honalieh
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Jul 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 2161 |
Ambush Dogs
Although some could be silent, I don't feel that's an appropriate answer. Some silent dogs can have good noses and tracking ability. They just keep their mouth shut. A lot of times, good dogs that are open trailers learn when to tighten up.
What I'd call an ambush dog is one that is hot nosed and won't really work a track much. They may pass up a lot of tracks and coon looking for that hot easy pop-up. And, they can get deep to find that pop-up. It's often very easy to find their coon.
Some of these ambush dogs can be babblers, that will open until they do hit that hot pop-up. Other times, it could be a trash runner that will run across a hot coon, then drop off and fall treed. They can be tough to beat in competition. You may have to tree 2 coon to their 1 coon to beat them. Not great for coonhunting, but can excel in competition.
To me, here's the best way to relate to coonhunters what an ambush dog is. Think about the times when your dogs may have treed a possum! No real tracking to it. Just ran across the possum, popped it up a bush, and locked down treed on it. Pretty easy to see, right? Take that same concept with the possum, except now it's a coon. That should give you a perspective on what an ambush dog is. They didn't really run it. They didn't really trail it. But, they did run across it, pop it up a bush, and locked down treed.
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