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How early do yall introduce your dogs to a drag rag, and a real animal. Is it possible to have a dog that will run bobcats and bear. The reason I am asking is I may only gety out 7 or 8 days during our short bear season here in TN and was wanting to run my dogs more often than that. I have been looking on the internet on training methods and from what I found is u start pups with a drag rag, then introduce to a coon in a cage and then take them out.....Seems to simple I know I am missing something, so if there is any advice or tips any of yall have for a newbie please share. Thanx

I would also like to add this question. I live out in farm country. There are barn cats/feral cats in my yards multiple times a day. Would pups brought up in this enviroment become accustom to cats and not hunt them? Thanx again

I would talk to the clays for training tips for your area. I don't see why you couldn't dual purpose your dogs but you'll have issues of running what you might not want when you want something else.

As for cats you can train them to leave them alone and it wont affect them for bobcats. I have a house cat here that lays with my hounds time to time.

tntrapper barn cats and bobcats are not the same better to have your young dogs broke off of those than have your dogs catch someones pet, that can get pretty ugly in the wee hours of the morning under some big dudes porch. those rascals can run and they will run home.to quote a very good cat hunter when i told him i started my young dogs on barn cats, i would rather start my pups on kangaroo rats. at the time i thought that was pretty comical. he was dead serious and now i know why

tntrapper,

TedSmith and the others are giving you very GOOD advise as to Barn or Feral Cat.

Leave them alone!

Poon from NC could get on here and tell you a HORROR story about one of his Best Bitches running a Big Yellow Tom Cat back home...right into the house. His Hound was killed, his Tracking and Shocking collars destoyed, and the Law could not do anything about it as the Man whose Cat was being chased was pertecting his Home!

If you will look in the Archives, infact in some of the newest threads, there are some very good training tips for starting your Hounds.

In your Country the Tree Bred type Hounds will work well. Therefor follow Mr. Mike Leonards tips at the top of the Page using the Grawes scent and drags.

Better yet contact Ryan form PA here on Big Game Houndsmen...I here he has two very nice started Hounds that he would sell as he is going back to College!

Newbie very good advise, leave the feral cats alone. The dogs I used to own from pup to adult never bothered them. Get a dog from someone who used them as trainers, find it can be very hard to break dogs from, to a point where one can trust them. Just something that can make life miserable & very expensive. As for running bear bobcat & coon, have hunted with dogs that did good job on all. Just never knew for sure what you were starting. Have started pups on coon & later converted them to straight bobcat & found it to be fairly easy, with most dogs. Enjoy your hounds Al Baldwin

some of the best dogs i have ever trained were trained on barn cats . down below my dads house there is a boat dock . some lady would put out cat food everday . every night i would go tree the house cats and coons that came in . a bait station that was supplied by some one else .

jc

Thanx for the advice. Never had any intention of messing witht the barn cats. The man to whom they belong is a good friend.