Registered: May 2008
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what do YOU expect from a 1 year old pup in terms of hunting ability etc?? what is "acceptable" to you and what is "expected"??

i know many dont start em till they are a year or so...typically i would have waited...but, dang nice winter...figured i'd start mine while kill season was still in if he was ready...and he was...


just would like to "gauge" his progress and where he stands....i really dont know..ever dog is different...some dogs dont start till they are a year or older....

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Good question! By now you can tell if he or she is gamey or not. That is about all I need to know at 1 year, but that is just me.

A made coondog at a year old !!?? I still laugh at. And Yes , I have had them treeing at well before that date but I finally got rid of them and started over with a different breed of dogs. LOL But to each his own I recon...

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Thanx lyle....i wouldnt say he is a full out coondog...but, he is a nice dog and started real natural and easy...he never trashed as far as i know and i can count on one hand how many slicks he been under...i can probably count dens and slicks without using both hands...he is good about having a coon...

He is to the point you can open the box and sit on the tailgate and wait for those dying locators...

He keeps getting better and better...faster and faster...more confident with each tree...

I cant call him straight or broke....but ive watched hin run past possums and deer..never had troubles with him...

Just a nice young well started dog that shows good potential of making a nice one..im not sure i could ask for much more from a youngun..

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Registered: Dec 2011
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at a year old i think they should wanna hunt, know what a coon is and get fired up when they see one. listen good around the house and know what i want from them, dont mean they havta be able to do it but should show signs of trying to.

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Registered: Sep 2010
Location: New Paris, Indiana
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Two comments.
First, from the day they are weaned until that first birthday or until you start training, they need to be allowed to run loose every day for 15 minute while you do your chores. I don't care if you live on the busiest street downtown, you still have to turn that pup lose every day. Until they are 4 or 5 moths old, they won't get away from you. After that point, depending on where you live, you may have to settle for hauling them to the nearest safe place in the country, dog park, whatever but get then running loose a half hour couple times a week. You leave that pup kenneled constantly for that first 8 or 9 months, you got a braindead pup and you can't fix that.

As for what I expect, it isn't based on age. It is based on how many times I have carried them to the woods. I will walk them a dozen times then they have took their last walk with me. I'll hunt them hard two months. If I'm not seeing the makings of a coondog, I'm done. A pup started at a year and not treeing coons consistently alone 6 month later is a cull to me.

The biggest failure in this sport is the unwillingness/inability to cull the duds.

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Thanx for the replies guys! Keep em coming....interesti g in what different people expect..no right or wrong answer here...


Jim, i agree 100% in that...a dog tied up all day doesnt get to learn and explore and be a puppy....my friend kept my pup till he was 7 months...i hunt my pups dam.. who she also raised and keeps...then my pup was supposed to come home....that didnt work out so my buddy said i could keep him at his farm...my pup got to run a lot...still does if he isnt going hunting...around people, dogs, farm animals etc all the time...

I really think it makes for a muchhhhh nicer dog...and like you said, until they are being started, they need let loose as much as possible....

My pup and the ones i hunt for my buddy always turn out nice...good smarts about them...dont gotta work much with them on commands and obedience and such..they learn it every day...they know english better than some people...they can tell my mood by how i talk or call for them...


Once we start hunting them they get tied up a while...they end up taking themselves hunting if we dont...

I think the next biggest thing a youngun needs is time in the woods...i really dont think many dogs get the chance they need....

I like your 12 hunt rule...not sure how far you expect them to hunt by then...or how long you expect them to hunt before checking in....i dont mind "walking" a pup...but he needs to go huntin farther and longer on his own every nite...if they checkin that is fine..i move as far as they hunted and sit back down...after a bit of that they usually start going better and better and when they start checking i. I dont move...they either go hunting or they go in the truck....if a dog is gunna make it, he will have the drive and desire and fire lit after being in the woods and under some coon and will start going on his own...if they keep standing at your feet you got troubles....i want my dog to WANT to go hunting...i read some guys yell at em and even get switches out on them to make them hunt...that dog is running from you...not hunting for you!

Gotta draw the line somewhere between a huntable dog and a cull...but at the same time i wanna give the dog a chance and know it got its fair chance....

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You better believe there are certain lines that don't mature and come into their own until late 2s early 3s. Those types areb't for me but some end up being superb dogs. My Ike dog showed me what a young hound should do.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: North GA
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They are all different. Its hard to compare 1 yr olds. I do know of one here that ain't turned a yr old yet. Will get through the country and tree coons. I own her littermate and she's not that far along she can tree a coon but has not got through the country yet. They are all different.

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I personally couldnt wait till they were 2 or 3 to see if theyd make it...their 2nd birthday is their absolute most important with me..

By then they better have it together...

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I do agree they are all different and we all train different..start at different times etc....

I look for signs of being ready before starting them....they start blowing the top out of a tree with a barn cat in it....they start burning rabbits around the farm better than sone beagles...it is usually time to chain em up and start hunting them...


I dont agree with pushing a pup that doesnt show signs of being ready...wanting to hunt..etc...but at the same time, there are too many that ARE ready within the first year and a half...i am a 1 dog kinda guy....i dobt got time to wait around on one to see what it will do...

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Personally I like pups born in Late May to Late June. I like to start them in the spring of the next year. I need them to be doing something that makes me enjoy hunting them by the time it gets hot in july or august or I am not going to suffer through bugs and heat to have a bad time begging a dog to tree easy coon.

Time is just too precious. I would rather invest twice the time in a pup that is working with me and get the most out of it than keep trying to waste a year of my life with one that lacks the tools to make it happen.

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