. They can also pick it up through their coat, paws and muzzle and ingest them while grooming.

Infected mother dogs can also pass roundworms to their puppies through nursing. Symptoms of roundworm infestation in dogs include vomiting, diarrhea, pot-bellied appearance, dehydration, weight loss and loss of condition. Some cases may show no symptom but severe infestation may lead to lung damage causing breathing problems.

Hookworms

Hookworm, just like in roundworm, is named based on its characteristic. They feed by hooking onto the wall of the intestine. These parasites can cause the dog's intestines to bleed because of their sharp teeth.

Hookworms can be picked up by your dog from the ground or from an infected nursing mother. Severe infestation of hookworms can be life-threatening to puppies. Symptoms of hookworm infestation include dermatitis, pneumonia, enteritis, bloody diarrhea, blood loss, weight loss and anemia.

Whipworms

Whipworms are about ¼ of an inch long, smaller compared to other intestinal parasites. Whipworms, as the name implies, are whip-shaped with skinny head and enlarged tail.

The head is its digestive end and the enlarged one is its reproductive end. Large number of whipworms in a dog can inflame the intestine tissue and may result to bloody diarrhea. Whipworms can be picked up from the ground or from feces of other dogs.

Symptoms of whipworm infestation include watery and bloody diarrhea, weight loss and general debilitation.

Tapeworms

Tapeworms have long, ribbon tape appearance, that's why they are called tapeworms. They live and lay eggs in your Labrador's guts and these eggs are then released with the fogs feces.

Adult tapeworms are about eight inches long and are made up of small segments of about 1/8 of an inch long. Itchy anus and crawling segments in the surrounding area may indicate tapeworm infestation. Severe infestation of this intestinal parasite may cause debilitation and weight loss.

Infestation of these intestinal parasites can be very much treated. Ask your veterinarian for suggestions on the proper deworming of your puppy.

Richard Cussons is not just a writer but also a great lover of dogs. Discover more about a Labrador at this site dedicated to Labrador dogs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Cussons