Veteran cat hunters- worse case scenario-

[jimmyd]

Say you lost your trained hounds and were forced to start over fresh, if you couldn't get an experienced hound what would you do?

[Budd Denny]

Just how I got started out in the first place, walk a lot of tracks out with a BOBCAT bred pup!!! Got lucky the first time, first dog I tried was a NATURAL, walked out the first 10-15 tracks and he was doing it solo after that, at 2 years old he was jumping 95% of the tracks I put him on.
I know it wouldn't likely to happen again so easily but I'm sure I could get another going with lots of time and going threw a few different pups.
Pure luck the first time but I bettered my chance's by buying a BOBCAT bred pup out of proven cold nosed hounds and putting the time in him it required.

[Mike Leonard]

Budd you do improve your chances with a top bred pup but just as I advised the man that had lost his dog on the other post it is an expensive propostion with no guarantees.

You add up the costs over the time it takes to make a real one you will see why guys ask what they do and usually they offer a pretty good bargain if the dogs is a real one and not over the hill. Cat dogs are expensive but making one when you don't have anything to start with can break you.

[twist]

Agree with Budd 100% there is no other way.

[Everlast]

Depends on the person..........I couldn't stand to go to the woods with one or two young prospects in hopes of them slowly developing into a good dog. I wanna be catching game when I go to the woods. I really enjoy making young dogs into finished dogs, but I'm afraid I would have to bite the bullet and buy me a good older dog............that's just me.

[Dads dogboy]

Mr. Mike,

You said it the Best!

C. John Clay
Dads Dogboy

[david]

Got lucky the first time, first dog I tried was a NATURAL, walked out the first 10-15 tracks and he was doing it solo after that, at 2 years old he was jumping 95% of the tracks I put him on.
I know it wouldn't likely to happen again so easily but I'm sure I could get another going with lots of time and going threw a few different pups.
Pure luck the first time but I bettered my chance's by buying a BOBCAT bred pup out of proven cold nosed hounds and putting the time in him it required.

Jimmyd, this is such an amazingly powerful way to train a dog. I might stick my neck out (again) and say if you want the most possible out of a particular dog, take the time and do exactly as Budd described. I have started from zero twice in my life, and the two dogs I did this same thing with were two of the best. Neither of them were from bobcat stock.
I dont think Budd got lucky. I think his work just simply paid off. Yes, I know the dog has to have some things genetically. But I dont think too many people understand the huge importance intensive training has in a bobcat dog. It is a training intensive sport, 180 degrees different than coon hunting. A coon bred dog: throw him in the woods a lot.

We dont have many dogs that have been bred for bobcat for one or two hundred years like the coon dogs. We are taking dogs that were bred for other game and making them into bobcat dogs. We have people that have bred a few generations of fox dog or coon dog for bobcat. But they have so much more to learn.

Sorry if this offends anybody, but a coon dog does not have to be real smart. That is because his genes tell him exactly what to do. We dont have this to such an extreme degree in bobcat dogs . They have to learn what to do. And if they do what their coon dog genes are telling them to do, or their fox dog genes are telling them to do, it will fail them on bobcat. In my opinion, they actually have to be so smart that they can overcome the powerful urges of their coon dog genes or their fox dog genes. They have to control their natural urges just like people have to do. And they do it because their desire to catch the game, or to please their master in more rare dogs, is more important to them than following their genetic urges. It is litterally mind over matter. Their mind telling the matter of their genetic urges to shut up because we tried this befor and it does not work on bobcat.

So what I am getting at is, I think Budd would get lucky on the second dog he tried this with, and the third and fourth. Because Budd is just a lucky guy when he works that hard on showing a bobcat dog exactly what it is supposed to do.

If you can afford to buy a good dog, the results will be much quicker, and as Mike said, might even cost less in the long run. I bet Budd would sell you that dog he trained up. But If you have the time and are healthy and can train up a pup in this way, you and the dog both will have some self confidence that you could not purchase for a million bucks. You both will think you can accomplish anything this life could possibly throw at you. And you both might just be right.

[liontracker]

I would buy the best quality pup I could get my hands on and about three pairs of boots.

[david]

I would buy the best quality pup I could get my hands on and about three pairs of boots.

How come I could not just say it all in one sentance like liontracker??

"You buying this dog from me? Well first off you will be paying for the three pairs of Danners"

[liontracker]

David, you dropped a real pearl back there - intelligence.

The three best traits to look for when picking out a bobcat pup:

1. Intelligence
2. Intelligence
3. Intelligence

[Big Mike]

I agree good quality pup and start walking out tracks. Thats how I started, went through a lot of dogs and three years of trying until I caught my first lion. If i had to do it all again i would do it the same way. Anybody can buy a trained dog and catch game, takes a houndsman to train his own and catch game. Takin a knuckle headed pup and turning him into a true hunter is half the fun to me.

[Waterway]

Once my dad was talking about a couple real good dogs he had had. He told us they were smart enough to good dogs in spite of what he taught them!!! I have one real bobcat dog and I feel that way about her. She was born with the desire to hunt cats and the qualities to be good. None of the other hounds I have owned were that kind of a package and I can't take a lot of credit for it either. I agree with others finding that "right" pup is a huge part of getting a bobcat hound.

Mel

[david]

Just curious: I know there are people on here that have been blessed and fortunate enough to own a top bobcat dog at some point in your life. I think it would be interesting to know how many of you bought that dog as a trained dog from someone else, and how many raised the dog?

Or let's put the question another way. Think of the best bobcat dog you have ever owned. Did you buy it that way, or raise it from a pup, or buy it as a promising young started dog or???

[liontracker]

I got mine as a pup, started it alone and ran it alone, for 1 1/2 years.
Best and most satisfying thing that I ever did.

[Nolte]

Best one we ever had, we bought. But he really wasn't a true bobcat dog, just one that could run them pretty good. He was very good at jumping them, just not at closing the deal and catching it. But if you stuck in there you'd get a shot at one. It might be in a tree, it might be caught, or it might be 15 seconds to 10 minutes in front on a circle. Whatever the case you'd still get shot and that's all this half/ass part time cat hunter expects.

One thing I would do or always try to do is to get a young prospect a good idea of what they are after from the start. If that is on a bayup, live trap (where legal) or some other method, do it. And even better if this prospect can see this critter run away and let that chase instinct kick in. It seems that once this barrier is crossed the dogs that have it, take off in leaps and bounds. Otherwise it can be like hitting your head against the wall. Next thing I would do is try to walk up some tracks in small sections, for the benefit of you and the prospect. Then just go from there on whatever pace the dog wants to go at.