BigGameHoundsmen.com

The best thing about this is no one is wrong. Houndnem wants his dogs to start early so he breeds his dogs this way and culls accordingly. Everyone else likes to give there dogs a little more time to mature but would love to have early starters! (You never see a thread where someone is braggin on how uninterested there pup is in cold trailing.). Show him some easy fightin trainers, lay drags, keep a good handle on him. Go hunt the feet off of him and in time whatever will be will be. And if in time your dog doesn't start hunting, drop it and get a new one. Just look into the Dam and sire for the traits you want in a dog. JMO.

Lil Joes BigGame hounds wrote:The best thing about this is no one is wrong. Houndnem wants his dogs to start early so he breeds his dogs this way and culls accordingly. Everyone else likes to give there dogs a little more time to mature but would love to have early starters! (You never see a thread where someone is braggin on how uninterested there pup is in cold trailing.). Show him some easy fightin trainers, lay drags, keep a good handle on him. Go hunt the feet off of him and in time whatever will be will be. And if in time your dog doesn't start hunting, drop it and get a new one. Just look into the Dam and sire for the traits you want in a dog. JMO.

That's perfect! thanks.

Nolte wrote:

houndnem wrote:I expect between 6- 12 months they be able to tree their own on snow period!

Their own what. House cat, coon, lion, bear, what. I want a pup to show some gameynesss, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for one to lock down on an old cold trail for 5 hours. I would like them to see the house cat coming out of the garage and chase it up a tree though.

This guy has a pup that isn't even 6 months yet, it's showing some signs of being a little timid around game. If it were me, I'd either shelf it and let it mature or bring it with as a spectator but don't let it in on the action. What I would do is take it with me a bunch and let it get used to being handled and out and about. Who knows it may not turn out at all, but I don't think rushing it is going to help.

lions man, what the hell fun would it be chasin house cats a bird dog can do that?

Well i have a 6 month old pup i kept out of my last litter and she is a firecracker. I started runnin her on drags real early started with hot dogs then to coon tails and different hides. Started takin her in the woods at 4 and half months on a leash and she wanted to go BAD but i wouldn't let her. I did that several times and when i thought she was ready which was a little over 5 months i turned her loose and she didnt look back. I think holding her back and lettin her see the other dogs gave her the courage and want to go plus the breeding is there. Now she goes and is striking her own tracks. If i can ill try and post a video of her at 6 months with her first live coon. I also have a year old dog that is not what i would call an early starter, but i think when he fires good he's gonna make real nice. So different dogs vary. Be patient and time and effort is what it takes to make a dog. It should come around, good luck.

Yard Dog wrote:

houndnem wrote: it's all about your patience level and how long you will give them to shine.

This dog is 5 months old, been off the tit for maybee a little more than 12 weeks. If you are going to set the bar that high for young pups, you are going to go through alot of dogs. I happen to agree with Catch....

I am not saying all this for the purpose of beating my chest and braggin, I am just a firm beliver in this and it is my style. it is not bad advise what all of you are saying, but there are a few different ways to skinn a cat. I have culled maybe 3 dogs in the ten years I been doin this and they were all dogs that went to non hunting homes and came back as 2 year old no nothin house dogs. maybe it's because I run these pups with their mom and they are more comfortable, but year in and year out my pups born in the summer are hunting their own by christmas. anybody that doubts this would be more than welcome to come huntin with me and see it first hand or george is coming in january maybe after he sees he'll be nice enough to let you know. hunting lions in snow is not rocket science, If a pup will smell his way down the track with some exitement he will usually end up at a tree.

I gotta add i hunt 3 to 4 days during the week and every weekend so i put alot of time on my dogs not as much as some but more than most and i think that plays a big factor on makin a dog early. Even when im not hunting im training on handling or roading keepin em in the best shape i can Working with the pups is very important as far as im concerned at an early age is better it doesnt have to be on game early but they need to know right from wrong and when you praise them they should know there doing something right. just my 2 cents worth not much but hey it works for me and thats all that matters. good luck and remember its supposed to be fun.

I know Houndnem has early starting pups. I have a little Bluetick/walker here that is about 6 months old. She does not lack any heart or desire. She started trying to run with the big dogs at about 5 months old. Not saying she can catch her own cat but there isn't a lack of effort.

I get what Houndnem is saying about Catch calling it BS. There are dogs that start quite early. I call a pup that is trying to run with the big dogs at 5months old an early starter. One that doesn't click until 12 to 14 months would be a late starter, every thing in between is a normal pup. I have another pup here that isn't showing as much drive yet. That does not mean he will be less of a dog, doesn't mean he will be better either. Time will tell. Just have to get them in the woods.

Oh and Houndnem, I won't have any problem telling these guys how my degenerate culls taught them Houndnem Blueticks a thing or two.

houndnem wrote: hunting lions in snow is not rocket science, If a pup will smell his way down the track with some exitement he will usually end up at a tree.

I'm not lion hunter so I don't know. But what you are saying here is a LOT different than a dog being able to do it on their own. There is also a big difference in a dog being able to do it SOME of the time and ALL of the time. Dogs should be making races their first year. They should be making nearly ALL the races by their second. If they aren't, you're probably not going to have a dog that will amount to much.

I've got no idea what you're hunting or where you're getting it from. It really don't matter much to me. But you must have something that's suiting you fine if you've only gone through 3 duds in 10 years. Most guys I know that hunt a fair bit will go through that or more in a couple years for one reason or another. It may just be them selling them because they don't fit in with their program, but they aren't in the yard anymore.

Nolte wrote:

houndnem wrote: hunting lions in snow is not rocket science, If a pup will smell his way down the track with some exitement he will usually end up at a tree.

I'm not lion hunter so I don't know. But what you are saying here is a LOT different than a dog being able to do it on their own. There is also a big difference in a dog being able to do it SOME of the time and ALL of the time. Dogs should be making races their first year. They should be making nearly ALL the races by their second. If they aren't, you're probably not going to have a dog that will amount to much.

I've got no idea what you're hunting or where you're getting it from. It really don't matter much to me. But you must have something that's suiting you fine if you've only gone through 3 duds in 10 years. Most guys I know that hunt a fair bit will go through that or more in a couple years for one reason or another. It may just be them selling them because they don't fit in with their program, but they aren't in the yard anymore.

sounds like we're about on the same page here. I think more than anything I'm probably just lucky. I'm just saying I turned them pups last year on their own lion track at right around 6 mo and about 2 miles of poundin it they were at a tree with a lion in it! at a little over a year now these pups have seen a ton of lions and will cold trail with the best of them. these two that I kept this year are right where last years were at this time. the next decent track I find, they will get put out on it by therselves and hope I won't be let down. sorry the post got hijacked.

oh and george, I'll bet you leave here a H.B.T purist and cull all of the rest of those dogs ya got I won't tell anybody.

I think some good solid hounds shy off the first coon they see when they are five months or less on there first exposure. And that's a smart hound cause its too small to win a big fight at that point in its life. Put him back on a few more and you will most likely see a switch go off. That's my experience. The hound should get aggressive toward game by six months or so. I agree with the others. I try to protect the little ones from getting torn up. I want them to be the "winners" of the game. But, then again, there are different types of hounds. I also like the ones that just go in balls before brains. Just fun to watch. Maybe not gonna live long if used for bear, but heck of a show.
Sean

Thanks everyone for the advice. Hes goin a lil deeper in the woods with the older dogs. Went bout 350 or 400 yards with them. Havent been able to catch a live coon yet do to the weather but hope to soon. Was walkin into the woods and jumped a rabbit, he saw it before it went out of sight, he put his nose down and followed the track bout a minute didnt open though, hes gettin a lil more gamey. His dam is a NITECH female with 1 win away from grand and his sire is Donnie Stockton's Slugger male, both proven producers. Ill keep yall posted on his progress, keep droppin any suggestion as he gets older. Thanks again everybody.

[quote Everyone else likes to give there dogs a little more time to mature but would love to have early starters[/quote]

It's not that a guy likes to give a dog time to mature, it's that everything is dependent on the how fast the pup develops and most of the time, time is what it takes. Anyone that raises pups for any time at all will end up with some that start faster and develop quicker than others. This is what sets them apart, hence the term "early starters". However, most pups are not "early starters", they are somewhere in the middle. This does mean not they will not turn out to be good dogs, just means you have to give them more time and see what happens.

Houndnem, if you have been raising a litter of pups every year for 10 years, only had to cull 3 and all the rest are all able to tree their own lion (start to finish) from the age of 6 mo - 1 year. Hats off to ya, and I would also suggest you invest heavily into lottery tickets.......

hey, good thinkin yard dog. you send the money and i'll invest it for ya.

To relate an experience we had just yesterday dealing with this topic....
We turned out five older dogs, one pup that is a year old and a six month old pup on a lion track. The six month old pup stayed with us until we went off some ledges and had to leave her behind. The year old pup made the whole chase with the older dogs and was under the tree when we got there. We were happy with the six month old because she was smart enough to back track herself back to the pick-up. We didn't have to go in and get her.

I usually don't take them this young. I usually don't start my pups on a hard chase until they are about a year. But we were just playing yesterday

Finally caught a coon. He showed a little intrest, didnt bark any. Had a older pup with him, shes doin really good on coon&bear. Turned it loose, went across a frozen pond, pups lost it, bc its not thick enough for them. Took them around and i climbed the pine tree and poked it out. Pups caught sight of it and was runnin it and stopping and she was bayin at it. It took off again to the woods, they both ran it, rite behind it. It climbed and the female treed on it, he smelled the tree and stood on tree a little. He stayed at the tree. Shot the coon out, he was still a little hesitant but got a little fur in his mouth. This is his sixth time huntin.