how to train dogs to stick

[meguide01]

am hoping to get some ideas on training a dog to stick to a tree when they tree game so as getting the time to see what they tree. if anyone has any ideas i could try i would be greatfull. i believe my dogs r treeing sometimes but then they leave tree and well the chase goes as a loss. i believe they did this and only treed for a few minutes by the time i decided to go in they were moving again and then they just started going all over and spreading out so i called them back to me about 300 yards out but not enough time to get to them.

[bayupcrazy]

my dog used to do that lots to but he was about a year and a half old i thought he would never be a tree dog but he just started to stick them now but i changed who i was hunting with and his dogs were better he learned to stick now i can put him out byhimself and not have to worry about him leaving the tree but i pesonlly thing you hunt him with other dogs that are good tree dogs and do it often so that your dog grows that pack mentality with the other dogs and he ll learn just have to give it a little time but good luck and happy hunting

[bency]

Get your dog in a training/treeing position and work with him from there to tree, but as your dog tries to leave the tree to dink around then pop him on a low setting and up grade from there.

[Hunter]

Been there done that and it will drive you crazy. Last year I had that same problem. It took some time and alot of talking to older wiser hunters than myself to figure it out. I was letting the bear that they treed come down so they could run it again. All the time praising the heck out of them. This was great for me because most of the time they were getting two sometimes three trees a night in a realive short amount of time. I got to come home early feeling good about my dogs getting some much needed tree time. Well they were focused on the chase part more than the treeing part and learned to get off the tree and hush. Once the bear came down they opened up and ran him like their asses were on fire. I got so disgusted that I wanted to kill them all. Finally I took the advise from an old timer and RAN to the tree one day. I had to follow the beeper cause the dogs had hushed. When I got close I actually passed the dogs setting on the side of the hill watching the bear in the tree before I realised it. I went to the tree with the dogs and they started treeing great. I then leashed them and pulled them off. I had to do this SEVERAL more times before they got the picture. If they treed it I praised them. If they hushed at the tree the praising stopped. I didn't scold them tho. If the bear came out I did NOT let them run it again. Now this year they tree good and give alot of mouth at the tree. You can't keep em all up but, I know now that when the bear comes down the tree he comes down with dogs bellied up to the tree barking.

Another thing. I got a walker dog from a guy that he was going to kill because "he wouldn't do anything". This dog was fat as mud. I ran his tail off and he wouldn't do much other than cold trail at first. Then as the weight started coming off he started picking it up. He would get to the tree and give off very little mouth and that was because he was so out of shape he couldn't breath long enough to bark. You couldn't buy him out of my kennel now for $2,000. The guy that gave him to me offered me $1,500 for him. He's in shape now, lean but, not sickly skinny and muscled up. He gives off mouth at the tree now.

1. Maybe your dogs aren't tree minded at this point. More prey/chase phase right now. Follow them close and find out what's going on. Put up a few easy coons and shuck em out to them after a good bit of tree time on their part.

2. They could be out of shape.
Run their butts off.

3. Maybe your dogs don't give off a ton of mouth at the tree.
I don't know what to do there other than get them some easy coons and praise every time they open their mouth on the tree.

I'm no expert but, that's just what I would do.

[oregontanman]

DONT WANT TO HURT YOUR FEELINGS BUT ITS PROB DEER RACES THEY ARE CATCHIN THEM AND BAYIN THEN IT BREAKS AGAIN IN THE SNOW U SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE WHATS GOING UP IT AND IT MIGHT BE ONE OF YOUR OTHER DOGS FIGHTING THEM AWAY OR WANDERING AND THEN IT BAILS THEN THE RACE STARTS AGAIN IN THIS GAME DONT RULE ANYTHING OUT IF YOU AINT TREEING GAME INTILL YOU GET THER GET SOME DUNCAN BLACK AND TANS THEY BE THER ALL DAY AND NITE

[Hunter]

Another thing is a grey fox. I hate them suckers. Run like a deer, tree for 5 mins and jump out and the chase is on again. Where I'm running we have a bunch of greys. If you don't brake your dogs off of them you'll think their running deer. I broke mine by A trapping them and taking the dogs on my line with me and when I had a fox in a trap I would light em up if they bayed it or anything. B turning them on a fox crossing the road and lighting them up. You can get them off coyotes this way too.

[meguide01]

thank you for all the responses and i am trying the things mentioned i do believe however they are running bear just seem to only tree for a few minutes i am hoping to be at the next tree as they tree it if i can and tie them to it for a while as they just seem on my gps to start circling and not staying and i have not enough time to reach them i am also trying to hook up with someone that has a dog trained in the tree so they learn the stick method but thanks for the info and will check all these mentioned issues as i have yet to see what they are running.

[Mountainhound]

Being your from maine if trash it very well could be and likely is fisher. They run like the wind put up one hell of a fight and don't stay treed long. Usually in the day they stay put but wont forever, but at night their like a squirel through the tree tops hundred yards and down on the ground off to the races.

[meguide01]

thanks mountain hound but no pics of fisher just bears and squirrels i asked some locals who have done this and well they say this time of the year all bears do is to climb just high enough to rest and jump and run again my bonnie dog did bay a bear up into a blow down yesterday but when i approached off they took i found the area and what a mess of scratching and well footprints but only one dog and she remained silent i could not tell she was baying up but after ten minutes or so of staying in the same area i approache d and the race was off agfain. maybe next race will go mbetter more dogs if i can tel she is running.

[AZDOGMAN]

If your dog is baying a bear and not barking, i would get a new dog. Are all your dogs young dogs? Work with them on caged coons to help get them treeing. I have had a few dogs that wouldnt tree and i got rid of them. A good hound should trail and tree without much help.

[meguide01]

well az dog i am hping for info on how to train and yes i plan on using another form of guarantee to show the tree work but have witnessed the young dogs treeing for long periods and as far as the dog baying without barking this dog was bought for training in the cold trailing work which she does but without competition she is silent and with it she seems to get messed up some am trying to find the right combo of competition and not messing her up. but as for this particular bay she has been beaten and nearly killed by a bear alone so i think she may actually be getting her confidence back slowly but need to find a way to figure her pattern out to know how to give her the needed help before the race is completed or at least when it is needed to continue the bay and yes i agree the silentness is not desirable i hope to work the dogs and get them treeing as i know they can and will but i need the experience to know what and when to do the right thing and when to do it. as i stated i am trying to learn and actually these dogs know more than me and i need the knowledge to understand what i can do to help them and also progress them to my ultamite goal of treeing and sticking so as to give them the praise they truly deserve for doing what it is they desrie and what i want from them which appears to be the same thing. so i respect your veiw of the issue i also wish to gain the knowledge to teach these dogs as well as teach myself and i will cosider the options and do what is best for the dogs and my goals as they teach me each and every time out but i hope to be better at reading the signs and using these dogs to my advantage and help them learn as i do. and again thank you for your ideas and will keep all my options open as we continue to run and enjoy each time in the field.

[walker/plott]

I had a dog "treed" one time and I was so proud walking into that tree. About 50 yards out a deer broke from the trees and my dog followed. Coyotes will do the same. - Gerald

[meguide01]

thanks, walker/plott i have been running this week again trying all my new ideas and thanks to all who have shared there ideas am still working things out not any trees but have substanciated that they are running bears when the trail is hot but likely cold trailing and taking anything that is hot when they come across it before they jump the bear so running at night and continueing until they tree will be my efforts for the remainder of the year maybe after they tree i can begin to work the cold trail with more input from those who will share how to make my dogs work out a trail more than a few hours old. thnaks again for all the ideas and well they seem to help me but my dogs are still needing me to help them hope to show pics of bear in a tree soon Randy

[George Streepy]

It isn't easy to fix your problem without a dog that will stay treed. When I first started hound hunting I had the same problem. I fixed it by buying a dog that would stay treed. Tree dogs are not that hard to find in my opinion. If your dogs are doing everything else right start talking to some local guys and look for a dog that may lack at the start of the track but will hammer a tree (less expensive that way). If your dogs are running the track backwards from the tree, you will need a more dedicated tree dog. If they just loose interest you will most likely find them wandering around the tree. Then it is a good time to tie them up and praise the heck out of them. When they learn that is what you expect more of the dogs will start treeing. Some may never tree very well. I have shocked wandering dogs back to the tree many times, but getting there quick and tying them up is a more positive way to reinforce what you want them to do. As everyone else wrote, make sure your not running trash. I don't want to tell you to throw money at the problem, but a dog that trees is what you need.

Good luck,
George