Hoosier Outlaw
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Jun 2010
Location: Marion, Indiana
Posts: 4280 |
Kathy,
I guess how you want to better the breed makes all the difference in what you need to do to work in that direction. I am a competition hunter and I breed and train my redbones for that purpose. A pleasure hunter probably breeds and trains for a different type of redbone....
If you are looking to improve the breed from a competition angle, I would suggest you hunt with some known competition dogs.....the best you can find of all breeds. I would ask to spectate on several casts at some of the bigger hunts. In ukc I would try to go out on some grand nite champion casts or nite champion casts and maybe you will get to see some good examples of what top level dogs are capable of doing. You will also see that even the best dogs out there are still just dogs and they all make mistakes. You will see that some grand nite dogs are made by slick handlers.....while others earn their degree the hard, but honest way. Look for dogs that dominate the cast and have a coon in most trees you walk to. Don't be overly impressed by anyone talking a dog up unless their description matches what you see with your own eyes. Don't be star struck by titles alone or impressive tree monsters who make lots of trees where the coon cannot be found....because it probably isn't there.
after you have seen more than a few examples of solid, consistent coondogs who get a coon struck and treed no matter what the other dogs around them are doing...lock that into memory. That is the ability you will need in a redboneif you want to be able to compete and win in competition. Chances are...you will find many more examples of this type of dog from other breeds than you will in redbones....because the other breeds outnumber redbones. But after you have an idea of what a top level dog should be....never forget it!
Never forget, and never settle for less than that. Of course you will have to settle for less until a dog reaches the age of two or three becuase young dogs are still developing their skills. You will learn to spot things that you want in a dog at a young age....and you will also spot things that will never change. When you see a dog showing traits that will probably not change....you need to get a new prospect. Aggressive behavior, jumping at tree, chewing bad on tree, digging at tree, etc. These things rarely if ever are curbed later in the dogs life and I usually cull dogs that show these bad habits early on. There are too many other dogs out there to mess with a dog with really bad habits.
Remember the things that you saw from the very best competition dogs that you hunted with....now do your homework in the redbone breed and find dogs that are similar in ability and the traits that made those other dogs big winners. Once you have a few choices in mind...try to hunt with a few of those dogs or talk to a lot of folks who are familiar with those lines and ask a lot of question....and don't forget to ask the hard questions. If you buy a pup or a young dog or decide to breed and raise your own pups....you need to know what to expect from that line. You won't always get what you expect...but if you do your homework...you should not suffer near as many disappointments as you would by picking a dog blindly.
now when you get a pup or young dog from the line you have the most confidense in....do the right things often and correct things you don't like to see every chance you get. When the dog can consistently tree coon by itself...give it plenty of time to do that...by itself! This is a stage in the dogs training that can start out very frustrating but end up very satisfying.
Its the most important stage in my opinion because while the dog is growing its own self confidense....it is also giving you more and more confidense in the dog and its ability. This is the stage where your dog learns it doesn't need any help from any other dog to tree a coon. It is also where you will see this dog treeing coon just for you and trying to please you. One on one time with a dog is very important and the value of this time will shape that dog for the rest of its life. When a dog knows it can tree coon by itself....it will start to tune out the noise around it from other dogs in a cast and line that track out toget ahead of those other dogs and get that tree first...for you...because it knows you are coming to it and will be there soon. People who start pups in packs and always hunt several dogs at the same time are just making me too dogs most of the time. They usually end up packing up on off game and if one has a bad habit...the other young dogs fall right in to the same behavior....like monkey see...monkey do.
If you really want to improve the breed...the most important thing you can do to start with is aquire your measuring stick. What I mean by that is hunt with as many top level big winning dogs as you can....or the best pleasure dogs you can. Remember the things you see that made them better than the rest of the dogs that were out there with them. Lock that into memory. Now ask yourself what you would add to those dogs....more mouth? A different type of mouth? More drive? Quicker striking? Better locate? And so on....now look for a line that will give you the most traits you are looking for....or breed your dog to a dog from a line that has what you are looking for. If your lucky...very lucky, you may end up training or owning a few top level dogs that might just improve the breed in the future. Best of luck to you in the redbone breed 
__________________
Shane Maxey
Proud lifetime member of the NRA
Banshee Wildlife Products
Hoosier Outlaw / Moonlight Redbones
1994 American Redbone Coonhound Association Hunter of the Year
My first 3 redbones raised from pup's were:
Dual Gr.Ch. Outlaw Billy the Kid
Dual Gr.Ch.- PKC Ch. Outlaw Timber Girl
Dual Gr.Ch. Outlaw Scarlett Fever
(((( Current Favorites ))))
2013 AKC Ladies World Champion
Gr.Nt.Ch.- PKC Ch- AKC Ladies World Ch Ky Moonlight Breanna
Gr.Nt.Ch. - PKC Ch. Ky Moonlight Woody
Dual Grand Moonlight Deana
Dual Grand Ch.- PKC Ch. Moonlight AfterShock
Dual Grand Nighty Night Amber
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Big Time Britt
Gr.Nt.Ch Outlaw Billy Jean
Gr.Nt.Ch-PKC Ch.-2015 PKC Red Days Champ Outlaw Cherry Bomb
Gr.Nt.Ch Outlaw Breeze
Gr.Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch. All Grand Outlaw G-Man (over $20.000 won in PKC & CHKC) 2019 Southern Redbone Days Overall Champion
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Outlaw Mac
Gr.Nt.Ch. Classy Cali (Heavy Outlaw bred)
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Cat Scratch Fever
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Addiction
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Overdose
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Jinx
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Banshee
"Always outnumbered...Never outgunned!"
To enjoy lots of pics and videos of out redbones, find me on Facebook
as Shenandoah Maxey
Last edited by Hoosier Outlaw on 09-20-2013 at 03:01 AM
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Need Advice
09-19-2013 07:14 AM
