Brom

[Sievert1993]

H

[Old dog]

first off, he sounds like a gamey pup. this is a big plus. you should show him good game before you break him from running bad game.. you can do this by live trapping a coon and releasing it in front of the pup. give it a head start and turn the pup loose soon after the coon hits the brush. after you do this several times ,increase the head start. when you can turn one loose without the pup there and he takes the track when walked by, he is ready for what I call electro theropy....the shocker. so you have taught him to find a track and run it now you teach him not to run other stuff. hope this helps good luck

[chiller]

i agree with old dog 100%. be easy with the shocker till he knows how to use his nose and run a track. when they are young and they are running "trash" that aint really a bad thing by no means, at least he is running something instead of just eating and shitting!

[Sievert1993]

I h

[Old dog]

if he is treeing the released coons, its time to lay off the drags un less you are training a field trial dog , drags don't do much for a hunting dog. put a shocker on him and start on the lowest setting use it to correct any habit you don't like in the yard like barking, not handling ect. so now he knows about electro therapy and you have not hindered him on game yet. by now you will know what level is needed to get the point across with out freaking him out. some guys over shock a dog and ruin them. don't be one of them guys!! so now you need to take him to a spot that you know has a lot of desired game and hunt him. if he messes with trash and you know for sure its trash bump him and move on till he trees a coon. try not to put him away after you shock him until he trees. its far better to end a hunt on a good note than to shock and go home note. jmo and good luck

[david]

When I was a coon hunter, it helped me a lot to hunt my pups mid day. You are more likely to see deer or fox, and starting a hot coon track is not likely. My next biggest leap forward was teaching my dogs they MUST come when I call them. Not coming When I call is a worse offense than running off game. SO: I hunt them mid day, when they start a hot track, I correct them because I am pretty sure it is not a coon. If they are in cattail a or other place a coon (or deer) might be, I call them before I shock them. I give them a slight moment to quit and come to me. If they don't quit instantly and come to me, I shock them. That way, if on the outside chance it was a coon, it is simply a reminder to come when I call them no matter what they are doing. No excuse. I use the same philosophy at night if I am getting suspicious that it is not a coon they are heating up. Call them. If they come instantly, you just successfully controlled them. If they don't come instantly to your call, tone them. If they don't quit instantly at the tone, shock them a little. If they still don't quit, shock them a lot. You will not break them off coon doing this even if it is a coon. They know by now when you call you mean come right now no matter what. Always consistent. Don't ever call them unless you are in a position to enforce the command. And don't call them and then change your mind about needing them to come. If you give the command, follow up on it completely...every time. You will have trouble-free dogs in no time.

[Redbarntrailhounds]

I never thought of breaking a coon dog off trash during the day. It is genius and low technology. On that note I firmly believe in shock collars. I got my start to dogs in the retriever arena and I treat hounds the same way. I teach nothing new with the shock collar. I only reinforce old lessons in a timely and efficient manner. Once my hound is running and treeing released coon consistently, exhibiting solid obedience and has been conditioned to the collar I start to TB.
First on lead with a choke chain we walk right by all kinds of trash, typically road kill. When pup shows interest I get disgusted with him just enough he knows it. If pup continues to show interest I am firm and say no trash and yank the lead.
I have advanced to using a garmin alpha. I drag a trash drag or find a fresh field of deer. Next I release a caged coon and try release him so he crosses the trash. I then am able to watch the dog cut a coon and stick it through trash temptation.