BigGameHoundsmen.com

Friends I have no experience on this practise and am looking for advice.I want to deter thieves from stealing, will a visible brand help ( Dumb question ) however as I said I have never done this.

Currently I ink tatoo my hounds inside both ears with my initials. In our country for livestock you can register your brands with a central stock theft unit which is a division of our police force. I plan to do this with my hounds. Any hounds lost and found can also be identified and reffered to the agency. You can also positively identify your dog and claim it back if stolen.

If this is advisable is there anyone who could build me a brand in the US ? Can I brand my hounds myself and what is the procedure and recomended age to brand dogs ?

Trust someone could help in this respect and look forward to a reply.

Regards - Roy Sparks.

L & H Branding Company will build you a freeze brand to your specifications... I do not recommend something long, more then 2 intials, if that is what you will be doing..

Here is the procedure on how to do it

http://coondawgs.com/freezebrand.html

I've done it at home with liquid nitro that we got from a vet's office.. Number one I don't think we left the brand in long enough (it was a horse vet and he was guessing on how long to leave it in and on the dog) and number 2, the brand we used was 3 initials side by side "OWH". It was too long and we missed either part of the "O" or part of the "H".

I would not do it on a dog under a year old.. They are still growing and sometimes the brands look funny after the dogs have grown to full size..

The last one I had done was on the ear (she has long ears ) with my initials.. One letter stacked on top of the other..

Good luck.. I like it, it is an easy visible way for everyone to see.. Hard to question when the dog is branded..

I do it on there hind leg. I have seen a few dogs missing ears and that alone makes me suspicious. Dry ice and Alcohol work well too. On a side note some dogs look like nascars because everytime they get sold they get branded in a different place. But branding your dogs with a registered brand is the way to go as you can identify them when needed.

People steal dogs because they are freeze branded. They figure they are good so worth taking.

I had friends that did recover a stolen dog because of freeze brands.

Cant say if they are worth while or not?

Roy, i agree on freeze branding a dog. It will not keep someone from stealing your dog but it keeps the honest people honest. And if nothing else when and if you find them there is no question. If they happen to be missing an ear when you locate them, go ahead and cut the guys ear off maybe he will learn a lesson. Anyone who will cut a dogs ear off needs to be culled anyway.

I brand my dogs ear. I don't think that it matters where you brand them just make sure it is visible. I had a friend who had 30 or so hounds and the one that was stolen was branded on its hip in the ticks and not visible unless you knew where to look. The rest of the dogs where branded on the ear.

I use dry ice with acetone and alcohol the ear before i brand it. Its just easier for us to get ahold of. I have also used liquid nitrogen and it works fine if you can get it.

Also agree with Melanie, get your iron from L&H they do a good job and are quick. The best designes i have seen are simple and not blocky. Seems like the thicker the brand the harder it is to read.

Good luck, jason

Poser: How long to you hold it on with dry ice?

Wac, im not smart enough to over think things so not really sure....usually around 45 seconds i guess. I know people get out stop watches and time them from 22 seconds to 30 depending on the dogs color. I have never had a problem with one not working other then the design of the brand and letters being too close and blocky. Just some designs aren't as clean looking.

Seems like you get a bolder brand with the dry ice and a finer, cleaner brand with the nitrogen.... Just from what i've seen.

By the way we are branding dogs on the 25th of this month if anyone in the area is interested give me a call or pm me.

take care, jason

Poser: 45 Seconds!!! Is the brand as good on the back side of the ear as on the front.
i have brand dogs and had it come out that way!!!!!!!!!! That is why I'am looking for some help with dry ice.

Thanks to all.This has been very informative. I found a guy in my home town believe it or not, he used to brand horses for our mounted infantry during our bush war in the 80's so we are using all the advice we got from you all and will be trying it out soon.

Will let you know how it works out.

Much appreciated - Roy.

Branding is good if you plan on keeping the dog his whole life. I am going Start branding again this summer. But once branded he will die with me so what do you do with the dogs still in training. We never did the ears always the body somewhere with color. Some mostly white walker type dogs may only have one spot too brand.

You need a Styrofoam cooler you put denatured alcohol in with dry ice \. Then put the copper iron in until good and cold (not sure how long but the longer the better) Make sure to shave the area you intend to brand with a bic razor smooth to the skin (don’t just buzz with clippers). Then I found with my brand (home made from copper and very thick) I hold it on the spot for 13 seconds. Less than that does not work and longer can cause the hair not to grow back.

I have not branded any dogs for some time. My father started doing it because people where we were hunting would cut a race and pick the first 3 dogs to hit the road up then travel to Ga. And sell them. We lost 13 in one year. After the branding no more theft but one day 4 dogs came up missing on a rainy day and we found them in pairs shot. We showed the Game Warden and he could see our mark as our brand is about 4” square. So it will keep people from stealing them but it may cause them to get shoot.