BigGameHoundsmen.com

Just wanting to know other's opinions on trialing dogs.

When I buy or sell a dog over a year and a half old I expect a trial period to make sure the dog I bought fits in with my pack or the dog I am selling fits in with the guys pack who is buying. Buyer pays up front, if the dog is hurt or killed, the buyer buys the dog or pays the vet bills.
I have always thought that trialing a dog protects the buyer from getting screwed and the seller from getting a bad reputation for selling a dog that just doesn't mesh well with another person's pack (even though it may be a good dog).

What are other people's opinions/reasons/experiences for and against a trial period on a dog?

I have given trials with some of the dogs I have sold but it is usually someone I know pretty well or know something about their dogs.
The worst thing about giving a trial with someone and you know nothing about their dogs is... them putting your good young started dog with their trash. It doesn't even have to be a young dog. There is a lot of older broke dogs that can just stand so much pressure, then they will put in with a trash race.

Then you get your dog back and your little trial has set him back about 3 months worth of hunting and you don't make a sell. You lose.

One guy was looking to buy a 1 year old gyp from me. The gyp was really doing well. I wasn't even hunting her with a shock collar anymore when I wasn't hunting in mixed company. This guy wanted to bring his dogs. I asked if his dogs were broke. He assured me they were. I bet within a mile of where we started roading the dogs, his dogs trashed 5 different times. Which really put my dogs on their toes. None of my dogs put in with his, they checked them, then come back to the truck. But if I hadn't been there, he would have wondered why my little gyp would not have run with his BROKE dogs.

So...just be careful who you give a trial to, best to know something about'em.

Robbie

Another bad thing about it when they come home it looks as if they havent been fed for the time they been gone. No more for me pay me under the tree

Oldmanindeepsnow wrote:Another bad thing about it when they come home it looks as if they havent been fed for the time they been gone. No more for me pay me under the tree

funny you say that "oldmanindeepsnow" i got a dog back over the weekend that is only 7 months old and wasn't up to snuff with the buyers expectations. the guy had the dog for 6 weeks and he came back a rack of bones. no muscles left at all, looked beyond dead. the only good thing about it is the dog is still young and has time to recover, but x2 to your comment

If I sell a dog the buyer comes and hunts with me until he is happy with the dog. If he wants to run his dogs with mine he can do it with me to over see what is going on with the dog he is buying after he puts the money up. Very few people will have a trial that they can take the dog. When it leaves it is a sold dog. I want the buyer to be happy, he needs to learn the dog by hunting with me. Dewey

Interesting. I guess I haven't been burned yet. I don't sell a lot of dogs....a few here and there and Ive never had one returned but I can certainly see your point! Certainly something to consider. Maybe I'm to old fashioned in thinking that people will take care of their or my animals.

I can't help but thinking that if a guy is buying a dog from me, that dog needs to fit in with the guys pack. If the guy brings his dogs to run with my pack, how can he see if THAT dog fits with HIS pack? Plus if I were buying, I would want to hunt the dog for a few weeks so it has time to get accustomed to the new dogs.

I think a huge benefit would be that you could see how the prospective buyer hunts. I know there a lot of guys who buy a dog expecting to take it to the hills, turn it loose, and be walking into a tree 2 hours later. Having a guy come hunt with you would weed those out a lot better than trying to do it over the phone.

I certainly can see where a guy would want to do it that way if he had been burned before sending a dog out for trial. Have you had any unhappy customers after the dog left your place?

My biggest concern in selling older dogs is that I maintain a reputation of honesty, and that dogs I sell are good dogs and not culls I am trying to get rid of to clean up my pack.

If I sell a dog I want a person to be completely happy with the dog. I have no problem with a person bring his pack and I will take the dog for sale and hunt with him to see what it will do with his dogs. I want to know what a person is wanting in a dog and expects from a dog he is buying. Several times I have turned buyers down because they were are the dog did not fit what they wanted. The only person that was not happy with a dog purchase was young dog under 8 months old that i let him try after a few weeks he bought the dog 4 months latter he did not want the dog I gave him his money back and sent it back to where I bought it as a pup wanting no refund on my purchase. A lot of people want cat dogs, I could sale a dozen every year. I sale 1 to 3 started dogs each year and a few pups. In my opinion there are very few bobcat dogs ever for sale just a lot advertised for sale. Dewey

"In my opinion there are very few bobcat dogs ever for sale just a lot advertised for sale. Dewey"

AMEN!

Dads dogboy wrote:"In my opinion there are very few bobcat dogs ever for sale just a lot advertised for sale. Dewey"

AMEN!

CJ, and Dewy, truth be known, the above quote is hundred percent closer to the truth with any kind of hound. As far as a trial goes on a hound. I'm of the belief that if in 30 days a buyer can totally screw up a hound to the point that its owner cannot do anything with it when it comes back. It more than likely was not what was being advertised anyway. And probably has to decide whether or not they want to lower the price, or continue to keep breaking their ass trying to correct what they already knew was wrong anyway. And as far as buying dogs under the tree. Even this is getting a lot harder to do, as you can put a lot of time and money in, only to find out that there's more wheeler dealers out there then honest people. Buying under the tree, is only as good as the man doing the buying. As most should know anything can end up at the tree. But it is how he got to the tree that determines whether or not you would like to feed the dog or not. What I would like to do. When you are dealing with some of the smart asses. Is have them price a dog as to what a good dog is worth. Then go hunting with these sterling gentlemen with what ever dogs they choose to hunt. Then at the end of the hunt let you put your leash, on the one you'd like to take home. Then maybe you take one home, and maybe not. But the guy doing the pricing, better be damn good at putting a price on a broke dog. And also better have a couple of good ones at home. Or a good dog man will leave him without his good dog. Take care, Willy

My observation over the years has been that almost no good varmint dogs are put up for sale. But some really good ones do get sold, and it seems to occur when someone with some extra cash really wants to own a certain dog and makes an offer the guy with the good dog just can't turn down. Also there aren't any "trials" on this quality of dog, the buyer already knows why he wants the dog and that is why he is willing to pay the premium.
All dogs have their price, I have had a couple in the past that I am not sure what my price would have been. But if someone with a lot of money had to have him, I am sure at some point that price would have dawned on me
Seems to me giving out some average dog on trial is kindof like giving a loan to a family member. If it works out then be pleased with the outcome, if you get screwed one way or the other, tell yourself it was a gift instead of a loan and move on.
Pat

slowandeasy wrote:

Dads dogboy wrote:"In my opinion there are very few bobcat dogs ever for sale just a lot advertised for sale. Dewey"

AMEN!

And as far as buying dogs under the tree. Even this is getting a lot harder to do, as you can put a lot of time and money in, only to find out that there's more wheeler dealers out there then honest people. Buying under the tree, is only as good as the man doing the buying. As most should know anything can end up at the tree. But it is how he got to the tree that determines whether or not you would like to feed the dog or not. Take care, Willy

Folks that are dog shopping, there is a lot of truth in these hound trainers posts!

Years ago one of my Grandpa's friends was wanting to sell a dog that was not for him. He asked is wife to write down what he told her and mail it into Full Cry to the classifieds. After he was done with all his comments about the dog he asked his wife to read the ad back to him. After his wife reread the ad back to him he told her, "Just throw that ad away that's the dog Ive been looking for my entire life"!

The morale of the story is you can write the Biggest Western you want in an ad. The hard part is having the dog hold up its end. Be vary careful when buying or selling a hound.

One more word of advise is if the buyer don't have the money up front don't let him leave with the dog. I once (thought I sold) a pair of pups to an old time local hunter. I gave him the pups without the money. He promised me he would pay me on the 1st of the month. I still haven't seen a dime and its been 20 plus years now! To top that off 2 years later he called me and wanted to know if I was planning to do that cross again because he wanted another. I will leave my comments that was repeated back to him to your imagination!!!

Most real deal dogs rarely need to be advertised. If the dog somehow comes up for sell one way or the other, it will rarely leave the local circle of hunters. JMO

Quote from CRA:The morale of the story is you can write the Biggest Western you want in an ad. The hard part is having the dog hold up its end. Be vary careful when buying or selling a hound.


Boy it seems nothing has really changed over the years. It used to be the old saying that paper would hold still for anything that you would write on it. I guess with modern technology we will just have to add that the keyboard will hold still for anything a person has nerve enough to type on it. The nice thing about the computer age is that news travels at the click of a button. That is why I will never understand why Buddy stopped allowing comments and questions on the classified section. As when people were asking questions it always seemed quite comical to me to watch people get backed into a corner and lie on the World Wide Web. Information about these type of people always got around in the old days by word-of-mouth, it took a little longer but the word did get out. How neat would it be to see that type of behavior show up on the computer so much quicker. It would seem to me that it would kind of keep the pickpockets in check. But what do I know? Take care, Willy

I am sure not in the business of selling dogs but in the few I have sold. I was burned one time and will not selll adog on a trial. i sold a 6yr old nice broke bear dog and let the gentlemen take it on a 30 day trial and when he brought the dog back (after he hunted his last few hunters come to find out) the dog was almost petrified to rig unless the other dogs rigged before he did. This gentlemen come to find out from a mutual friend would shock the hell out of this dog when he rigged cuz his other dogs were not rigging and he sure soured a great rigg dog for me, this dog was never the same and said he just didnt like the way the dog hunted. I will not sell a dog with a trial, come hunt with me or take it or leave it.

Kevin

I have bought more dogs then I have sold. Every time I sell a dog I get very nervous that the dog will make the buyer happy. I try not to trump up the stories and try not to price the dog to high. I have absolutely no problem selling a dog on a trial, but I don't think I have ever bought a dog with a trial. I went and hunted with the dog and saw it for myself. Many times I took the sellers word and bought the dog without ever seeing it in the woods. Talk to people who have hunted with the dog, do a little research on the seller. I have taken a dog and went and hunted with a buyer. It gave me a chance to evaluate the buyer and the dogs he hunts. Last time I did that it worked out well. I had a fun day and gave the buyer a chance to see how the dog would act with his.

In my experience a buyer gets burned less then 10% of the time. I have bought dogs and had to change the way I interacted/hunted with the dog to get the results the seller was advertising. When I go hunt with a seller a lot of what I am looking at is his way of interacting with dogs and his hunting "style". Then try to make the dogs new environment as close to the old one as I can, making the transition to your style slowly. I know it sounds silly but moving a dog from one pack to another is a big change for it. I believe if a buyer does things right it will work out 90% of the time. Buying the dog in the woods and learning how the seller hunts that dog is more valuable to me than a trial.

George,
I totally agree with you.

Robbie