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what do u have to do to get a good bear dog i am 19 and been tryin to get a good bear dog for about two years and all i have is soso dogs its has me wanting to give it up any help would be app thanks

Welcome to the hound game , about the time you say the hell with it, your dog will turn it on and you will then see why it's so adicting. But a good bear dog doesn't happen in a few year time period, it's a long term thing unless you just buy a finished dog. But my advise to you is keep huntin with some one who has good dogs and if your not find a friend , and your dogs will come on befor you know it. But this is the whole part of runnin dogs, watchin them grow and learn, thats the fun part to me. And dont let any one hand you that crap about " I'm out to catch game and nothin eles" thoses aren't real houndsmen. First comes the dogs, then comes the game.

get ahold of 69er on this board and get a dog from him, he quite possibly has some of the best bear dogs out there. This is also not a sport for those that give up easily, sounds like you haven't found the right kind of dog yet, but it doesn't happen over night. I think you would get more input if you were specific about what you have goin on and what you are trying to do about it, if anything.

a good bear dog doesn't happen in a few year time period, it's a long term thing unless you just buy a finished dog

yup -- two years is nothing - quit your whining - -you will need a thick hide and a thick skull to ever make a bear dog -

if you really want a pack of bear dogs plan to devote most of your life to it-- for several years

or get rich first and buy finished dogs -

its hard to train beardogs --without a beardog

a beardog will cost you a ton of money unless its old or has some serious faults -


an older good natured broke dog is worth alot to train pups -

long as hes not a total coward or trashy --if he is capable of treeing a few bear ,
you can train some pups with him --

do not try to train pups with a dog thats mean, trashy, or a coward--

guess what your pups will be like -




expecting to make a bear dog in two years starting from a pup with no help is pretty unrealistic --

- do you have a real good friend with a good pack of dogs thats willing to help you- ?

realize that its almost a full time job just to maintain a pack of bear dogs -

they get old or killed about as fast as you can replace them



if you go it alone, ,buy an experienced older dog , expect that if you can afford him - ,he aint perfect - lol

most bear hunters are not looking real hard to help another houndsman get started -- dont need the competition for hunting spots , got their own pups to train ,-

adding strange dogs to a pack is a hassle --

so

dont expect people to be rushing to help you -


they are giveing up alot if they do , you probably dont realize how much

- on the other hand-- --- if they do take you on - they can blame every wreck on the new guy -or his dog lol

Some good advice from all to you Redbonehunter931, cause making a good bear dog (or pack of bear dogs) is a long term effort. I sold a young man a couple pups out of my dogs and after hunting with some of the other guys around he came and asked if he could jump in with me. I told him sure thing, and we went on to become good hunting buddies and eventually I was his best man when he got married.

After a couple years of hunting together his dogs would still not finish with mine on some of the tough stuff. He would complain by saying, I can get a bird dog doing what I want in a few weeks but these darn hounds are different."

I had told him on our first hunt that making a good pack of lion and bear hounds was a long term commitment, and one that takes alot of time and money. Anytime you hunt your two year old bear dog with ones that have been hammered on bear for five to nine years your gong to be disappointed in that young dog. If not, then those older dogs just aren't any good.

I recently took an old hounddogger with me rigging for bears and lions. This guy has been training, hunting and selling hounds for forty years and is a master at seeing tough tracks on the road or finding them near the road. I've known him for years but we'd never gone to the mountain before. Odds are, he'd sold dogs given advice or hunted and help teach many of the guys around here about hounds and biggame over the last thirty years.

The reason for our trip was he has wanted to see my older dogs work the rig box for bears and lions for several years now. He flat told me he doesn't keep a hound on his place past six years of age cause watching them old and die is just too tough on him. However, he went on to say he thought a hound's best years are seven to nine or so and realizes that he usually misses witnessing the best years any of his hounds have to offer. He sells hounds all over the west and may well be one of the better trainers around. I also realize that this guy has trained and hunted with some of the best big game hounds over his lifetime that has gone down a lion or bear track.

Anyway, I put my four year old Kody, my seven year old Choco and my nine year old Ike dog on the box and let them strike. All of my dogs were raised in my back yard and their ability as bear hounds have progressed throughout their years. It was fun hunting this guy cause every time those two old redbones would open he wanted out to find the track. We never turned down a fresh track that day but I enjoyed it more than most. It was kinda like taking a drivers test for my hounds, as their nose and mouths were questioned on every rig. Here is a link to a story I wrote about that day if you care to read it........

(note) In that little story you'll note that on the last bear rig only those two older redbones were going steady on a rig and none of the younger dogs were saying a word. Two of those younger dogs were my Kody and Griz dogs and are four years old this summer. Those two dogs are out of and have been hunted with those two redbones since they were six months old , and Kody has never once missed a bear tree (his sire is that blue Ryan dog of mine and he has never missed a bear tree that was made since he was a pup either). I only say this so you will understand most good bear hounds became that over the course of time and just didn't hit the ground that way....good luck!

Ike

http://forums.ukcdogs.com/showthread.ph ... did=217013

RedboneHunter931 this is my opinion one your situation. First don't try to make a cake with mud. If your dogs are not getting it done, Bang, Bang. Bear dogs are not made they are born, don't chase bear with dogs that have no intentions to catch it. Second and most important, find yourself a pair of male Plotts (littermates) from a breeder that has bear dogs, not coon dogs, water dogs, field trail dogs or show dogs, I mean bear dogs! Go hunt with the man, see his dogs in action and buy the two males he won't sell. In the long run this will save you money. Third, hunt the piss out of those two males. Within two years the bears will be hitting the wood and you have the foundation of a good pack of dogs.

Keep us posted.

Depends what your description of "bear dog" is. In my experience it's always been easy to make a dog that will catch bear.

But a true bear dog...... I'll venture to say I've only owned one in my life and I taught her nothing except her name. At about 8 months old she was knocked off a cliff by a boar and had both bones in her right front leg broken. From that day forward she hated bears. She was three quarter walker/one quarter plott I am ashamed to say.....

Don't let these guys scare you. Outlaw hounds (Greg Anderson aka 69er) does have some good bear dogs but west virginia is a long ways away from arizona. I believe Steve Fox has some pretty good plotts over in your neck of the woods. I would look him up. And not every plott ever born was a good bear dog. There are "bear dogs" in all breeds. I know one thing if you want one of those true stay on it, get the job done when everyone else quits dogs, it's gonna take a lot longer than 2 years to find one of those. Just my opinion.

thanks for all the help my situation is the oldr fellow i hunt withs good bear pack has taken a down hill spirel and now our pack are all under 4 and just really need a dog or 2 worth haven 2 get them started and the so called dogs i tried arnt worth anything thanks for all the help i really appreciate all the incouragement

All you guys hit the jackpot. Best advise is get to know some local guys. Never buy any finished beardog unless you buy it under the tree. Trust me I spend big bucks on these finished crap beardog. Good luck to you..