Littermate syndrome in hounds

Talk about Big Game Hunting with Dogs
Sureshotshane
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Littermate syndrome in hounds

Postby Sureshotshane » Wed Nov 17, 2021 10:32 pm

It’s common in the bird dog world for people to talk about how important it is if you keep more than one dog from a litter (or same age cohort) to separate them for the majority of puppyhood or they will get to attached to each other and not the handler.

Ultimately the dogs don’t hunt very well. I’ve never personally experienced it but I’ve heard about it plenty and I think I’ve seen it with other peoples bird dogs. It’s hard to parse out all the variables of course.

Is this not the case with hounds? Just keep them all together? Run them together? No problems?
lawdawgharris
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Re: Littermate syndrome in hounds

Postby lawdawgharris » Wed Nov 17, 2021 10:55 pm

My hog dogs are cat/Walker. My three main dogs are my old gyp (6yrs) and her littermate son and daughter (4yrs). I’ve always had them together and made several hunts any combination of the three or just one of them and never missed a beat. A friend of mine hunts my family of dogs too. She has her old gyp(9yrs) and three littermates out of her (2yrs). The two male dogs are go getters solo or with each other or however you want to pair them. Their sister though is really nice as long as the old gyp is there. You can cast them and she will go her own way or pair up or pack up, depending on what the situation is. She will lead most races too. If the old gyp isn’t there though, she isn’t leaving until something else locates, then it’s game on. We sent her to another buddy where she has to be in the lead dog role. She’s coming around but it hasn’t been overnight. I will never breed to her because of this lack of independence.


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bowieknife50
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Re: Littermate syndrome in hounds

Postby bowieknife50 » Thu Nov 18, 2021 10:06 pm

Not sure this applies because they're not littermates, but we have a great Pyrenees that has raised 2 hound puppies for me. Not nursed but after they were weaned were kept with her always. They don't have a problem being away from her at all.

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perk
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Re: Littermate syndrome in hounds

Postby perk » Fri Nov 19, 2021 3:06 pm

I raise dogs to hunt, and hunt together, I've never separated pups in my life. Rarely ever raised a litter where I only kept 1, usually due to low birth numbers. I want them all to do the same things so maybe I'm benefiting from them following each other around.
'If the hounds dont catch him on top, It doesnt count'
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1whitedog
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Re: Littermate syndrome in hounds

Postby 1whitedog » Sat Nov 20, 2021 9:32 am

I'm on the other end of the spectrum from some of the replies you have received. We raise hounds mostly walker with some English blood, we keep most all the pups out of the blood line with a few going to people we know. Pups are raised and worked together. I have seen many dogs reliant on other dogs be it littermates or other. I think as in most things with hound the end result is a combination of genetics, training, goals etc. Personally a dog reliant on another dog is not in favor here, my goal is that every hound I keep can get it done alone. I'm always mixing and matching and even singling dogs out. If you have an issue with littermate syndrome or any other type of dependency I would start at a young age by forcing the issue by leaving 1 at home or running different combinations. Get something treed, a hot track, keep 1 tied. At the end of the day the owner decides what this type of hound is worth to them. I'm sure my assingned value would be lower than most. I have just seen to many "good packs" fall apart when 1 dog was missing. I have a good friend that has a very good pack of hounds that consists of some great individual dogs but also some dogs that have some areas they are not as strong in. This pack is a mixture of dogs from all over the US; running dogs treeing dogs, every make and model. Some are trail dogs some catch dogs etc. Some of these dogs individualy would have some serious holes but together the pack is as good as any I know of. He is totally on the other end of the spectrum from me but both approaches get the desired results. Alot of game is treed by "packs" that work together and make up for each others short comings. Sorry for the babbling. Answer: it is perceived as a problem for some houndsman and not for others.
macedonia mule man
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Re: Littermate syndrome in hounds

Postby macedonia mule man » Tue Nov 23, 2021 11:19 am

The dogs I’m running now are littermates and their 11 yr. old dam. The pups are going into their 5th hunting season. I started roading all 8 of the pups with their mother at 7 months. All pups were smelling game and running in 6 weeks time. All this time the dam was carrying most of the load. Decided to leave her home and see what happened. Not much difference in the race except one of the male pups took the lead. After a few trips I left him home and another male pup took the lead with the same type race. When I put the dam back in the pack, she took back the lead or they gave it to momma. I think they gave it to momma because she was momma. I’ve mixed these dogs about every way you can with each other, two to pack, three to pack,it doesn’t make any difference. If the dog that took over the last race is left home, another steps up. It like they say,l took lead last race it somebody else’s turn today. I can road these dogs one at a time and all dogs will start game by themselves and run it, but when run together they will still let momma take the lead and she is somewhere around 11-12 yrs old. It’s not that they can’t lead a race they just let momma.

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