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i'm training a couple pups they were doing great but lately the hunting has slowed i think cause all the coons are in the corn and on the orchards which i dont have any access to. but were still getting a few here and there. i very rarely kill anything we catch cause i only have a couple good spots to hunt close to home so i dont want to kill everything. its been awhile since the pups got to chew some fur. the last month or so the pups drive and intensity seems to be fading a bit. last night they hunted hard and got three up in one tree but the intensity and drive just wasnt their. they lost interest in the tree after only a couple minutes. i didnt kill any of those coons. we kept hunting the dogs went deep into the briars struck a couple times but couldnt make anything happen. i got them back all scratched up a bloody from hunting hard. their still doing o.k. but not with the same intensity and drive as they were a couple months ago. i thought a caged coon would fire em up again but i never have any luck catching a coon. do i need to kill one or two coons for them to get em going again. or any other ideas would also be apreciated. i was also wondering if it is bad for the pups to keep going out and getting skunked. would it be better to kennel em up until the hunting picks up a bit or just keep at it. and can a dog keep the drive and intensity with out ever chewing on fur. if not how oftern do they need a good fur chew.

Seems to me dogs are just like humans, they like being rewarded for their work. Now i know if I was a dog and kept treeing all those damn coons I would want a reward once in awhile. Maybe the intensity needs to be brought back by laying them up for a little bit to make them want to hunt more. Just an idea

young dogs need a reward. id knock one out the next time you tree. i WOULD NOT however show them a caged coon. if they are already hunting that would be taking a step backwards. it would do no good in my book. good luck