price of hounds these days

[bryar]

what makes 1 mans dogs better than the other

[houndnem]

Some dogs come right out of mommy ready to hunt and they will teach themselves more in a short period of time than you could ever teach a pup not born with it in his whole life. It's just like humans, I can't swim as good as michale felps and I can't dunk like michale jordan, even if I practice they will be better than me without trying. lots of crosses are made with hounds, some work and some don't. if a littler is proven with a high rate of turnout, then your chances of getting one of these superstars is better than it would be out of an unproven litter.
I quit calling a dog a pup at 1 year. at 1 year they better trail, tree, and locate. however I have buddies that still call their 3 and 4 year old dogs pups. in the end they turn out great dogs, but mine will have seen way more game by then and they will never catch up before they miss their prime.
now I'm not trying to puff steam about how good my dogs are, cuz they're far from perfect, but I would pay more for a pup that is treein it's own game at 1 over a dog that will be 3 or 4 before it does. JMO

[Hunter]

I believe houndnem hit it on the head. If I were to add anything to this it would be a "finished, broke, trained" dog. Finished as in rig or strikes the desired game, trails it and trees it. Broke as in won't trash and trained as in obedience. I don't believe there is enough stock put into the obedience part. Lets say Man A has a finished and broke hound that he's selling for $1,000 (I know that's cheap bare with me) and Man B has a dog that will do exactly what Man A's dog will do AND it heals, comes when called, quiet at home and in the box, just all around easier to handle than Man A's dog. His dog is $2,000. Man A and Man B's dog's have both been hunted exactly the same amount of time but, Man B's dog has more "handling" time. Is the additional $1,000 worth it to you inorder to have a less stressful and enjoyable hunt? In some cases your paying additional $$ for blood lines. That's fine and dandy too if that's what you want. It's all up to what your willing to pay for.
That's just my opinion on the matter.

[ZeluvaRIP69er]

I agree with both Hound and Hunter.

If you go to a guys house to buy a finished dog, and he loads it up by strapping a leash to it and dragging it to the truck, you should leave as fast as you can!

Even after you load your dogs up and drive somewhere, you shouldn't spend 45 minutes fighting to the death with the whole pack to get one dog out, no matter what they smell.

You have to decide what the dogs is worth for you to spend the money on it. Sometimes the asking price for a dog may seem a little high because the owner selling it has been through hell and back with that dog and knows it will take more money to get the dog away without hurting too bad. The owner may also want to make a deal where when the dog gets too old to hunt, he comes back to die, if buyer doesn't agree, he doesn't get the dog.

There is a lot that goes into selling and buying not only dogs but everything. No one wants to just give stuff away lol.

[Hunter]

Nikki... I've never thought about the coming back when to old to hunt deal. That is if it makes it that long... but, I'm sure we've all HAD to get rid of some dogs when times were tough and would love to get them back. That would be a great deal if you ask me. I'll remember that if I ever fall on hard times have have to thin the herd.

[ZeluvaRIP69er]

That is what dad did with old Sky Bird. When he got to be 16 the man who bought him told dad he was ready to retire, dad didn't argue. So Sky was given a house under an apple tree in the dog pen and was king of the world till he got real sick one day and we had to take him to the vet.

Sky bit the vet one last time and died in dads arms. The whole family was there and even the vet who sowed him up many times cried. Some people who was in the waiting room to get their dog out of surgery even cried, I remember them saying they never saw a family love a dog more then we all loved Sky.

Thats the way it is with Socki and Lonesome. When Lonesome gets too old to have pups or make the short races she is coming home to be with me. Socki is already getting grey in the face, but that Black Lab look-alike still has a few years on him

[dwalton]

Breeding is very important. Some dogs are just better than others, but behind every great dog is a good hunter. The dog will not reach his/her potential without the proper training and handling. I have seen top dogs sold to hunters that never could keep them clean. you can temp any dog to do wrong by not knowing what your doing. I seen good cat dogs even taught to trash on lions or bear. Dewey

[BBGH]

I agree with the post above, breeding makes everything easier and young dogs will start sooner if they are bred right. Although, I have taken a few hounds around the ages of two and three that have never been bear hunted and turned them into pretty good dogs. You can not teach desire, period. But if a dog wants to hunt you can teach it. You will obviously spend more time in the woods with a dog not bred right but eventually they could turn out to be a pretty nice dog. I know from my experience it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out how to catch a bear. All I do is scout the woods before season and follow the feed pattern. If you hunt in a heavy feed area you will get your dogs on a lot of bear. The more bear your dogs see the more they turn into bear minded dogs. If you are hunting in a area where bears are sparse and trash is everywhere there is a good chance that your dogs will get bored riding the rig all day and usually will open on trash just because they have not smelled any positive game. I always set my young dogs up for success! I will not rig them until I am in a area with a lot of feed that way they won't get bored and open on trash. I do not believe in setting dogs up to fail. For example, after a young dog makes a few trees some people will go around looking for trash to sick there young dogs on and then shock them off. This never made since to me. All I do is put the dog on bear, let him catch it and eventually bear is all he knows. I have some three and four and five year old hounds in my kennel that I have raised since birth and they have never been shocked on trash. I have never caught them running it. From there first hunting experience on I set them up for success and I have found that the results are amazing! Just my two cents, that is probably all of this is worth! ha ha good luck to all and have fun!

[Nolte]

If you go to a guys house to buy a finished dog, and he loads it up by strapping a leash to it and dragging it to the truck, you should leave as fast as you can!

I'll take every dog I can get that catches game better than the rest consistantly. I don't care if I have to carry the prick to the truck, if he can get me on more game than the rest. Now granted it's nice to not have to leash them or cut them from the truck, but for me it's not a requirement. If I had more time, maybe it would be. Some of the best dogs I've seen were the most hard-headed SOBs you've ever seen. There was no calling them off or even catching them off. It was hide and tackle to have chance and even then you'd probably have to try it a few times. But when the chips are down, I'd choose those dogs to catch game every time. They've got extra drive that most dogs don't have. Now if they were taught to handle different at a young age, maybe they'd be more manageable or maybe it would curb that wicked desire.


Some dogs are good because they are trained by guys doing it right

Some dog are good in spite of the training that is being done wrong

I want dogs from the second group, I need all the help I can get.

I've got to agree with BBGH on this. Dogs that are started right and kept on good game seem to get game minded on that critter. It's much easier to keep them straight. Other's it's a fight from the get go if they get started trashin. But to really finish a dog it's got to be hunted/tested in bad conditions with tough tracks and lots of bad options. It ain't finished until it chooses the right options.

[larry]

wow Nolte, i always get a hell of a laugh out of those guys that can't control their dogs and have jump on em! You've sure got some interesting theories. the only thing you can train is discipline and handle far as i'm concerned, not interested in a dog that i have to show how to do what its instincts and breeding should be making it to do

[Nolte]

larry,

My theories are molded from growing chasing dogs around WI since the 80s when I was a little kid. We hunt a little different territory than you probably do. Numerous times we will have a bear that crosses a trail or road in hot pursuit with dogs not far behind. Some hardheaded dogs aren't ready to quit when you are. They don't know you can't/don't want to run in that section. There is ZERO chance I can call them off in that situation and it's a scramble to catch any. If 6 hit the road at once, forget it. Some dogs get real keen at sneaking by. They will shut up next to the road and make a 100 yard swing around you and then hit the track. Others I swear will sort of hold up right off the road until other dogs catch up and then all hit the road at once.

I know a ton of guys that hunt without using shocking collars. They might have one to use as a trashbreaking tool, but that is probably it. The variable intensity option has only been around for the last 10-15 years or so. It was MUCH tougher to get dogs to handle prior to that.

I think "should" the key word in your other statement. Doesn't always happen that way. I agree you can't put in them what isn't there, but you can sure pull it out. That's why I like the dogs with a lot of drive, you just sometimes have to tame them down. Training is a part of hounds, but it's only about getting them in the right situations for optimal results. Beyond that, it's got to be in them to start.

[coadycurbow]

I believe some of the best strike dogs are hard-headed as they come. It's that never-say-die determination that gets them to game. I've seen dang good strike dogs that handled good and could be called out, but the best are those that won't quit a track no matter what. A dog can encounter so many distractions on a trail here in East TX. We don't want one that gets distracted by oil field traffic, trains, or kids playing in a yard.

I'll take a dog that goes around me in the road as long as he winds up at the pork. We have one that I have cussed at least 100 times, and later in the day tried to pet the hair off him when we got the pig. Also, I wanted to start dog shopping after looking at the other four who had been in the box for three hours because they don't have the heart that he does.

This has nothing to do with the price of hounds, but the one mentioned above wouldn't leave me even if someone offered me enough money to retire with.

[ZeluvaRIP69er]

Being able to load your dogs up, call any specific dog to the gate and put a collar on it without fighting it or the other dogs is completely different from having dogs that you can sneeze and they quit a bear they are walking with just to come to you.

If anything giving them that extra handle makes them smarter. No one wants to have ignorant dogs, weather they be Border Collies, German Shepherds, or mutts, having to spend 30 minutes just to get one dog caught to throw in the truck is more work then it's worth.

JMO.

[coadycurbow]

I agree with that totally! Experienced dogs are like experienced hunters. A dog can sense when you walk out of the house whether you are taking him hunting or going somewhere else. Everybody has heard the phrase "being in the zone". Dogs (sho nuff hunting dogs), I believe, get in the zone when you put them on a track. The best dogs take on an alter ego in the woods. It's like easing your way into a deer stand on a frosty morning. I don't know about everyone else, but the hair is standing on the back of my neck and all of my senses seem a little sharper.

I agree with my Dad. He says, don't punish a dog for wanting to hunt. He has also said, you would kill that dog if he wouldn't go hunting, now you're mad because he is hunting too hard!

You are right Zelluva, the yard and the woods are different places.

[july_hound]

Too me, if a man can't hardly handle his dog, BUT THE DOG HUNTS GREAT.. then i will buy the dog, but i want give as much for it.. i coon hunt a good bit and I DON'T CARE WHO SAYS WHAT... A TRUE HUNTER WILL TEACH BASIC OBEDIENCE.. and the reason why is cause a true hunter HUNTS.. he knows that walking through swamps/mountains/hills/marshes/clear cuts/thick brush/ all the other crap we walk through.. that its a major pain in the ass to lead a dog that doesn't walk rite.. hell they wear you out.. hell my yote/fox dogs.. they even walk on a leash/load rite... never know when there going to get on a hole/tree a fox... to me what makes a hound is what its going to give me in the future, just cause its a good dog doesn't mean i need it.. i normally like to have a good pup trainer around.. and a VERY good young dog.. so ill pay more for those than i would just a good all around hound