One story that stands out in my mind is a time when I took my Red Tail and my German Shepard on a field trip. It is common to use a dog and a bird at the same time. The idea is that when a rabbit starts to run the dog will give chase and keep the rabbit running while the bird gives chase and has a better chance of a catch. Catches do not happen every time, it’s more like a one out of ten chases for a successful catch.
In this instance we were walking across a sagebrush field when a rabbit took off running. Now this cooperative hunting strategy takes some practice and the bird and the dog have to get used to working together. We had not quite worked the bugs out of this particular relationship and as the dog was chasing the rabbit it got close enough to the rabbit that when the bird made its attack it hit the dogs head, the dog didn’t know what was happening, so he flipped out, the bird crashed in the dirt in front of the dog and the dog and the bird got all tangled up and rolled across the dirt, aaannnndddd, the rabbit got away. It’s all a learning experience for falconer, bird and dog. When the bird and dog first begin to hunt together their personal space is rather large, however; once they are used to the idea the personal space gets very small and as mentioned this lack of distance can lead to a wreck. They get it all figured out in time.
Another time the same participants were out hunting, and the dog scared up a rabbit. This looked much different than the last time, everyone was doing their job, at least the dog and bird, I was busy running trying to catch up. The dog kept the rabbit moving and the bird made its attack. This was going quite well until the bird missed his grasp on the rabbit. Instead of binding on behind the head he grasped the rear end of the rabbit. The rodeo began, the dog kept chasing the rabbit, once the bird bound on, he was not about to let go and try for a better bind. So, the rabbit kept running and dragged my poor bird through almost every sagebrush in the field. After a long chase I caught up with the bird and was able to dispatch the rabbit. This did not happen before my bird was badly beaten up, broken feathers, his head feathers were all messed up, standing straight up and he was looking at me as if to say what took you so long. Well, I can’t fly and I can’t run like a dog. Once a bird binds on, he is committed.
