Coonhounds dont always turn out?

[redbonecurhunting]

I am VERY new to hunting with hounds, and just got my first coonhound, ( a 3/4 red bone, 1/4 cur) after months of saving up. I have been on this forum quite a bit trying to gain helpful peices of information. While reading i have noticed several posts regarding the fact that not all hounds are cut out for hunting? I cant quite wrap my head around this, I was under the assumption that all hounds had a natural drive to hunt, to trail, to tree! I just cant figure out what people are saying by, " some just aren't cut out for it" I thought a hound was a hound? Just wanting some sort of explanation. Thanks

[rockytrails]

[halfbreed]

well if you are going to get into this you must realize that we don't all have the same expectations from a hound . a lot of us are plum critical of a dogs performance and expect more than others . like the old saying goes one man's trash is another man's treasure .

[cobalt]

Some race horses won't race,
Some labs won't fetch,
Some hounds won't hunt, etc.
Animals aren't machines.
Life on earth.

[redbonecurhunting]

Yeah, i understand. I was looking at it from the point of view that hunting was his only purpose.I realize now that they are not machines. Thank you

[Bluetickhounddog]

.

[1bludawg]

I don't claim to be a great trainer but i have trained a few cat hounds over the years.This is what i've found from my perspective. In my opinion, 10 % of the total hound population are culls .80% are mediocre or average ,meaning they have to have help to get game treed .The last 10% are the top dogs,the super stars that most would like to own.

[DunDealHoundHunters]

I am no pro but consider myself better than most. First a guy needs patience and along with that a dog with the right breeding. You also need to get a dog to handle before you worry about getting them to hunt. Starting at a young age 5-6 months for instance start making drags catching coon cats w.e and work with them. Most people don't understand how much time u need to devote to a hound to make it number one. The more time u spend with them and the more u hunt them the better they will be. But it is definitely up to the handler to make the dog good. If u never give the dog a fair chance it'll never turn out. Right or wrong just my opinion. I wish u the best of luck.

[redbonecurhunting]

Thanks everyone,
No offense taken Bluetickhounddog, I rather enjoyed the interesting simile. I understand what you are trying to say. I know i will be able to devote the time needed, i am just worried about which direction to concentrate my efforts towards. I plan on purchasing Walk With Wick because multiple hound owners have continuously recommended it to me. Until the day i save up enough money however, I will have to gain all of my hound dog training knowledge from this forum. Thank you everyone for taking the time to try and help me, I am VERY ignorant on the matter thus far.

[bigskybowhunter]

Redbonecurhunting,

I have a copy of "walk with wick" that if you pm me your address I will let you borrow if you send it back when you can afford one. I understand how it is starting out and am there myself. It's a good read and opens up different perspectives of dog training

[merlo_105]

Bluetickhounddog will you please enlighten us on some of your training methods. You can't come in here saying all hounds will hunt if you wont provide us with how you do it.

[dhostetler]

I don't think that bluetickhounddog is a hound guy. I believe he is fascinated by the sport and his knowledge comes from studying the subject on the internet. He can however not resist making numerous posts of his newfound knowledge. That said I enjoy reading his posts as I think it is good to see how someone completely out of our lifestyle thinks and responds to our posts.

All hounds will hunt to certain extent even if it is limited to sight chasing rabbit out of the yard. What we hound guys consider a dog that will hunt or not hunt is defined on a lot higher level.

[brycejohnson]

Young man I am new to the sport myself, been doing it about four years. Those four years were about four nights a week coon hunting and lots and lots of bear hunting in five different states, and many many different types of terrains, and hunting conditions. I have seen and hunted with lots of guys from allot of different backgrounds from lots of different hunting styles. I had a super nice dog that operated at a very high level. Right now I have three pups from the same line that are starting to operate decently. I am not a perfect dog trainer but am a good one. My 9 month old pups will load, (get in the box) rig, (get on top of the box) come, sit, stay, and get in the kennel all on command. (within reason sometimes they enjoy testing me) I have seen literally hundreds of hounds owned by many different guys over the last 4 years. Listen to what I am about to tell you. Very few hounds will be superstars, most hounds will do something, (maybe run and tree coon with other hounds) But you must realize there are many hounds alive on this earth that will not do anything regardless of how much training you put into them. There are hounds that are born without the ability to both trail and tree game. If they don't have the ability, you can't put it in them. Please spend lots of time and training your hound, get his handling down first like others have mentioned. And then give him a fair shot by putting him in the best situations for that ability to shine. But realize he MIGHT NOT MAKE IT. I'll give you this analogy. Think of 20 random people you know. Suppose they all went to a football camp with Tom Brady for a month to learn to be quarter backs. At the end of the month you would see a wide variety of results. The best athletes probably would have good footwork, good arm strength, and be able to hit receivers in stride and make it look easy. Some would complete a few good passes, but you wouldn't really be impressed. And some, even after a month of training all day every day by one of the best quarter backs alive, would still trip on a 5 step drop back, fumble most snaps, and wouldn't be able to complete any passes to those fast NFL receivers. They have never had the ability and never will, no matter how good the coaching is. Its the same with hounds, you can only bring out what they have in them. Blue dog hunter man is wrong. Some dogs wont make it. If you don't believe me, do this consistently for 4 years and at the end of the 4 years, you will believe me. Good luck with your hound and welcome to the sport. I have loved the last 4 years of hunting and am hooked for life. I hope you have a similar experience as I have had. If you ever find yourself in Oklahoma feel free to come hunt.

[redbonecurhunting]

Thank you. I really did wonder how it was possible for all hounds to turn out?! It makes much more sense that it has to be in their blood along with in their training.

[cobalt]

To the bank brycejohnson☺.