I learned from my early childhood to never talk during a race. It was a good way to get in trouble from my Dad or Grandpa. I would sit there in the pitch dark listening to the dogs run a track. That’s how I learned how to hound hunt was by “Seeing with my ears”. I didn’t know there was a different way. I never hunted during the daylight hours and never seen snow until I was almost 30 years old. Most the places I grew up hunting was private property and you had better have your dogs and be gone by daylight because that’s when the landowners would be out working their cattle.
Living in North Korea,
I mean California (not much difference both under a dictatorship) most my life, I was restricted by law from the use of GPS before they were ever even invented as far as I know. California ban GPS in I believe 1995. Until this last weekend I had never even seen a GPS tracking unit. Now that I got to play with one for awhile I’m a firm believer that they will even add more evidence and proof to help me correct what my Ears are Seeing. I know I have allowed my ears to make mistakes and correct a dog that was probably right. The dog will either have to get over it or get gone. What other choice do you really have if your suspicions are up on a dog doing something wrong but can’t see them? I’m guilty of ruining one, setting a few back, but I have turned a lot into cat harassers and even a few that could hold the title of cat dog. The same goes with breaking a dog on trash. You have to trust your gut and the hound knowledge you have learned and the knowledge you have of the species you chose to pursue. Yes, I have shocked dogs on good game. Mistakes are made as a dog trainer. Learn from them and move on. It will only make you that much more knowledgeable for the next dog you start to train. Hound hunting is based on educated guesses from knowledge you have gained by experiences. To use Mr. Robbie’s analogy; I am always listening to Political Talk Radio and very seldom watch TV. Maybe from all the listening I have done over the years it’s helped me “See with my Ears”.
I believe now that I can use Garmin Tracking Collars on my dogs without “The Black Boot Gang” giving me a ticket and making a criminal out of a guy just trying not to lose his dogs, it will help me make wiser training decisions on my future dogs.
The advice I would give to someone starting out is start your correction out at the lowest level possible and don’t make a correction on a dog based out of anger. A well trained and well disciplined pack of dogs is just a reflection of their owner and handler. I have said this before in some of my other posts, show me a good hunter and I will show you a good pack of dogs!
