The Decker Terrier - All Around Hunter
The Decker Terrier is a hunting breed, pure and simple. Milton Decker in his effort to recreate Henry was recreating a dog that was not only a great companion but a great hunter. Just look at the two pictures above and you can see Milton and his dogs doing exactly what they were bred to do.
This hunting breed was developed to be an all around hunting dog capable of assisting his master in finding a variety of game. As noted in the history of the Decker Terrier they have been used successfully on vermin, squirrel, coon, upland game, deer, hog, bear etc., hence the “all around” tag for the breed. Tim Brown tells a story of having to sneak out of the house if he was going turkey or deer hunting because if the dogs saw he had a gun or bow and they weren’t invited a commotion would arise from the kennel loud enough to scare all the game on Blue Mountain! Some of the dogs are trained for specialties like hog hunting, which is how Dean Dickinson uses his Decker’s. Others are being trained with a more broad scope as George Palmer is doing with his kennel. Tim Brown trained and used his dogs extensively as squirrel dogs and placed a high value on a dog that would “bark tree” to identify the location of the squirrel for the hunter. The intelligence and keen, natural hunting instinct of the Decker Terrier lends itself to pursuing game……you just choose what you want to pursue or let the Decker show you what is there!
These dogs are tough and scrappy…..any dog that will bay a wild hog and then grab a hold once the catch dogs are there is tough. Tim Brown would take a Decker along when he coon hunted with his hounds, why? Well the hounds took awhile to deal with the coon if they caught him on the ground, if Tim had a Decker along the work was done swiftly and efficiently.
Deer hunting with dogs is not allowed in all states, but where it is legal the Decker can be a great tool to the hunter. The Decker is used to find and flush deer from draws and thickets allowing the hunter the opportunity to make a shot. One of the great seemingly natural tendencies of these dogs is to only pursue the deer for a short distance. Where a hound might stay on the track for hours, the Decker will typically pursue for only 2-300 yards before returning to the hunter. This means a lot more time hunting deer instead of hunting your dog!
As an upland game dog the Decker Terrier will fit more in the “flushing” category as opposed to the “pointing” category. They tend to hunt reasonably close to the hunter thus flushing the game in shotgun range and allowing the hunter an opportunity to make the shot. Unfortunately the hunter still must be capable of shooting to complete the deal! As you can see in a couple of the pictures the Decker’s will retrieve from water when necessary, this can be important as once in awhile even hunting upland game you will drop one in a pond or stream….remember a dog that retrieves from water keeps the hunter dry!
Finally, the Decker Terrier still retains the traits of a vermin eliminator. He will effectively rid your area of rats, mice etc that are always a nuisance.
Finding one dog that is capable of many, many tasks is truly rare in most of today’s breeds…..The Decker Terrier is your do-all hunting dog. Oh, and they happen to be a great family and companion dog…….need we say more?
