Registered: Feb 2015
Location: NW Arkansas
Posts: 1120

I was going back over the good dogs I have hunted and my brother had a dog called Trailer that was really a good dog but I hated to hunt him. If I had him today I would love him. Problem was he would get out of pocket way too much and you were always looking for him. With the equipment we have today I would love to hunt one like him. If you found him that night he was under a coon but some nights we just couldn't find him. That's what got him killed. Farmer shot him because he was chewing on a dead calf after being lost for 2 days. Equipment has changed the kind of dog we can hunt.

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Tom Wood

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5665

Agree 100 percent, the equipment we have today is a game changer. I owned a English dog in the early seventies that was a real good coon dog, but ran deer every chance he got, the shock COLLARS then were not good enough or had the reach in these mountains to stop him. Without that FAULT he sure could tree coons, but that was a serious FAULT for me. I sold him to a hunter that did not hunt where there were any deer and he swore that he was the best dog he had ever seen. Wide hunting dogs were often lost due to treeing out of hearing in a deep hollow or across a mountain that could of been located with the TRACKING COLLARS we have today. I look back at several dogs that could have been special if we had the equipment we have today. Hunting nowadays we always know where the dogs are and can correct bad behavior at the push of a button. I would not think of hunting without the equipment I own today. Dave

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Dave Richards Treeing Walkers Reg American Saddlebred and Registered Rocky Mt. Show Horses

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Registered: Nov 2011
Location: Freeport,TX
Posts: 1919

quote:

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Originally posted by Kler Kry
I looked at it as my TOP DOG. There is only one BEST that I ever owned. I prefer to breed, my dogs or buy them as puppies and raise and train them. Currently my best is Zip a dog out of my Penney and Rex dogs. Rex made the top 100 and died of blasto at a young age. Zip is a Gr Nt Ch and qualified for TOC the last two years. He is as good as I'ved hunted with in his lifetime. There was Liz, Drum, Josie, Tramp, Belle, Rock, Spot, Nellie, Black Jack and the list goes on. Ive had the same stock since 1972 when I bought Michelob as a started dog. I bought Penney as a pup in 2011 because her mother had the performance level that I liked. I believe that it takes 1000 hours to peak an Outstanding dog. I had pain with every step since 2004 until I couldnt walk except with crutches 2 1/2 years ago, but I'm pain free for the last 2 years and at 75 years old I'm working pups that might be better than Michelob and Penney!

MY DEFINITION OF AN OUTSTANDING DOG
*They perform the same in any weather.
*They perform the same in all geographic areas,
*They dominate a hunt strike and tree.
*They make PACK dogs out of LOANER types after the first coon.
*They are very Quick averaging less than 10 minutes strike to tree on March coon.

Just my opinion, but the current Nite Hunt rules promote dogs that won't compete against each other and compete against the clock instead making it difficult to determine the best dog from Nite Hunt Results. If you want to evaluate a dog it is always best to go hunt with them one on one with your best dog or the best dog that you can borrow and the longer the hunt the more likely that your evaluation will be accurate. Ken Risley

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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: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5665

I agree that a good handler knows what the dog is and is not. I was young when I got to see a top coon dog perform. I thought I had a good dog until I hunted with him, then I realized mine was very average or just decent. He became my measuring stick and I looked at dogs different from that time on. I NEVER had the time or desire to train dogs, but always wanted the best I could find and buy. I knew that special dogs existed, but were rare. I owned a few that came close, but come up short compared to my measuring stick. A top dog is something else and just makes good dogs seem average at best. My first Top dog made me search hard for another one and I believe made me a better handler/owner, as I no longer settled for average dogs. Dave

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Dave Richards Treeing Walkers Reg American Saddlebred and Registered Rocky Mt. Show Horses

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Registered: Jul 2016
Location:
Posts: 502

My first good dog was sold to me becouse of how deep she hunted . An older man brought her to tn from ky and didn't have a tracking system . She would not pass a coon up but would be treed somewhere and I know this is a stretch to people today but either had a legit den or eyes looking at you . She was the first top dog I ever owned . Move any kind of track any weather not a hard treedog about 45 barks a min standing at base of tree and would shut up when you put her on lead but you could count on her to ve the same every drop I was younger then and spent alot of nights waiting or driving and listening put me in strange country alot but would always have a coon... we could road hunt her 5 nights a week and drop the 6th and never changed or phased her wish I had another like her. Brains and knose together rode in truck and stayed in house some miss that old hound.. heavy spring creek breeding ugly open spotted little dog but could flst tree co0n in these big mountains

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Registered: Jul 2016
Location:
Posts: 502

My first good dog was sold to me becouse of how deep she hunted . An older man brought her to tn from ky and didn't have a tracking system . She would not pass a coon up but would be treed somewhere and I know this is a stretch to people today but either had a legit den or eyes looking at you . She was the first top dog I ever owned . Move any kind of track any weather not a hard treedog about 45 barks a min standing at base of tree and would shut up when you put her on lead but you could count on her to ve the same every drop I was younger then and spent alot of nights waiting or driving and listening put me in strange country alot but would always have a coon... we could road hunt her 5 nights a week and drop the 6th and never changed or phased her wish I had another like her. Brains and knose together rode in truck and stayed in house some miss that old hound.. heavy spring creek breeding ugly open spotted little dog but could flst tree co0n in these big mountains

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