Reading your Hounds

[Dads dogboy]

Folks,

Lets hear from you all about the things you Look and Listen for in READING your Hounds!

Your Hounds are communicating with you from the time you pull up to the Pen to go Hunting till after you return them to the Kennels. Even when not Hunting a Hound will be communicating his condition, health, and temperment. What do you all look at and for?

South Texan give us a Lesson in "Tail Reading", JC tell us about those Rigs and how you READ the Hounds, Pegleg give us some insight into how the Hounds react and the translation of those actions in the Desert. Second Nature and Spruce Mountain tell us how different or similar your Hounds TALK to you as ours do in the South East. You fellows in the Mountain West what are the things your Hounds tell you that make the Hunt enjoyable, the different Cry's that a Hound will make, how does the Bad Snow affect the Hound Reading?

This will be another Topic with NO RIGHT or WRONG answers, just observations of the Hounds and how they are Translated into People Speak!

[Unreal_tk]

One of my favorite things, when I pull up to our mailbox my dogs greet me and say let's go dad by taking turns opening in the kennel and dog houses.

When out hunting my dogs stay pretty quiet in the box unless I find something, then the whines start and a few barks by the dogs that got left in the box, but im working on keeping that to a minimum.

My two blue females when they hit a track they are full on open unless its really old or a hard track (snow drip), I like nothing more than being on a ridge above them and hearing a trail or jump bark then a small silence and a long locate bark followed shortly by treeing by my lead female, her sister only has two barks and they are difficult to distinguish other than one is more intense than the other. Im still having a hard time telling when the jump is. My oldest dog is silent on track by herself but trees well. Semi open when with the pack.

My oldest pup seems to have a bawl mouth but its low and will hard to hear over other dogs even if he was alone you might not hear it far away. The youngest I have I don't know how his will develop yet for sure.

[South Texan]

Tail Reading...a sign from your dog, letting you know they are smelling something(good or bad). When seen from your broker dogs, lets you know they are smelling your game of choice. Seen mostly on the start of a track or on a cold hard track as they are working the trail. On a tough track, you will see lots of whipping and wagging of the tail from my dogs, more so than opening. They might open every now and then, but you can sure tell (if you are in sight of the dogs) they are working on the track from all the tail wiggling that's going on.

Purpose of docking the tails on dogs in thick brushy country to keep them from blooding up the tip of their tails from all the whipping and wagging of the tail.

Always exciting to see that first wiggle from your young pups that are starting to come on. Them telling you "Ok, I can smell this thing." This is one of the things I look for most, in my young dogs. When you see them start acknowledging (wiggling) on the track. You know then, they are starting to figure things out.

Thru my experience over the years, I would guess 95% of the dogs that I have worked with will do this wagging of the tail when smelling game. But I have owned a few that wouldn't wag any. Those you have to read in other ways, but you can. You can just see the excitement in their body. All dogs are different. Some might wag their tails a lot and others very little. You have to learn each dog. I can usually tell if it is a workable track or not by the amount of tail wagging that's going on from my dogs.

This is what I have seen from road hunting my dogs on dry ground. Be sure and watch for that first wiggle from your pup you started. I get as excited as my dogs when I see that. Happy hunting. Robbie

[Alabama Cathunter]

Well CJC Im not the best at typeing nor spelling nor am I fast. But Im going to talk about a few of my hounds but all of them have their own little knitch. My hounds from the time I turn my kitchen light on in the mourning the hounds can see the light and they know the breakfast bell is about to ring. They bark a little different when it is feed time than when they see the light on my truck backing up to the pen and they think a hunt is on. Sugar is my baby, she talks to me lots. I can read her the easy. If she ever gives 4 barks on a track I put her on and then she gets quiet for say 20 or 30 minuietes if she gives those same 4 barks one more time and she is in a different location she is just about going to jump that fox or cat. Well Im tired of typing so I will get out of here have a good day.

[twist]

A hound voice tells me more than anything how the track will go if it real movable or if it will be a drawn out track. Also each hound has its own style of voice and some will tell you when the jump is close to happening(track is really warming up) and when it has happpened, also the same once the cat is up some will tell you they are locating before they ever go to their tree mode. So I would say reading their voice is my biggest asset in this area. Andy

[BlazeNBrat]

This is what it's all about! Good body language at first is a signal of what the cold track should turn into. Even if they dont bark at first, intrest and excitment is some thing we can work up to a jump most the time.

There is no doubt when the dogs make the jump by the sound of them. Then moving into the catch; quite a change over again! A ground catch sounds quite a bit different than a tree.

Then there's the cold track, to a jump, to a log slash pile or a hole or what have you. Those go from real good sounding jumped to alomost complete silence. The hounds dont sit and hammer at a log pile unless its a small one they can almost get to the cat. They also will not leave the pile untill we go in there to get them. So from the rig, these seem like a loss that they will not move off of, when infact they stopped him, but he made it home. We have a few every year that make it home, just something we deal with here.

[coastrangecathunting]

well on a colder track my vegas dog will let out a longer strike off the rig almost half hearted . if it is a hot track she will have a almost sqeel in her voice. i like it when your roading the dogs and they hit a cat track . vegas will wiggle really fast , her front end will get low hold that position for about 3 seconds then she is off at a dead run. it she rigs a cat track she cant get started she will open on the box after put back up for a couple hundred yards. in frustration i suspect. i really like it when ther is a screaming jump followed by 2 mins of silence . listen she is about to booooww. the long locate bark.

when roading the sudden glance at u when a deer or coyote has crossed the road. telling u to keep an i on those other dogs.

jc

[Rod Vinson]

I watch my dogs...If I was deaf I could watch the my hounds and tell you what they are doing....I road hunt from 10 to 18 dogs...maybe too many but my pups has got to learn sometime... I have a dog and her name is Speedy, I have never seen her bark in the road and she may smell something in the road if the other dogs are paying a particular spot alot off attention but as a rule she just walks with her head up high (winding) from one side of the road to the other...and sometimes you look and she has turned around and gone back where you have already been and disappear, if it aint nothing she will catch up, but if she smells a kitty she will let you know it..and all of a sudden she opens and the rest makes a u-turn and hits full stride to get to her... another I watch for is Robin, she is always the the fartherest ahead of you..if she smells one she whips from side to side in quick motion like she wants to be the first behind the cat. When you hear her open you can open the gate cause the race is fixing to be on!! I only have one dog that will open in the road unless it is a hot track (no more than a couple hours old) then they all will give tongue. The dog that will open can see several dogs switching their tail hard up 10 or 15 feet ahead of her and she will sqaw out, I guess to get all of them (at) attention and ready to find where the cat has left the road, she does have one of the best noses other than Speedy that I own and she will sqaw out when she smells a cat, there is NO doubt when she has a whif...she lets the world know...I can also look at the dogs actions whether it is the wrong way or not and I can scold the others quickly.. And the oldens will let you know if the youngens are on the wrong game quickly and you dont have to wonder!! I know my dogs like a book as well as they know me....They know what I'm thinking (I think) most of the time...they are like my children....and I love them like they are...LOL

[mike martell]

I start all my dogs from pups....By the time they are old enough to start there own track you should be able to begin to "read" the dog....You are the coach of the team and just like any coach, when you have a situation come up you make adjustments. If it means side lining a dog or whatever, it is my job to make the call......I pick the right play on game day in the handeling department, I win....if not I lose...I don't care what I catch about as much as what I miss....

[Emily]

Not specific to bobcats, but learning to "read" each dog is one of the great pleasures of owning hounds. I can tell what game they are on, how hot the track is, etc. the way most of you can, but my dogs are also housepets, and are quick to tell me what they want, what they hear/smell (deer in yard, UPS guy, etc), and where my husband has been walking around the city of Brooklyn NY. They have a distinct form of excitement for my husband's scent, and it amuses the heck out of me. I know exactly what stores he's been in and whether he is home before I open the door. No secrets!
The dominant dog has a special voice to tell the other to get out of his favorite chair, and the second dog has a special voice to tell his buddy that I'm gathering up leashes and hunting boots, so please wake up and get ready too.
One of the more interesting things I've seen them do: when I brought home the second hound, he came from a place where there were no bears. We coon hunted all winter, but the next spring, when the bears first came out, I was exercising them in a park when the older dog called the new dog over with a very distinct "I want to show you something" voice, and started a hot bear track. The new dog got very excited, looked at me as if to ask "is it ok to chase this stinky new game"? and when I encouraged him, they had that bear up a tree in no time flat. It was very clear that the older dog wanted to share this exciting scent with his innocent buddy, knew he was teaching him, and knew that I wanted him to do that.

[dwalton]

Reading the dogs is one of the most important things a person can do. Also reading where you start a track, is this a place a cat should be or is the the way a cat should travel. Something that I feel is important to the dog is our body language, the dog read us just as much as we read the dog. Dewey

[Warner5]

Dewey has just brough up a good point. The oppisate is true, our dogs also read us. I have seen hunters worry their dogs right out of running a cat track and also ignore the signs and let them run something bad( Hell, I have been that hunter on both occasions). Thank you. John.

[mondomuttruner]

I really feel stupid, I've never really "read" my dogs. Didn't realize it was this big of a deal. Hunting in snow, I find a track and put dogs down, where does reading the dog become beneficial? Does reading the dogs only apply to roading? I'm not really a fan of rigging, cat or bear, and I start bear off baits and cats on snow. My "reading" is done by how they sound to tell how good the track is. I'm really interested in this "giving tail". I'm going to have to watch closer, although around here you can only see the dog for about 10 ft after I let them go.

[Unreal_tk]

Mondo,

You can see it while exercising your dogs by roading, you will know every coyote piss spot on the road trust me, especially this time of year. But I usually just listen like you say but when conditions are bad here sometimes you have to road and I hate it. Im not very good at tail reading yet but I know coyote piss spots!

[South Texan]

Unreal,
You bring something else to my mind, when you mentioned you will know every coyote spot.

My broke dogs will smell off game (without wagging) and then go on down the road and leave it alone. The unbroke dogs might smell it and start wagging their tail on off game. They (unbroke dogs)also get corrected for this. If they are wagging their tails while smelling, they are telling you that the scent is registering with them, they acknowledge the scent. Once they acknowledge it, if it is not right, they are suppose to leave it alone even though they haven't barked on it.

The old dogs read one another by this tail wagging. Lots of times I have seen the dogs working on a cold trail, when one dog might be giving tail up ahead without barking, if the other dogs behind see this dog up ahead giving tail, they will break and go to him, thus moving the trail forward.

As Mr. Dewey said earlier in this post, not only do we read the dogs, but they read us. Also they read one another.

Just some things to look for while hunting. Robbie