Registered: Nov 2011
Location: Freeport,TX
Posts: 1911

we can produce great dogs regular enough...and we can honestly say they will look good in any company...most of us have said that from time to time...

a once in a lifetime dog is just that...

so what is the difference or differences between great dogs and once in a lifetime dogs?

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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...

Last edited by Reuben on 07-15-2017 at 03:46 PM

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First thing I believe is having a eye for dogs,even when they are pups.then you have to rely on traits dog has and hope they can reproduce their traits at good % in pups. That can be tricky part. Some good crosses produce 2 or 3 good dogs,then all of a sudden we make cross that has real high % of good dogs in litter for some reason. Some of it is just luck I believe, but when it happens that's what we need to try a build on. Some traits just match up good when combined for whatever reason,they click,and we get a higher % of once in a life time hounds in a litter..it can be done.

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Registered: Aug 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 439

I think with those once in a lifetime dogs is you get so use to how great the dog is you only realize how good it really was when you try to find another. Lots of good dogs but those ones that just suit you perfectly are very rare.

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Pete Rhines

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Central Michigan
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I think that with once in a life time dogs it doesn't just come down to specific traits. I believe a dog's personality has a lot to do with it.

Top dogs are top dogs, but a top dog with the personality to match yours that is a once in a life time dog.

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Larry Atherton

Aim small miss small

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Location: Chattanooga, Tn
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A lot of dogs have the ability but that once in a lifetime dog has that something extra.
It can be coon sense. They just seem to know where the coons are.
Or it can be heart. They won't quit no matter what. They can be sick or injured and they still go just as hard.

I have also always wondered why some guys always seem to have a "once in lifetime dog" while others never get one?

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Registered: Jan 2007
Location: monroeville OH
Posts: 2685

You will never get that once in a lifetime dog if you settle for medeocore!!or just the average dog! and there is a lot of them !! but ya gotta know what a great dog should do !! and the standards it should bring to the Breeding pen!!!

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C.JONES

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Location: Central Michigan
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Richard and Chewbach,

I agree and disagree. Yes, a top dog should have that something extra including coon sense, heart, desire, and more. A once in a life time dog should not be merely mediocre.

I am not saying there are many top dogs either. I am saying such an individual that has those extras only becomes a once in a life time dog when the dog's personality matches their owner. The distinction I am making is there is a select group of top individuals that are rare. Yet, a once in a life time dog is even more rare. What makes for such a rare occurrence? A near perfect match of master and dog's personalities.

Face it, there are few coon hunters that agree on what defines many qualities when it comes to coon hounds. What is cold nose? What is started? What is trash free? And lets not forget accuracy!

Based on some of those sketchy definitions, we may never completely quantify what makes a once in a life time dog. For me, I am not sure there are words to completely and adequately describe such a dog.

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Larry Atherton

Aim small miss small

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I've never had one I've been completely satisfied with every night. I figure if I'm 75% satisfied with a dog 75% of the time that's a pretty nice hound.

I'll likely never find the "once" in a lifetime dog, but along the way I've helped several people find theirs. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

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Friends don't let friends hunt blueticks

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Registered: Nov 2011
Location: Freeport,TX
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it took me quite a few years trying to figure out the difference because great hunting dogs are excellent hunting dogs too...

one day it just hit me and the answer was simple as is most things once it is discovered...

it is intelligence...head and shoulders above...

while even the great dogs hunt from instinct and intelligence the once in a lifetime dog will show you things that makes you realize that these dogs can think almost as well as hunting by instinct...

after breeding a litter here and there I finally decided on a breeding program because I was after a certain type dog and pack...decided on linebreeding and inbreeding on what I wanted in a hunting dog...

I decided I would test all my pups in hopes of selecting the naturals...I formed the idea and goal that I would do two things...select the naturals and the best all around pups for hunting and breeding...the cream rises to the top...

one day after about the third time of laying out a drag in a week to see how they trailed I saw something that amazed me.

the first time a pup led the pack by a good distance...did the same the next 3 times...after the third time I thought it was getting too easy...

the next day I got creative...I made a big J and then back tracked about 20 feet and then veered hard to the right about 5 feet and placed the beef liver I was dragging in a five gallon bucket...the pups were around 10 weeks old or so...I turned them out and they took the track and went with it...those pups made the big J and when that pup hit the end he back tracked and turned a hard right and was on his rear legs trying to get at the liver in the bucket and he was small enough to barely have his nose in the bucket...well like what was said in that movie...I seen enough to know I seen too much...It was time to move on to the next training exercise...
I named that pup Yeller...after I lost him I let 8 or 10 years go by and I knew I had to write about him one day just to honor him...it just kept nagging me so I finally wrote a story about him in Full Cry...even as a pup he showed me his greatness many times...his Uncle was an excellent dog and Yeller could compete with Smoke when he was around ten months old and could show him a thing or 2 when he was a year old...by time he was 18 months old he was a dog...that dog excited me because of his abilities...I have never owned another dog like him but have had my fair share of great dogs...I bred 5 and 7 generations off of him...had some good ones I felt could hunt against any dog day in and day out...but never a Yeller...yes they were good and could find the game but Yeller knew when and where the game was...

just like the thoroughbred horse...only a few can win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont (the triple
Crown )...and they can reproduce great horses but they seem to never reproduce themselves...I believe it is because they are too far away from the normal in nature...

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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...

Last edited by Reuben on 07-15-2017 at 04:04 PM

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
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Y'all are riight. There is no definition of a once in a lifetime dog but when you get one, you will know it. You may not see it right away but somewhere along the way it will hit you.

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Registered: Nov 2011
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quote:

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Originally posted by Richard Lambert
Y'all are riight. There is no definition of a once in a lifetime dog but when you get one, you will know it. You may not see it right away but somewhere along the way it will hit you.

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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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If your phone is constantly ringing, people you never heard of, some of who live great distances away want to come hunt with you. Its a good chance you probably have one.

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I bet that I could have one and still no one would want to come here to East Tennessee and hunt with me.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Richard Lambert
I bet that I could have one and still no one would want to come here to East Tennessee and hunt with me.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Richard Lambert
Y'all are riight. There is no definition of a once in a lifetime dog but when you get one, you will know it. You may not see it right away but somewhere along the way it will hit you.

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Registered: Nov 2011
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In 1975 I was young and dumb,but smart enough to keep and hunt my once in a lifetime dog for the next ten years until he passed away in 1985. Haven't been able to find another one i liked or loved as much since.

Last edited by 2ol2hunt on 07-17-2017 at 04:16 PM

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That's what its all about, fine looking hound right there.

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Registered: Nov 2011
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Thank you sir,and he was an outstanding balanced hound deadly accurate treed coons ever night when everyone else was saying that there were no coons in this area.I knew then he was special. I sure have missed that old hound.Never been able to replace him.

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Registered: Nov 2011
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2ol2hunt...you should right a story about your hound...I would love to read some of his best hunts and maybe a few things that set him apart from all the other dogs you have owned since...thanks

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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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quote:

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Originally posted by Reuben
2ol2hunt...you should right a story about your hound...I would love to read some of his best hunts and maybe a few things that set him apart from all the other dogs you have owned since...thanks

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Registered: Nov 2011
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yes sir...some dogs do not have bad nights...

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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: Nov 2011
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quote:

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Originally posted by Reuben
yes sir...some dogs do not have bad nights...

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Registered: Nov 2014
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You will not realize that you have even had a once in a lifetime dog until they are gone. This can happen easily especially if you luck up and get them early in your hunting career.

Here is how you realize you had one. If every time you get a really good dog and you keep saying things like "well he would be perfect if he could just move a track like old Daisy could" or "he is a pretty good mouth on tree but old Daisy woulda drowned him out" well after 20 dogs and a thousand ifs you can track back to your once in a lifetime dog being that dog that all others just never measure up to. And yes they get better the longer they are dead or retired so it gets harder and harder for dogs to measure up!

Just guess what my once in a lifetime dogs name was?

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Registered: Nov 2011
Location: north ala.
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It's even more obvious when all your hunting buddies are still calling his name after 30 years! Lol

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Registered: Nov 2015
Location: Jamestown,OH
Posts: 280

Once in a lifetime is something most will never experience for them selves.

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GETTING HOOKED LONELY WITH 2 LOOKING DOWN

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