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I've got a question for all the veterans out there.....

I turned my best dog and one of my 6 month old pups out on a track this morning. It wasn't a smokin' hot track by any means, but I haven't been able to find a track in a long time. I figured it would be good for the pup anyway... My older dog hit the track and took it pretty slow, built up a little momentum after a 100 yards or so, but never opened on it. My little pup (snoop) kept up with her the whole time, which I thought was great, especially since there's about 3 feet of snow on the ground. They trailed close to 3 miles acording to the garmin, made a huge loop, and ended up quiting once they hit a major snowmobile trail. My concern is... I never heard my older dog open once, she was out of earshot for a little while, but I stayed fairly close on the snowmobile.... stopped for a long time when I'd get close, to listen. Does anybody else have a dog like this? Is she just telling me it's not that hot of a track? should I be worried? sure was proud of the little guy though.. Thanks for your input

That sure is cool watchin them young dog work! Im not quite a veteran, but ive had the same thing happen,u know the track is hot but the old dogs will act like it isnt there, they may follow, but just cant make anything of it. Not sure of the real answer, but it it must be humidity, pressure or something, but sure makes a guy scratch his head! We also have trouble sometimes when the snows sticky in the spring, one day they run crazy, and the next they just cant smell em.

If she followed it for three miles, not sure what the problem is. Maybe it was just not hot enough for her to get to excited on. Nice to have that Garmin for a quiet dog though.

Some dogs open a lot some don't. I had a dog that had a habit of doing just what you described. She would walk those tracks out and from time to time the first bark would be when she jumped the cat up out of its bed. The bad part is they don't get any other dogs in there to help them get it caught, and it is boring.

Yes, I have had this happen with my 5 yr old this year. I let out and she didnt open up for a hour. Some dogs will let you know just how old it is. I have seen dogs open up on a two day old track as soon as they scent it but for some reason my female wont open up for a bit. Its actually pretty nice because she can give me a better idea of how old the track is. Once she starts opening, its a real long drawn out bawl and it will get shorter and shorter as the track gets hotter. I like it that way to tell you the truth. I wouldnt worry about it at all.

I have a dog that will do almost exactly the same thing. On a bear track he is open about every 20-30 seconds, on a lion track, maybe only once very couple of minutes. Hard to pack anything onto but good for pups to run with because he is real trash broke...

I've seen hounds learn to sight track in snow. this could be the issue the hound as checking and only getting enough scent to keep her interested. I would look at past performance more then a single incident.

I'm no vet by any stretch, but I loves me a quiet trail dog. Your hikes will be shorter and there won't be as much cheer leadin going on. when that dog gets it heated up or treed you know it. I have been out with peoples packs that sound like they're looking at the cat from start to finish. maybe if the dogs would save some of that wind for smellin instead of yippin they would catch a few more cats. I also agree with the guy that said it might be sight trailing, seen that more than a few times. some guys huntin down here found a track about an hour before light and they were posotive they jumped the cat off his kill. they had a dog babblin in the box and they had to set on the track till legal turn out time. I cut the track at first light more than 3 miles away and had it caught before their dogs even trailed through to where I turned out. even if the dogs just open every 30 40 seconds don't stir that cat up near as bad as when it hears roarin hounds trailin towards it for 40 min and decides to make a break for it. alot of people disagree with this theory of mine, but I have seen it enough times to belive. when I had my quietest pack, I ended up on more bayups because the cat was layin in the rocks and with no warning he was surrounded by dogs with nowhere to run.

I sure do apreciate the advice. Nice to know that it's not that uncommon. I guess it's not all bad that she's not that vocal, a couple times I could hear other snowmobiles out in the distance and I was kinda glad I didn't have a roaring pack of chearleaders tellin the world what I was doing up there. I tell ya what..... without that garmin I would have been completely lost, and worried, not having a clue what they were doing.
I guess I'll just have to put her on the freshest track I can find and see what the difference is. ?

Where you are hunting the snow is usually very dry from the cold and hence not that much scent. if your older dog was used alot in other places before you got her where there was wetter snow conditions she may have opened more. The only bad thing about a quiet dog is if they get to the cat by there selves. most times one dog will is fine but i have had it happen twice to me where the lion jumps on the dog that comes in quiet and fast.

That would drive me nuts!!!!! If my dogs can tell there was a cat that stepped in that spot they let me know. Thats how I catch a bunch of them . If I hiss them to a spot like a trail or the edge of a rim or something. And they fire off that means the cat was there and I am makin progress.