YOung bluetick

[Houndfever55]

Bawl mouth,
Not to easy drop on you guys but i have a bluetick pup he's about 9 weeks old and i have a older bloodhound i trained him by scent rags and a dead coon. But im kinda new to all of this i always thought i had to get a caged coon to get him going. i dont want to run him with my bloodhound until he can run one by himself. SO as i was listening you guys talking how can i get him going with out a cage coon?? I been buying bottled scent and using fresh skins of coons?? what would u prefer?? thanks a bunch sorry to intrupt. Just dont wanna make any mistakes out young on him.



THanks
Houndfever55

[Redneck]

does you younger dog trail the coon skin good if so id say catch one in a cage trap let him see it for a little bit load it up where he cant smell it or see it take it and him out to a field walk a little bit and turn it loose and then go back to the truck leash the dog go back to the place you turned it loose and let him go watch him and see what he does and its mostly trial and error in the beginning any ways till he can get the confidence level up he may loose it or he may hit it right on and after he learns that's what you want him to do keep it up possitive reinforcements always go along with a treed animal praise him when he does his job right ..... happy hunting buddy

[Houndfever55]

he trails it a lil then kinda gets confussed. what do u recommend that will keep him more interested? and thanks a bunch for the help.

[Redneck]

k for go the trail and release the dog at point of drop of the coon , its going to take two people you and a buddy one to hold the dog and one to empty the trap release the coon give it a 10 second head start and then release your dog this makes it a sight race gets him going and then if he loses it her will put his nose to the ground give him some time to try to figure it out on his own .another quick idea its going to sound kind of wired but take some warm tap water flip the trap over and dump it on the coon to make a better scent trail to come off of him so your dog can trail it easier too

[montananative]

I disagree with redneck.

-9 weeks old is way to early to start any kind of training with a live coon. a live coon can be very intimidating to a dogs thats just barely been taken from mama. Untill the agre of 6 months, both my dogs were not shown any coons, hides, nothing. What they were exposed to was hours and hours on long walks in the woods with lots of coons in them. taught basic comands, work with in water, and just basically getting confidenct built up.

-(in my opinion) NEVER LET A HOUND WATCH THE GAME RUN OFF!!!! it makes absolutely zero sense to me. My 5 yr old female was shown 1 caged coon. i let her bark at it, and all that, took her back where she could not see the trap, went back let coon go and then took her back to the trap. when she seen the coon was gone she went nuts and guess what, she wasnt running around looking for the coon with her eyes, her nose immediatly went to the ground, and that precisely what i wanted. im sorry but sight trailing accomplished nothing at all.

-my second dog will be 3 in another month. has yet to see a caged coon and never will. He will run and tree his own coons.

-caged coons arent all bad, but i would never ever show a dog more than one. anymore than that, the dog is not required to actually hunt, its a gimme. What i have done is trapped coons, taken them out and let them go, then just take my dog and walk in the vicinity of where i let the coon go. if the dog strikes the track, awesome, if they dog doesnt strike the track, we just go for a walk. Im a true believer in letting the dog figure it out. it may take a little more time and effort, but i truly believe the dog you get will be a much more independent dog and a harder hunter.

thats just my two cents. i know guys who are all about caged coons who have some good dogs, but i also know dogs that are strait up pack dogs, and i honestly believe that because they were shown to many caged coons, and just thrown in with older dogs. they were never singled out and required to find their own coon, and do all the work to put it in the tree.

at nine weeks old, i would let this dog grow, get use to you, get use to the woods, and just be a pup. Im no master houndsmen by any means, but i started hunting coons and training my own dogs 5 years ago. and both my dogs are good hounds who can go out on their own and tree coons, or contribute with other dogs

[Cosmo]

I agree with montananative. 9 weeks is way to early to show a pup a live coon. Even in a cage. You will do a lot more harm than good. JMO

[Brady]

Nate listen to Montananative he's got it wright
Keep him using his nose not his eyes.

[Houndfever55]

alright sounds good thanks everyone. and Thanks brady Bo been a great dog so far he's getting pretty big. My blood loves him already protecting him and stuff. and trying to get him to run with him lol. hope all is well.