Newbie, how to get dogs?

[Kelpy]

So I come from the bird dog hunting scene. Dogs are trialed, proven, come with written contracts and guarantees. Papers are always included and watching them work prior to purchase is standard, for an older dog. Selling a good working bird dog is pretty rare.

This leads me to some confusion in hound dogs. He said, she said, etc. Every backyard mutt is worth 2k. It's always the best dog that ever ran the woods yet they are selling it (why would someone ever sell a good dog?) Dog jockeys, etc. People switch papers on dogs and repeatedly lie about their age. Breeding seems to have no method to the madness, take your two best and see what happens. . .? Health checks or hip xrays is something I've never seen advertised either. . .

How does one go about navigating the lies and scams to get a dog or two with some promise?

[nidaho]

just by a couple of pups and train them up, then there is no worries about anyone lying to you about them being the best dogs in the world.

[1bludawg]

There are a few honest houndman out there and sometimes they will sell their best dog . They quit,get divorced or are hurting for money .Sometimes the dog has a fault the owner can't stand. Keep your ears open and talk to as many houndman as possible .Don't take anyones word on a dogs ability.Don't be a jerk about it as that won't get you anywhere,just be skeptical.Go hunt the dog with the owner first and if you like it buy it under the tree .Some guys will give you a trial but they'll expect you to put the money up front .If a man has a GOOD DOG for sale he won't have to cheat someone to get them to buy it .Check the sellers reputation as much as possible .Some rats will look you right in the eye and lie to you without a shred of conscience .People can be cheats on both ends of a dog deal ,the buyer or seller so be careful.As i said earlier there are some honest houndmen with dogs for sale but shy away from people who have a different dog for sale every month.Good luck and again be careful !

[nidaho]

start reading the old posts and you will get a feel for the guys that know what they are talking about. research breeds that work in your area and go hunt with the dog as bluedawg said. I read post after post before buying my dogs, but ended up buying pups because I was to cheap to buy a finished dog. it worked for me but it was a lot of work and I still have a long ways to go, good luck

[akbruce66]

I know of two blue tic female pups for free, owner is busy ranching, I believe these are pups from the dogs that got the two folks in NE a lion in 1 day 18 months ago when NE had a 3 lion season. Pups are in Crawford NE just east of the Wyoming border on HWY 20.
Owner is Chance Soester 308-665-5858 Good luck, pups are what you make of them, take them on long walks, reward them for finding the truck, getting in the box,etc and use collars so you can tell what they are doing.