puppy training tips

[tom treed]

I just got two walker puppy's and i was wondering if anybody could give me some tips and answer a few questions
1 what age should I start working with my dogs on scent trails ?
2 what age should I start to hunt cats ?
3 am I better of using wild domestic cats for training? or should I stay away from it4.
4 I can run it with a proven dog. is that going to do most of my training for me?

[Dillon]

I'm still new at this myself,but you are going to hear from most guys on here that your first mistake is you have two puppies.2 is much more patience testing than 1.listen to the guys on this site and hunt your tail off.if you have a seasoned dog that will make all the difference in the world.i started with two finished dogs and two started and let me tell you,the experienced dogs teach me more than I could imagine.

[Dillon]

I started my new pups on lion around 6 months.

[tom treed]

yea I thought that two probably be a lot harder

[southernazhunter]

Read the article "cat training" under site menu on BGH home page that will give you a good idea. i dont know much myself but id say two pups wouldnt be any different than one id think they would give eachother confidence. from what i hear the best way to train dogs is running them with experienced dogs but there is training that needs be done before then. read the article its a good one

[cougar2]

I think every new houndman should read John Wicks books, his books are mostly to do with coon hunting but you learn how to deal with hounds in general, no matter what you hunt you can learn how to raise and train hounds, he has spent as much time as anyone with hounds and knows the do's and dont's, I think it will help with most questions about hounds as any thing you can find, you get a good idea of what to expect, not all dogs are the same so there is no set age to start or how you go about every dogs training ect, hope this helps, and good luck.

[squirt2013]

try finding the book "walk with wick" its for coon hunting but sure helped me alot

[Jkohnke]

I'm not new to hunting dogs but I read most of that walk with wick book a buddy of mine had. I'm glad I wasn't a new guy trying to get started. Seems like John wick does more discouraging about how your dog is probably not gonna amount to anything. And how you've messed up. He may be a fine fellow but I'm glad I didn't read his book 35 years ago before I started hunting. Just my opinion. And no offense if this is some bodies uncle or best friend on here. Just the way I see it.

[southern fox]

my opinion , to start with one must learn who is boss, second, experienced dog will always help, pups are like children, they will mimic what is training them most of the time, my hunting might be a lot different than others, I road hunt all my hounds, most at 1 time, 2 many pups is a recipe for disaster, they will want to run a lot of off game, and wont listen, and will run off not paying much attention to whats training them, get 1 to liking it and then start with the other, so he will stay focused on what he is with, not some other pup, I hunt all running dogs, I have tained as many a 10 at one time, it aggravating, and hard, just wish they could come trained wouldn't that be easy, patience is the key and I believe a firm hand, there like children

[Grzyadms4x4]

My $.02 is let them be pups, take them out to the woods as often as possible while they are young before you start training them, train them for good handling FIRST before you train them for hunting. Most of all, have fun.

To answer your questions in order.

1 what age should I start working with my dogs on scent trails ? seems like 8-16 months.
2 what age should I start to hunt cats ? As soon as you are training and the dog has an idea of what scent he should be trailing, hunt them. No training exercise is as good as hunting.
3 am I better of using wild domestic cats for training? or should I stay away from it4. No it does little good.
4 I can run it with a proven dog. is that going to do most of my training for me? No, not necessarily. Your dog might just turn into a me too dog. Train them with the scent drags so they KNOW how to trail. The experienced dog will help you know if your pup is running trash or not.

[JTG]

Would you please tell me why it does little good with house cats? Jtg

My $.02 is let them be pups, take them out to the woods as often as possible while they are young before you start training them, train them for good handling FIRST before you train them for hunting. Most of all, have fun.

To answer your questions in order.

1 what age should I start working with my dogs on scent trails ? seems like 8-16 months.
2 what age should I start to hunt cats ? As soon as you are training and the dog has an idea of what scent he should be trailing, hunt them. No training exercise is as good as hunting.
3 am I better of using wild domestic cats for training? or should I stay away from it4. No it does little good.
4 I can run it with a proven dog. is that going to do most of my training for me? No, not necessarily. Your dog might just turn into a me too dog. Train them with the scent drags so they KNOW how to trail. The experienced dog will help you know if your pup is running trash or not.

[Grzyadms4x4]

They don't work very well because they do not behave like a lion or bobcat would. I have had just as good of luck with a stuffed animal with scent on it and you do not have to worry about any legal ramifications from catching one and using it for training.

You let a caged lion or bobcat go and from what I've been told, as I have never trapped either in a live trap, is that they go. Domestic cats usually find some lace to hide or find the closest tree and head up it. Which isn't very useful for training the scent trailing that most cat dogs will have to do.

Each to their own though.

[JTG]

If, I had a choice between treeing a bobcat or a lion with an adult hound or watching a litter of pups tree a house cat, I would take the litter of pups any day. From a very young age, I have the litter of pups follow me, and together, we go find a house cat, when the pups start treeing or baying, I sit down and start praising them and pumping them up, setting them up to win. Before long the pups associate me and cat scent with a good time, soon there off, finding one by themselves and I will meet them at the tree and encourage them some more, now paying more attention, to who is doing what, and doing my best trying to catch them doing something right, and rewarding them, each and every time. Soon, I will put them on a fresh scent from a bobcat and they will do the same and it comes to them naturally. I spend little time, breaking them off of trash, because I focus on what I want, not what I do not want, because I know punishment, is harmful and slows down progress. The famous psychologist B.F. Skinner, proved through his experiments, that an animal rewarded for good behavior will learn much more rapidly and retain what it learns far more effectively than an animal punished for bad behavior.

Jtg

[snowy river black and tan]

JTG is right on the money. .. just remember to keep it fun for the pups as long as they are having fun and on the right game you can't hurt them. I havnt had a pup yet that didnt like to play. Some start earlier then others and it doesn't necessarily mean anything.

[1bludawg]

I have kept as many as 3 pups from a litter and then work them as JTG described.This greatly reduces the time i spend on the pups so that i can pick the outstanding pup as quickly as possible.I would recommend keeping the entire litter if you can afford it and have the patience .