BigGameHoundsmen.com

Ker_man,
The method I learned to teach a dog the tree was " closed " and when I said it was time to go that is what it meant, was taught to me by a good friend of mine while coonhunting with him in MO.
Yes it does involve the CORRECT use of an E-collar, and some time. I think a dog that has enough brain power to be a top hound will learn this quite easily without any ill effects if taught correctly.

Josh

I've had my dogs stay treed for over 24hrs many a time. I can call them from pretty much anywhere and they will come to me. Smart dogs know they aren't getting "in trouble" for treeing, but that they better COME when called. I don't have to shock them off a tree. They just know the repercussions of not listening. I don't like calling dogs off anymore than anyone else does, but sometimes ya gotta do it.

Good Handling was never a real important trait to me. I'm not saying I wouldnt want it, just not a top factor to me. Treeing game was the number one priority to me. I do think it must be pretty cool to be able to walk away from a tree with all your dogs unleashed but I have never seen it in person. More often I had to drag dogs away and if they somehow got loose while putting them in the truck, back to the tree they went.
If you have dogs that are catching game the way you want and have the good handle on them, thats the ultimate there !! I have heard of guys, and read of some on here , that can call their dogs out of the box by name. the others will wait till their name is called for their turn. That must be really cool. I just have never seen it but I am sure its true. No, when I am turning dogs out its pretty much who can squeeze through the door first ! Probably mostly my fault but like I said, not something that was a big priority with me.
The one thing I couldnt stand was a dog that was mouthy in the truck or pen. I just couldnt stand it. One of the best dogs I owned was just a super super tree dog.Competition coon dog type tree dog .Up on the tree 120 barks a minute. Way more than I needed for bear hunting but really awesome to listen to on the way in to a treed bear. Problem was, she would not shut up at the tree.NEVER. Bear would be dead and being skun out and she was still 120 a minute. I finally started bring a shock collar to the trees with me. Once it was on she wouldnt make a peep and I kept my sanity, somewhat anyways LOL.

I'm just not sure why people want to deal with hard handling dogs. It's really a simple thing to teach and enforce. I think most people don't realize just how smart there hounds are. People think that just because it catches game, it can or should act a certain way. I've taken older unruley hounds, and within a few weeks, they do just as my others do. I know for sure there's no way I could walk all my dogs out if they were unruley. I can barely walk myself!

All my dogs come out of the box by name. I let them all out and while they are emptying out I call each one over and they stand and let me collar them. Then I say there name and they load up.

I think i have to agree with Dewey and Cassandra. If I cant have a good handle on a dog i dont want to hunt the dog. If the dog hunts great but wont listen someone else can have the dog. I enjoy my dogs as much as the next person but if I have to fight or kick and pull on them or chase them every time I want to do something either I or they will end up at different places. I think the most important thing to me in a pup is handle on them. That is everything from come when called to manners in the kennel.

Thanks

kevin

I HATE dogs that don't handle, i mean "handlers" that let their dogs handle them!!! A dog is as smart as the handler!!! Some alot smarter than the handler. A smart dog can do what you want when you want it, IF it has a good handle on it. I can call my dogs off a track anytime i want and send them 10 min later, if they are heading towards a highway or private property and it doesnt hinder their hunting or range. I am the same way, they had better wait till i let them out of the box and come when called get on the rig when told and in the box when told and cross the creek if sent or cast through a corn feild. Alot of times i can sit in the truck tell them to get up on the rig and down when i want to road them. Oh im off work time to go play, I got a 4 day weekend let the fun begin! DC.

PS slowstarters don't stick around at my place. They had better atleast GO with the dogs and TRY at 6, 7 months tops.

the way i see it is that its all what you prefer and how much patience you have alot of dogs when given a chance can turn out good but your also taking a risk putting money and time into a dog that hasnt showed any signs of a good hound

Slowstarters...I've sure had some and some of them made dogs that you sure didn't want to leave at home when you went hunting. They pulled their weight within the pack and then some. But...they was slow starting, I think being that they wasn't a real intelligent dog. But thru lots of hunting and showing them the game you was hunting for (repetition), it finally went to soaking in their heads what they were suppose to do out there in the woods. Now these are dogs that I wouldn't want to breed to. We all like the smart dogs that catch on fast and not near as much time wasted to find out if they are going to make the cut or not. Not to say that some slowstarters want make a good dog after lots of hunting. I get bull headed sometimes with certain dogs and just get determined that I am going to make some kind of usable dog out of them. That's the reason I've stuck with some of these slowstarters. Some will make it and some want.

I compare dogs to humans lots of times. We all have different personalities, some more hyper than others, some catch on to certain things faster than others, some more athletic than others, and some just smarter than others.

Now I have seen certain people that maybe wasn't real bright. But he has been with his job a long time. Thru lots of work and experience he KNOWS his job well. He might not know much about anything else, but he KNOWS his job. He's always on time, never late, always right there if something goes wrong and knows what to do if something does go wrong, just plain dependable. A fella you always want around on the job site, he pulls his weight and more and you just couldn't get by without him.

Now...I think this guy is a pretty good example of a slow starting dog. After lots of work and experience it finally goes to sinking in his head what is expected of him. Once he knows his job, he is good at it. It might take a little longer for him to figure things out, but thru lots of repetition he learns his job well and someone you will always want to have around in case something goes wrong. I think some of the slowstarting dogs are the same way. Just not as smart as some of the others, so it takes them a little longer to figure things out, but once they do, they can be good at it. Just my thoughts. Robbie