Registered: Mar 2013
Location: Rover,Arkansas
Posts: 1130

Have you had your best dog? Or do you think your best dog is yet to come?
I've had mine I'm sure. I quit a few years because I knew I'd peaked .😕

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YOU CAN'T POLISH A TURD !

Last edited by Jeff Prince on 09-07-2019 at 05:54 AM

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Registered: Dec 2006
Location: Springfield, Ga.
Posts: 4254

The best for me is long gone now, and so are my comp hunting days. The trash I have now is plum embarrassing, and this old guys drive is missing a gear or two.

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Robert " Rock" Johnson

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2010 ACHA Georgia State Champion Grand Nite Champion Yadkin River Addkis

PKC Champion Yadkin River Addkis

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Registered: Mar 2013
Location: Rover,Arkansas
Posts: 1130

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Johnson
The best for me is long gone now, and so are my comp hunting days. The trash I have now is plum embarrassing, and this old guys drive is missing a gear or two.

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YOU CAN'T POLISH A TURD !

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5630

I know that I already have had my best, like I mentioned in your other post I have only owned 3 dogs that I called a coondog and 1 of them I currently own. He is almost 14 years old (Dec) and over the hill just like me. Lol. I really don't expect to own another one that matches either of the 3 coondog I have owned. I would like to think so, but the odds are against that happening. Dave

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

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22462

Maybe your best dog was because you were at your best. It is hard to have a best dog and hunt once a week. I think that my best dog is yet to come but I claim all of the dogs born at my house as "my dogs".

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Registered: Jul 2004
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 2765

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard Lambert
Maybe your best dog was because you were at your best. It is hard to have a best dog and hunt once a week.

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Friends don't let friends hunt blueticks

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22462

The days of comp hunting your good pleasure hound or pleasure hunting your good comp dog are over. We will become just like the rabbit dog guys. We will have gun dogs and we will have field trial dogs.
But these younger comp hunters don't pleasure hunt anyway. They are either comp hunting or dog training.

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Registered: Feb 2012
Location: airville,pa
Posts: 2072

X2 Richard

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Registered: Jan 2013
Location: Marietta
Posts: 10790

Depends on what you like I guess. I like a dog that can absolutely run any track cold or hot. And have the grease at the end. I can enjoy pleasure hunting them or I can take them to town and win with them. Don’t have to train them they are born that way it’s easyier to breed for it than to beat it into them. Just go to parents that were naturally born that way. And throw it in their pups. I don’t like a slow dog track or tree.



It’s worked for me.

Tar

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
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quote:

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Originally posted by yadkintar
.....It’s worked for me.
Tar

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Oh my goodness.... Do I have to even say anything?

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Registered: Jan 2013
Location: Marietta
Posts: 10790

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard Lambert
Oh my goodness.... Do I have to even say anything?

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Registered: Jul 2004
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 2765

Oh my goodness.

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Friends don't let friends hunt blueticks

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Registered: Sep 2009
Location: Monticello, Wi
Posts: 744

quote:

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Originally posted by Jeff Prince
Have you had your best dog? Or do you think your best dog is yet to come?
I've had mine I'm sure. I quit a few years because I knew I'd peaked .😕

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Registered: Sep 2004
Location: ohio
Posts: 772

Had my best one about 20 years ago. Should of quit then. I wouldn't be foolin' with a hound if it wasn't for grandkids and thankfully they are losing interest.

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5630

Don't measure your corn in another man's bushel. There is a big difference in being a quitter and a man being realistic. I have only owned 3 dogs in over 50 years that I call a coondog. At my age 70, I don't think that I will live long enough to own another coondog. I have always bought the best dog that I could find still will, they just aren't many that I call a coondog. My hunting buddy is nearly 82 and says he has only owned 3 that he called a coondog and he has hunted over 60 years. One of the 3 he has owned is one that I now own, so in reality that's only 5 coondog in a combined 110 years. With that said, how practical would it seem to think that I will ever own one better. Dave

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

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5630

Please elaborate on your statement that if one has had their best dog that they are a quitter. This statement makes absolutely no sense to me at all. Now if you are a breeder and want to sell dogs, it might make sense to think you are going to breed that super dog one day. Breeders have thought that from day one and it has not happened very often, it's only a carrot for the donkey to follow. Maybe a well meaning goal that one would like to achieve, but this has nothing to do with the OP question regarding ones best dog. Not everyone is a breeder or trying to improve a breed, some are just coonhunters that enjoy a true coondog. These folks like myself will never own a bunch of coon dogs, we are fortunate to ever own one that anyone would call a coondog. A true coondog sets the bar high and nothing short of that is ever good enough for those who have owned one. Now, that's why some of us are answering this post in the manner we are answering. 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: 1907

Once upon a time I had built a good line of dogs and had a high percentage of pups that made good dogs...I had plenty of time to work, test and hunt pups....I looked for natural winding, trailing, finding and watching baying styles and also which pups had that natural calling to get gone once released in the woods...I took them to places where I could see if the water bothered them or not...I learned what body type made the best swimmers and it was the body style I liked best...back in those days I worked 12 hr shifts and my kids were in school and wife worked...so I was able to do the above mentioned things on my off days....EVERYTHING I LOOKED FOR IN A PUP WAS FOR NATURAL ABILITY...because natural ability begets more natural ability in a breeding program where all dogs are related and all have been selected using the same criteria...one day I gave all this up in 2007...my wife was very upset and told me I was making a big mistake when I got rid of what I had left and I should have listened...

In 2010 I decided to get back in the dog game...

Why I will never have my best again...

I don’t have access to training or testing pups close by other than having to travel...close by all places are posted or locked and residential neighborhoods have been built and some places have security guards because of the incident of 911... not only that but I do not have access to hunting spots as I once had...also trying to hold costs down in prepping for my retirement years...the dogs I have right now I like and I will breed a few litters from them and call it good... I do not think the breeding in them will give me the percentages I would like but moving forward...the potential is there to have good dogs...the challenge is the time needed and places to test aren’t as available as before...not to mention having access to as many hunting spots as before...

I do not have much patience when trying dogs...I do not believe in feeding lots of tracks to make a hunting dog...in my opinion it takes natural ability in a hunting dog and in having good hunting dogs...
Since 2010 I have culled countless mt curs and at least 5 Plotts...

Right now I have a well bred pup that sure is looking good out of parents and grandparents that were excellent hunting dogs...hoping she is it for the next few breedings in the future...
You would think since 2010 I would be where I needed to be with my dogs but not so...

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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: Sep 2009
Location: Monticello, Wi
Posts: 744

If you have ever had a truly outstanding hound then I believe:
-You are in the minority of houndsmen
-You have knowledge that that others don't have so why not share it
-If you have had one, you realize that your next pup may be better than your past Once In A Lifetime hound
-When you quit trying that guarantees that you will never have another better than your past Once In A Lifetime hound of the past.

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Registered: Nov 2011
Location: Freeport,TX
Posts: 1907

quote:

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Originally posted by Kler Kry
If you have ever had a truly outstanding hound then I believe:
-You are in the minority of houndsmen
-You have knowledge that that others don't have so why not share it
-If you have had one, you realize that your next pup may be better than your past Once In A Lifetime hound
-When you quit trying that guarantees that you will never have another better than your past Once In A Lifetime hound of the past.

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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: Jan 2004
Location: Conway, Ark.
Posts: 161

I got mine, he is ten yrs old and I am 73 and when he is done, so am I.

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5630

I agree with the 1 statement you made and that is if you have had a truly outstanding dog, you are in the minority. Most hunters WILL never have one like that, and if you have had more than 1 you are in elite company. Now please share with the rest of us, how such hunters could share this knowledge. Owning a truly top hound doesn't give one special knowledge to share with anyone. Men that know me and have hunted with the 3 dogs I owned that were definitely coon dogs in any man's book, will tell you they were the best they ever saw. How can I share any knowledge just because I owned those dogs. I was never a breeder, I was and am a coon hunter that knows and appreciates a top coonhound or coondog. Dave

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

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Registered: Jan 2006
Location: WV
Posts: 821

If I thought I've already had the best I will ever have, I'd quit. That's not putting much faith in the folks out there trying to breed a better coon dog. I'm always looking for the next best thing and when I think I can't possibly have a better dog, one will pop up. Maybe this will be as good as it gets, maybe not, but I'll never know I quit trying.

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5630

Have you ever owned a true coondog one that stood out from all the rest you had ever seen? A dog that amazed all that hunted with it, never had to make an excuse for, made treeing coon look easy, made good dogs look bad. When you get that kind of dog, you will know what some if us are saying. Now, there is always going to be another dog that comes along that measures up to that standard, but not very often and rarely does the same man have the good fortune to own more than one in a lifetime. I consider myself blessed to have owned 3 dogs that met my standards of being that kind if coondog. Dave

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

Last edited by Dave Richards on 09-08-2019 at 09:38 PM

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Registered: May 2008
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 3145

I pray to the Good Lord above that I haven’t had my best one yet.
I strive for a better dog everyday

I still pleasure hunt the dog I go to hunts with. Them eyeballs trump everything

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Get a Good One

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Registered: Apr 2015
Location: church hill tn
Posts: 5630

Well, so hope you haven't had your best one yet, and I know that you have had some good ones. Looking for a needle in a haystack is hard, but sometimes you get lucky. I really believe that a man will know when he gets that dog of a lifetime, he won't need someone else's opinion. Dave

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

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