Need some input about potential coondog

[pigstickndude]

I'm sure y'all are tired of answering my questions, but I got another. Luke(my pup) got me 2 more last night. The first one was pretty large 20+ boar so I shot him out, but the next was only around the 10lb mark so I knocked her out for him. What a show, not really sure who won, but when he retreed her I shot her down & let him finish her off. Question is, how long should I wait before making him come off a tree so I don't have to kill them all, and what would be the best way to do this without breaking him off coons. Never had this dilema before, cause we put down every hog we catch. Also do y'all think I should find a dog to hunt with him, or just let him be a one dog show?

[walkersrule]

in my opinion, i would let him tree for a couple minutes, pet him up real good, then leash him away from the tree. it wont break him off of them if he knows that he is pleasing you. hunting him alone if he is doing it by himself is a good thing, it will make him more independant. if you have a buddy that coon hunts it would be good to get him around his dog so that he gets socialized with other dogs when hunting. on coons its not a big deal if a dog doesnt honor another dog and split trees. but if you are going to hunt bears, lions, bobcats and such with him later on, its good to hunt him around other dogs. sounds like he is doing really good. i would be careful on jumping the coons out too much, i have seen it do more bad than good as the dog might just find the tree and turn the track around and run it backwards off the tree. i would just pet him up and leash him away from the tree.

JIMMY

[Emily]

You can train a dog to hunt coon without ever shooting one out. Its not the easiest way to do it, but as long as you pet him up and let him know he's pleased you, he'll keep treeing.
As far as hunting him with other dogs, there are good things and bad. The pup has a chance to learn bad habits from other dogs, but you do want him to be able to share a tree. They also learn faster from other dogs, but the lessons often stick better when they've figured something out on their own. My preference, other things being equal, is to start them on their own unless you have one very solid pup trainer available. However, a lot of the fun of chasing hounds is making friends and laughing through your adventures in the woods together. If I have a half-trained hound and a good buddy calls me up wanting to go for a hunt, I'm not going to turn them down. However, if I notice my buddy's hound teaching my half-baked hound something I don't like, or the two dogs seem quarrelsome with each other, I'm going to avoid turning them loose on the same drop. Any hunting buddy worth keeping will understand the issues and make accommodations.
Hounds are bred to follow their noses. Its really us that make the training mistakes most of the time, and we learn from both paying close attention to the dogs, and having friends who question us when we are making mistakes.
The point is, you can be successful either way or with a combination--you just have to pay attention and notice what is working for that particular dog, and what isn't. Sounds like you are doing well so far. Just trust your instincts. If the dog is making progress--and it sounds like he is--you're doing fine.

[BEARCLAW]