BigGameHoundsmen.com

I live in Oklahoma never ran a bear period probably never will but i see dogs listed "cold nosed bear hounds" and i wonder ? whats a cold nosed bear dog, dont they leave a ton of sent, i used to hog hunt and really a poodle could track one of those, are yall talking about cold nosed strike dogs? i would ignorantly think you couldn't loose a bear track once started, I am not putting the term down just trying to educate myself.

Thanks in advance
Waylon

They probably either mean the dog will "cold trail" a bear, or that they may strike a bear that others wont. Sometimes its not that they have a colder nose, its that they are more open mouthed. It seems to me that a dog that is more determined is a dog that has a "colder nose". I agree that dogs have better noses then others but its more about if a dog wants to run something or wants to trail something, its not that other dogs cant smell it its just that the one particular dogs wants it more.

Buck in Az.I have always thought that,like people some will work some want a free ride.

I think it might have more to do with the dogs attitude then nose? just wondered,makes since.

A guy I know kind of brought that to my attention and I think he is right. A dog has to have a good nose of course first. But then there are dogs with good noses and just want to run a track more, they just have more drive. I think thats what makes a dog have a "colder nose" then the next joe blow.

I would have to agree with Bucknaze, the dog has to have the desire to take the track, but there are dog with "colder" noses than others. You can see it in start dogs/trail dogs, to rig dogs. I guess they are like humans, some people are better at certain things than others. Some dogs are good trail dogs, some dogs are good tree dogs, some dogs are speed dogs, some are stick and grit dogs and then every so often you get "that" dog that has it all. Some dogs just cant find tracks, its not the desire to not run the track, they just don't have the nose to find it. You can watch a good cold nose dog in a deep snow and actually see them root under the snow to find the track and root thru each individual track until they get to a break in the snow, get into thick laurel or get it jumped. There are some dogs that just dont have the nose to even find the track and others who also dont have the desire to work for it.

I think the "cold nose" and the desire all go back to the breeding. These are not things you can train a dog, they have to be instinct.

Just my two cents.

Good luck to all

this is the way i explain trail dogs to nonhunters.
running a track is like writing a paper. a hot nosed dog loses interest & gets lazy if you ask him to write more than a couple of paragraphs. the cold nosed dog OTH writes pages even books to reach the conclusion (caught/treed game). some dogs "write" faster than others, some "write" more detailed & some "write" an incoherent mess that all makes sense at the end.
likewise there are "jocks" in the dog world that have no interest in writing but will sit beside the smart dog to cheat off his paper. in some cases the jocks are handy because they like the fight at the end and keep the heat off the smart dog. but if the jock is also a pansy they are pretty much worthless.

Well i'm not a NONHUNTER but i thought that was a qute little story there pops

Waylon, sometimes here in AZ a cold nosed bear dog comes in pretty handy. After the season has been open a while most of the good units have closed so we are left bear hunting in spots with just a few bear. Sometimes the only track your gonna get is old and you might spend half the day walking with the dogs cold tailing just like you were lion hunting. Sure they leave a lot of scent but with enough time that big old stink trail don't smell so strong.

And sometimes you can lose even a jumped bear track. I have lost them in some of the big burn areas around here. Sometimes that burnt stuff leaves the dogs barely moving on a red hot track but If they can work through it to the unburnt stuff then they fly again.

Like AZPLOTT said is how i have always come to know cold nose Is a dod that will pickup a old track 1 or more days old