Registered: Sep 2012
Location:
Posts: 75

How cautious are you guys when introducing pups to the woods and their first few hunts ? Got a new pup ,alot of talent , and seems like a lot of brains .. we have taken him on some daytime walks , worked on getting a handle on him in the yard etc ... took him tonight with our older dogs but just kept him on the lead , let him walk with us .. I want to be cautious about doing too much of this , I don’t want him thinking his place in the woods is at our feet , just would like some opinions and ideas on what you guys do with your pups .. he’s 6 months old , I’m not sure he’s ready to turn loose with the older dogs yet .. I want to be patient and do the right thing with him. Have not shown him any cage coons . Not sure I will , he goes nuts when the houSe cat comes up by he dog pens though ..

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Registered: Nov 2011
Location: Freeport,TX
Posts: 1983

First off I am not a coon hunter but have hunted with dogs for many years…
A good indicator your pup wants game is how he is acting towards the cat…

You said he is a new pup…if new he needs a couple of weeks to get accustomed to his new owner and surroundings…

If he were my pup I would have a coon in a roll cage while keeping the pup on a leash but not to close to the coon…I would have a coon dog bay the coon…if the pup goes crazy over the coon I would let him get close to the rolling cage allowing him to bay the coon for about 5 minutes…I would hold both hounds back and turn the coon out…I would let the dogs go so that they give chase but making sure the coon reaches the tree…a tree where the coon is seen easily would be helpful…

Repeat again in a week but this time give the coon a good head start so the hounds will trail the coon to the tree…I would also encourage the pup to tree as needed…

Now the pup is wanting coon so he is at the right age to take to the woods…I would hunt him with a solid coon dog that is not mean at the tree…a mean dog at a bay or tree can cause a pup to have a major setback…

A competition hunter might tell you to hunt the pup alone…

I just want to get fast results in making a solid hunting dog for the game of choice…
The thing to do is in making sure the pup is having fun especially when first starting his training in the woods…
My hog dog pups…I don’t cast them where there are lots of deer…I cast them in fresh hog sign…or, I’ll wait until the trained dogs strike and then I’ll send the pups…I want to start them on hog and not deer or other off game…it makes it so much easier out this way…
Before I put my pups in the woods they know something about the game I am after…
Before they are ever shocked in the woods they know the woods is a fun place to be…don’t shock them on off game the first couple of times in the woods…the pup might think the woods is a bad place and then we will be tripping over the pup while trying to send him to hunt…

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Training dogs is not so much about quantity, it's more about timing, and the right situations...After that it's up to the dog....A hunting dog is born...

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Registered: Jul 2010
Location: haywood co tn
Posts: 65

u said the right thing "patience', these hounds today are bred to do what they do, i hunt my pups that young maybe once a week an see how they react, the main thing right now is no ill dogs at the tree an if you put a coon out make sure its dead, ive had young dogs start leaving the tree when they saw my light coming because of a hot coon that was way more than they could handle, be careful with turn loose or caged coons my experence is most time they dont do what you plan for them to do especially if they were caught somewhere else an brought onto your place, lot of city coons have whipped enough dogs that they just soon turn around a fight as they had climb a tree , other that that i tend to take them an pretty much ignore them until they show me something an dont be in a hurry if the pup doesnt progress like you think it should, now after its a year old they need to be showing me something to make me keep feeding them no they dont have to be treeing their own coon or ready for the hunts, but they should deffently be running with old dogs, just alway remember if a pup is doing really good and then the wheels fall off, it was something u did not the pup. thats my two cents, watch were you going an rember where u been' cdb,,

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jake

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Registered: Nov 2004
Location: tennessee
Posts: 856

Congratulations on the new pup. Everyone is different on how they go about training a new pup. I think you have done the right thing on working the pup at home getting him to handle. Learning to come when called is often overlooked. I dont understand the reason for keeping the pup on the leash. I would cut the pup loose and let him do whatever it is hea going to do. Whether that is go with the other dogs every step of the way or go a few hundred yards with them and come back to yiu. Or go do his own thing. They dont learn by being on the lead. The only reason I would put him on a lead with the other dogs is if hes constantly trying to play with the other dogs. Or when the others get treed whether he is there with them when you get there or he walks in with you. Either way I would out a lead on him at the tree and tie him back. If he is interested in the tree thats a plus and yiu could fool with him a little. I would tie him back at the tree especially if yiu are going to knock one out. If one comes out with alot of life in it I dont want my pup to get chewed up. Also alot of times with a pup tied back when on gets knocked out it will get fired up watching and listening to the other dogs even if it doesnt know whats going on.

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