What age and why?
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
Wow! Thats crazy.
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
Well this has been discussed lots of times,but what are you guys looking for when your choosing your pups? I always lean towards the pup that stays off to its self kinda doing its own thing instead of playing and rough housing with the rest of the litter. But I have to admit I let looks play a big part of my decision.
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
Myself I don’t look at the pup that’s by itself so much as I do one that is busy, confident, and inquisitive. To me there’s usually a couple of pups that the other pups pay attention to. If those pups go do something or pay attention to something then the others follow suit. I like that pup that figures things out for themselves verses the one that have to shown everything. Color is my last consideration but I do have preferences. In my family of dogs I get every color of the rainbow. I don’t like a dog that is high strung or nervous. I also choose according to what I need for my breeding program in the sense of male/female. A pup that is always starting problems is a no go. Fighters are on the way out the door before they know who won the fight. Build is a consideration too. If there are two good pups then I go with the best made one. If that’s equal I choose on color. If that’s equal I keep them both lol. To me there’s the “it” factor that I put huge stock in. When a puppy just has that “it” factor, I have trouble not picking it. I have had litters that I knew I needed a female or male for future breeding purposes but there was a pup of the opposite sex that I just couldn’t let go because they had that “it” factor. If you have good dogs that are worthy of breeding, you should just about be able to reach in and grab one out of the mix and stand a really good chance of having a good dog. That being said, even in a strong litter, there gonna be some that are a little better than the others and that’s the one I want to feed.
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
My may dog is due next week with the last litter I will have from her. This is her third. I've kept a male and female from each of the first 2 litters. The first I let my son pick a male and I just kept the last female no one picked. The male the boy kept is a pretty decent dog but not as good as the sire or dam, I sold the female to a guy who was in desperate need of a dog and she was and is quite a bit better than her brother but still not quite what her mother is. From that first litter the female i wanted or should have kept i sent to a guy down in Texas and she quickly made one of his top dry ground lion dogs. Second litter i kept a little female that reminded me exactly of her mother, and I gave the male i liked to a buddy i owed a pup to. That buddy suddenly decided to sell out so I got him back. Him and his sister are doing great so far and I see exactly what I want in both of them. With our newly won hound season for bears im building my pack up from 6 to more than likely 10. I plan to keep 2 from my litter and I'm not sure if ill change my way of choosing or just go with what I've been doing.
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
Have you bred her to different studs each time or the same one?
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- Silent Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
So another offshoot: what age do you start roading dogs to get them in shape? I've been taking my 8 month old maybe twice a week but somebody told me it's not good for them because strong muscles inhibit their bone growth. Being a vet in not sure I believe that but what is your experience?
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
I have bred her every time to my walker male, pups have all turned out constantly well. The last two I kept are doing great with only 1 lion season under their belts , that was the worst conditions overall I've seen in a cat season. Little to no snow and they both shined leading alot of races in front of the pack. 5 pups from the first 2 litters are in Texas and doing very well on lions and also being taken to new mexico for bear. I like to take my pups out learning the ropes roading with the big dogs around 5 months old but not running them as far as the old dogs. I like them learning all the ins and outs of being in the woods early as possible.
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
That’s awesome and a testament to you and your dogs. I have bred my Raylynn gyp twice. The litters were out of two different studs. The first one was a grand nephew by female out of her half sister and a male that was a cousin to her. 5 pups in the litter and all 5 made good dogs. I kept 2 and get to hunt regularly with the others. The second stud was also her nephew out of her littermate brother bred to a gyp out of her half sister. So similar pedigrees but not exactly the same. That litter is about 5 months old and all of them are baying at hogs already. I have been sent videos of them all. One of them was turned out to run around while the guy mowed. 20 minutes or so went by and he hadn’t seen him so he went looking for him. Said he found him down behind his deer stand and he had a sow bayed, lol. So I’m expecting good results out of that litter. There was one pup, a female, that I didn’t care for. She was maybe the best looking one of the bunch but I didn’t care for the way she acted. I bet she makes a dog still. I agree with running them. You’re doing more than building muscle. You’re building mind, body, and spirit. If you make them quit instead of running them until they quit, they will keep wanting to do it. You’re also building better feet. Smart dogs need to be stimulated mentally. That is a good way to do it. It also allows socialization. Exercise is going to build stronger bone and coordination. Way more pros than cons to me.
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
Seeing pictures and hearing stories about the pups that came from my kennel gives me a smile as big as it gets! Our dogs are our life and seeing pups we put out succeeding just is the icing on the cake. I'm always nervous sending them outside of my hunting area/ conditions but they have shined everywhere they go.
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
That says a lot about your dogs for sure.
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
I used to hunt hogs when I lived in California. I would start introducing my pups to hogs from the outside of a smaller bay pen. Once they were running the outside of the pen hard and had the coordination to get around, like an adult I would introduce them to a young hog in the bay pen. I wouldn’t let them get roughed up too much and once they bayed how I wanted, I’d put a hog in that would rough them up but not hurt them. That built their confidence. At about 9 months I would start hunting them. My dogs would be finding their own, baying or catching by a year and a half. If they weren’t, they would get culled.
I no longer live in California and now I’m learning to hunt lions. I have dry ground walker mixes. I’m being less heavy handed with my control or commands but my dogs all know to come when called, load up, know how to road and I can cast them by a year old. I’m still starting them when they’re old enough (6-9 months) to keep up and get around in the woods (the high desert and mountains) here in Nv.
I like to have a good minded dog that’s intelligent and hunts for me. But I don’t keep them close at hand like I would my hog dogs. I’m no longer hunting small ranches or 40 acre lots. I’m hunting hundreds of thousands of acre BLM or Forest service land now. I want my dogs to range out a thousand yards to 1/4 mile, hitting saddles, ridges, rim rocks and rock piles without having to walk them to each one.
I no longer live in California and now I’m learning to hunt lions. I have dry ground walker mixes. I’m being less heavy handed with my control or commands but my dogs all know to come when called, load up, know how to road and I can cast them by a year old. I’m still starting them when they’re old enough (6-9 months) to keep up and get around in the woods (the high desert and mountains) here in Nv.
I like to have a good minded dog that’s intelligent and hunts for me. But I don’t keep them close at hand like I would my hog dogs. I’m no longer hunting small ranches or 40 acre lots. I’m hunting hundreds of thousands of acre BLM or Forest service land now. I want my dogs to range out a thousand yards to 1/4 mile, hitting saddles, ridges, rim rocks and rock piles without having to walk them to each one.
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
Rowdy I don’t want to have to walk a dog to hogs or to hog sign. I’m like you are now, I want them to hunt. Mine will get out pretty deep sometimes but usually about a half mile deep, without sign. Normally though, it doesn’t take getting that deep. They can usually be in sign or even bayed in a few hundred yards.
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
I'm mostly hunt from the road , and if conditions are bad I will run the dogs on the road and don't mind of they roll out 200 yards off the road. But for the most part they don't unless they find a track. When I'm out hiking and free casting them getting out a quarter of a mile may put them over and ridge and in the next drainage so I keep them hunting fairly close. In our country it's very easy to get on a lion that crosses a mountain range at 10000+ feet and cover up to 19 or 20 miles in some instances.
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- Open Mouth
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Re: What age and why?
I can sure understand why you wouldn’t want a dog hunting deep.
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Re: What age and why?
start with pet rabbits at weaning or after vaccinations completed depending on setting. Pet rabbits will stay right in front of them until they nudge them on. Younger pup softer brain amazing how quickly 1 chasing a rabbit will turn into a whole litter. Move to cotton tail crosses next. Work in some coons as they need to learn some back up. I try to handle them everyday. Depending on time of year etc. At 5 months they will either be ready for the woods or they will see young hogs or foxes. I would perfer to keep them off foxes but sometimes best way to get them reps. Walk them into a few hot races, slowly lengthen those races out, try to keep them off the real bad critters for a while. Want them to end up on trees not wondering around the woods so pick battles they can win, build their tools and confidence. From there truck to tree. Some will progress at different speeds but as a general rule if your not making vertally all the trees you dont go to the next step. Alot of different approaches out there if yours is working for you keep it up if not make some tweaks.
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