Registered: Jul 2003
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My young walker wasnt staying treed good by himself. I decided to tie him up after he treed and I left him there and went home for a soda. He treed for about an hour than I pet him up real good and took him home. I havent shot but one or two coon out to him. I WANT HIM TO TREE FOR ME NOT THE MEAT. Is this a good idea??? I m open to suggestions. I did this when he first started treeing and it seemed to help.

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Last edited by ABnO manager on 08-21-2003 at 01:34 AM

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Registered: Jul 2003
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I need sum help dos it help to leave em tred along time or not.

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David, I personally think that teaching a dog to "TREE FOR ME" and the reward of praise tends to create tendency of being inaccurate. They USUALLY get the praising every time they tree and tree for the praise rather than the "MEAT". Don't think they have to have much meat, but at the stage of training that your dog is obviously w/only 2 coon out to him. I had a couple of dogs that were super tree dogs that got to treeing for "ME". They forgot that "ME" wants to see "ME" coon. Praising stopped, coon began to fall and they became accurate again.

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Thank u> what u say does make since but what if I let them tree along time than shoot it out? Is that ok. I was thinking of letting him tree like 3 hrs than shooting it out.


Also , if I start shooting coon down to him wont he be discouraged when I dont???

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Registered: Jun 2003
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I personally would not have chosen the course of action that you did.

Tying the dog up at the tree while you went home for a soda does nothing to reinforce the favorable trait (treeing) that you desire from the dog. Rather, it allows the dog to become even more bored and disinterested in a behavior that he is not very "motivated" or "enthusiastic" about to begin with.

At best, leaving him tied at the tree did not encourage him to bark treed (the action of barking up a tree to indicate the presence of an animal), but rather, it encouraged him to bark out of boredom. There is a HUGE difference! To me, the barking aspect of treeing is secondary to the DESIRE to let the world (you included) know that the game is up.

I personally think that you need to work on improving, intensifying or focusing his desire rather than working on his vocal chords or giving him "singing lessons". We know the dog knows how to bark; now we need to teach him how, why and when to tree.

Give this some thought. If it makes sense to you, I'll give you my advice from this point.

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The above statement is true,if he is not a solid tree dog then he was probly barking when you left because he was tied in the woods by his self.My dog will bark if I tie it up and walk away even if its not treed.What I do when I have a young dog that will tree by its self, but is not solid. Is walk in to it with my light off.When I get 50 yards from it I stop and hide behind a tree, let him tree as long as he will. Then when he starts milling turn your light on and tell him to get on the tree.He should start treeing a little longer each time ,other people may not think its the best way but its work for me.

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Registered: Jun 2003
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i do the same as joey does and give him the meat at least the 1st 6-8. i like to put the young dog up on a good note.if he does a real good job on the 1st dump give it to him and put him up for the night.after that praise him on the pop ups and give him the tough ones and put him up on it. every night is different but i stick to this plan as much as i can.

Last edited by willscrk on 08-21-2003 at 03:07 PM

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I appreciate ur help guys.
Hey West Coat what do u think of Joeys idea? (not bad)
He did tree the coon and was treed good when I got there. I than tied him up and went away. I dont know maybe it wasnt good.

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This board is paying off today. Been around "forever" you guys are bringing up points that Im sure will help me .VERY GOOD.

West coast walker,**** you're good. Where you been on some of some of the "off the wall" posts that have been on here. We need your input!!!!!!!!!!

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Registered: Jun 2003
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ABnO manager,

I was kind of "barked out" after my lengthy response, so I didn't offer any suggestions at the time. I think that both Joey's and willscrk's advice is sound. Not every dog will respond to the same stimulus in the same way or with the same results, but generally speaking both methods are likely to bring favorable results.

There are many theories on how to improve or bolster a dog's treeing. Note that I did not use the word "ability" at the end of that sentence because as I said in my first post, we know that the dog has the ability to bark...it is not a Basenji, it's a Walker hound for crying out loud! :> ) It is often the desire that is lacking. Sometimes we must play with the hand the dog has been dealt with (genetically-speaking), but more often than not, a young dog just needs some guidance, encouragement or a push in the right direction.

Regarding Joey's advice, I personally would not let the dog get to the point of wanting to quit treeing. As with any type of lesson you are trying to convey to the dog, you should not let them become bored or idle with the habit you want to reinforce. My twist on Joey's advice would be to gradually increase the time you spend "lurking" as your dog trees longer and longer.

The necessary prerequisite is to always reinforce the favorable behavior; you should make a point of rewarding the dog (petting, praise, "the meat", etc) for doing exactly what it is that you desire from him. Once he has associated his actions with the reward, you can begin to gradually demand that he extend those actions for longer and longer periods of time.

A note on what Grubbs said concerning the relation of praise with false treeing...this can indeed happen so be sure to physically verify the presence of the coon in the tree before you say a word to the dog. Go to the tree silent and disinterested in the dog until you see the coon. Once you have done so, it is safe to pet and praise him. This minimizes the risk of the dog associating praise with the act of barking (treed) and instead establishes an association between praise and the act of putting the coon up a tree and treeing on it.

Grubbs,

Point the way to some of these "off the wall" topics and I'll roll up my sleeves and get in there!

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Registered: Jul 2003
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Well West Coast, thank u. I still feel that leaving them treed a long time may be ok. He placed 3rd at a redbone sectional last night and stayed locked down with pressure. Usually he wouldnt of held that long, but he did. This dog (note) has only seen 2 coo his whole life and he didnt tree either. He just has the instinct and I think Ill play off of that. Hell get the meat this season but not all the time. Just on the old tuff tracks.

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