Registered: Jun 2003
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 140

I've hunted for over fifteen years and I'm still confused about what exactly a "started" hound is by definition. Could it be:

*a pup that has begun training and showing interest

*a pup barking at a caged coon

*a young hound running and treeing released coons

*a young hound running and treeing with other dogs

What is a "started" hound?

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location:
Posts: 4312

my opinion,young hound runnin and treein with old dogs ang treein some on its own

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Comer, Georgia
Posts: 4724

a very easy coon by itself....................just needs alot of huntin' to get better.

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Registered: Jul 2003
Location: Advance, MO
Posts: 77

I think this is where you get people saying lightly started, started, or well started. I guess if they have started to be trained then you could call them started. If they aren't going with the dogs, and running and treeing some then I'm not gonna call them started, but if they are treeing coon their own coon much then I'd call them well started.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Talala, Oklahoma
Posts: 5208

I don't consider them started until they are trailing and/or treeing at night either by themselves or with the old dogs.

A lot of house dogs will bark at a caged coon.

A well-started dog to me is one that will tree a few coon by itself, but needs to be finished. A well-started dog ought to look good in good company. It is at this point that I like to start hunting them alone.

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Registered: Aug 2003
Location: Muldrow, Oklahoma
Posts: 499

I am with bearhunter on this one he is opening on track and runing track and treeing with older dogs and will do some on his own thats my definition of a started dog. I have people around here who say they are started cause they bark at a cage coon.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Georgia
Posts: 167

i sold a dog a few years ago that would run and tree alone and with company. she did not run track just fell treed. if you didnt get to her quick she would leave though. she was 1 year old.

i sold her and told them her weak points. the were way north of me -a few states-.

they called me back in a month or so and said that even though she could do all that she wasn't well started...

it blew my conception of started out of the water, so i would like to know your opinions also!

I bought this dog back for the price they paid and when she came back to me she was a little facey...they had put her in the woods with several dogs and she would stay treed but then had more serious problems..

I retrained her for running deer and sold her for 1/2 what i had in her for a bay dog.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Los Angeles, MN
Posts: 4236

It depends on your perspective....

To people looking to BUY a "started" dog, it means.....a finished hound at a puppy price...

If your Selling a "started" hound.....It means that you can remember that it barked at a caged coon, once,,,,,I think.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Seymour, Missouri
Posts: 250

Dang Josh, You nailed that one on the head!!!!

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: SC
Posts: 2046

If i was buying a started dog,it would at least have to be running and treeing with older dogs or treeing a feeder bucket coon by itself.I've seen pups advertised as "started",that would only chase a coons tail/hide across the yard,i thought that they would all do that.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Salem,Missouri
Posts: 4917

i have to agree with bearhunter version also, but there's a man around here that jockeys alot of dogs and to him a started dog is one that you can go get and put in the dog box"?"

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: vt
Posts: 1256

this a great question. guess we can see that being started is a real wide brush,, to me a started coonhound has treed a few coon alone... a started bear dog can be anything cause i have one right now does nothing alone. will run for hours and be on tree with others.. makes the hardest races.. i couldnt really say she isnt started. i call her me 2. .. whats a finished hound.. ??? no such thing unless its retired or dead. pete

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: oklahoma
Posts: 3427

a started pup to me is one that will run and tree with good old dawg and do some on his own all the other trainin to get them to that point is just preparation in which they need to be very well prepared just my opinion

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Los Angeles, MN
Posts: 4236

To all you guys that said "tree some on their own".............What does that mean???

It sounds good, but what are you saying???

Either a dog will tree a coon, or it wont!

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Talala, Oklahoma
Posts: 5208

A started dog ought to tree an easy coon and stay treed for at least a few minutes, enough to get to him or her.

That may be what is meant by "ought to tree some."

I don't expect a started dog to tree a tough coon under adverse conditions, but when everything is relatively easy, they should be able to show you a coon.

It has been my experience that most young dogs, with the exception of that rare complete natural, start out stronger in some areas and weaker in others.

Some of them are strong tree dogs right off, nd take a while before experience improves their tracking. Others do a good job of running a coon, but may not stay hooked very long alone for a while.

Young, started dogs ought to tree coon when the situation arises that fits their particular strong points.

I know, everybody but me raises the kind that do it all equally well right from the git-go, but this has been my experience.

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Last edited by John Carroll on 08-19-2003 at 11:01 PM

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Missouri
Posts: 4321

I suppose like alot of coonhunting related terms, "started" will mean different things to different folks. In loose terms, I would say its a dog who is doing something, but is not a finished coondog.

Lightly started might be a pup that is running and treeing on a caged coon and/or a turned loose coon.

Well started might be a pup/dog that is running and treeing an easy coon on its own but not reliably enough and in rough enough situations as a finished dog might.

There obviously is a range between "lightly" started and "well" started. My head is starting to hurt, but one last thing. If someone uses "started" in some way to describe a dog, just ask them what they mean by that and what the dog is doing in the woods.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location:
Posts: 4312

quote:

---

Originally posted by josh
To all you guys that said "tree some on their own".............What does that mean???

It sounds good, but what are you saying???

Either a dog will tree a coon, or it wont!

---

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: WILMER ALABAMA
Posts: 159

LIGHTLY STARTED: STARTING TO SHOW AN INTEREST IN GOING WITH OTHER DOGS OR BEGINNING TO HUNT OUT SOME. MAYBE OPENING ON TRACK AND SHOWING INTEREST IN TREE. WELL STARTED: HUNTS BY HIMSELF OR WITH COMPANY. TREES COON ALONE OR WITH OTHERS. JUST NEEDS A KILL SEASON TO FINISH OUT. EVEN THEN A HOUND WILL BACKSLIDE AND NEED MORE INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION. WHAT PEOPLE CALL A COONHOUND VARIES FROM PERSON TO PERSON. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT MOST CONSIDER A FINISHED DOG.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Cartersville, Ga.
Posts: 337

I think that is a very relative term. Get out your wallet and start describing started. Remember you get what you pay for. If you have two hundred dollars, I bet your list is long. If you have two thousand, you should know more about what you expect. I think the price you have on this so called started dog will be very relative to your expectations. Then look at the parents and their reproducing status. A proven " hot" cross will change that price. I hear a lot of this about started dogs. Most want more than they are willing to pay for. Find that started dog you have been looking for for a long time. Then put your money on the table. Then describe started again. It's hard to do. I understand. It is a relative term, so hard to come up with a definite answer. It's not so confusing when you are selling, but ( laughs) it gets harder when you are buying.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Longview Texas
Posts: 801

Some people call a started dog one that will load up in the truck!LOL Personally I call a started dog one that will hunt, run and tree by himself.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Los Angeles, MN
Posts: 4236

O.K. ....It seems we have narrowed it down some,.

Now, Using the definition..... "a hound that will run and tree an easy coon".....What is a started hound worth????

The reason I ask is because I have a 16 month old male that will fit that definition to a tee......The problem is, he wont stay treed, no matter what I try he hasnt improved much at all since he was 9 months old.

Here I was thinking he is a cull.....Maybe I need to place an add on the classifieds??

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Registered: Aug 2003
Location: Indiana
Posts: 6168

Okay, if you put another spin on this, when is your truck "started"?

When you put the key in the door to unlock it? (get the pup out of the pen)

When you get in the truck? (Pup loads in the box without being crammed in like an unwilling sardine)

When you put the key in the ignition? (Pup will follow other dogs into the dark and "show interest)

When you turn the key and the starter engages? (pup actually barks some when older dogs bark either on the track or on tree)

When you release the key and the motor is running? (You turn the pup loose by itself, it strikes a coon and puts it in a tree, staying there until you see the coon)

You can't start your truck without all of the above ingredients, but you have to decide at what moment the truck started.

And what is the truck worth if it starts, but won't get you to the end of your driveway without dying? That is the answer to the post directly above this one......

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