!!! The Ultimate Bobcat Dog: Part 2.0 !!!

[Dan McDonough]

The 10 pups are doing well. Their ears are rather short. I had expected some ear on these pups but they are taking after their mother apparently. It's not a problem for me but they sure don't look like hounds.

The shy pups are not shy anymore. The most bold are still the most bold. There doesn't seem to be a ton of difference in their size but they are still quite young. I expect that to change in the next 2 months.

I still haven't done the eye test, but I don't feel rushed to but, it's coming soon.

There are three pups that are a bit smaller and all three are a little more easy going.

I was messing around with them and trying to get a picture while leaning against a tree in their pen. I noticed that when I was leaving the pen later, several of them were sniffing up the tree. We'll see if that translates into anything later. I just put it in the notes for future reference.

Not much else going on besides a big feed bill.

[Dan McDonough]

If anyone that hunts cats three days a week or more would like one of these pups to try, I'd like to give around half of this litter to interested hunters. To see if you would be interested in one of the UBD pups, please call with any questions you might have and I'll do my best to fill in the blanks about how they came about and what the ancestors of these pups are like and also what to expect from each pup.

There is no charge for the pups. I only ask that you have a good solid situation that allows you to give the pups a good two years of hunting/training time on bobcats to see what they can become. No strings attached.

All are welcome to report the successes and failures of the pups on the UBD thread. Both are important to the understanding of how this cross responds to bobcat hunting.


Dan McDonough
507-261-9121
N. E. WI

[Dan McDonough]

It was accidental, but the first report of any of the pups being exposed to game is in.

1 of the UBD pups and two of the Lep x July pups were on a walk and managed to find a coon, bay it up and when the coon broke out of the bay and headed for the timber, all three treed on it. The UBD pup did the nicest job on the tree. That's a pretty good first story for a bunch of 5 to 5 1/2 month old pups. Let's see what happens next.

[Dan McDonough]

Something interesting to note. I've put a bird feeder into the pup pen and have been watching to see which pups might try and develope a strategy to catch birds. It's something I've watched their ancestors on their mother's side do for years now.

I haven't set anything of the ancestors up in this way, they just seemed to like to snatch birds if they got close enough. Anyhow, I've got quite a few birds coming in to eat grain and suit and while I haven't been sitting out with ghe pups this last two weeks quite as mich (very cold) I have seen some interesting things.

At least 3/4's of the pups are supremely aware of those birds and when they come in, often in groups, I can see the wheels turning. I've only witnessed a pup snap at a bird as it flew by on two occations so far. As they get a little older and the weather gets even a little more agreeable, I think this bunch is going to really have good awareness of what is going on above them.

The reason I like to see this trait in my UBD pups is that I believe having that type of awareness adds to their likelyhood of being really good locators. Just another tool in the arsenal for the war on bobcats is all this really is, but my intention from day one has been to develope a dog that has as many talents as the canine world offers, all rolled into one Ultimate Bobcat Dog.

We'll see how this turns out...

[Dan McDonough]

Ole the Magnificent!

[Dan McDonough]

Photobombed by his sire, Ganus's Hoosier Pride (Kuby).

[OWZ]

Do all the pups have hair Dan?

[perk]

Dan, I like his appearnce, not as much as I like the way a fox hound looks, but I like odd. And heck uf he dont work out for hunting he has a look that will probably keep vendors and Jehovahs witnesses out the yard anyways!
Thanks for posting pics!
Perk

[bearsnva]

And heck uf he dont work out for hunting he has a look that will probably keep vendors and Jehovahs witnesses out the yard anyways!-----by Perk

Now that is funny. Thanks for the chuckle. Ole does look different but I have never seen an ugly dog that is treed.

[Dan McDonough]

OWZ- Here's how they line up for hair:

Ole- Wired, double coat, blue merle, medium length.
Blackly- Black, smooth, double coat, thick.
Schultz- Fawn, smooth, double coat, thick, black mask.
Goldie- Fawn, wired, double coat, thick.
Rett- B&T, smooth, double coat, medium length, black mask.
Aiden- B&T, wired, double coat, medium length.
Moon- Merle, smooth, double coat.
Pretty- Brown merle, smooth, doible coat, short.
Split- Blue merle, smooth, double coat, short.
Arie- Wheaten, wired, double coat, medium.

Perk- They are sure enough a weird looking bunch. I've had quite a few people that don't know a thing about them try and guess what they are made of and not one of the normies had the first clue. I'm moving to AZ this year so things are about to really change for this crew. I gave the black one away and he has the best mouth by a long shot. That one hurt a little. I'm going to try and take four with so if you want one to pitch in with your crew just say so and I'll try and find someone going your way. Az is not where I imagined the big testing to occure, but it is what it is, I'm going to keep going anyway. At least I can kill a few more cats to them.

I refuse to sell any of these but I will be giving about six of them away. If the time crunch gets to tight, I'll give them to kids and old people if I have to. It'll be a shame to see any of them go to non cat hunting homes, but I doubt I'll have the choice to be that picky.

I'll try and get some good individual pictures of the rest of them.

[mark]

Looking forward to the Utimate Dry Ground Dog series

[Dan McDonough]

Mark- If they catch cats out there, I'll be in the $$$ because I don't think there's a whole lot of bobcat hunting going on in that part of the country. There's supposed to be a fair amount of them out there, but it's pretty brutal down in the Sountern part of the state, which is where I'll be.

If someone would have asked me if I wanted to live there, I would have said no, but there's more things at work on my mind than dogs and cats and off we go. I'm going to make the very best of it and see if I can't make a dent in the cats and fox down there, but I never would have guessed that is where I'd be testing these dogs.

I'm going to do my best to have a mobile setup so I can slip up into the high country and maybe keep this project alive.

[TomJr]

I live in southern AZ and there are good bobcats here. up in the mtns the fur is decent and they have good spots. I don't hunt only bobcats though, lots of grey fox so I hunt those too. And mtn lion of corse. I don't travel much just hunt from home, keeps it affordable AZ does have a long season, sadly not as long as it was just a year ago... now we have to take 3 months off in the summer.

[perk]

TomJr, alot of red dogs in that photo!

Dan, I appreciate the offer but we dont have enough cats to find out if he is ultimate here lol. I run alot more fox, and with a pack, he would never get any solo time.
Good luck
Perk

[Dan McDonough]

TomJr- Good to see you are there. We're coming down next Sat. To drive around and look for a place. I'm all in for fox. Bobcats and fox are interchangable for fun running in my book. I'm setting up a few folks with my older dogs before I leave and will be coming down with nearly all pups. The only old dog I'll have is a 5 1/2 year old lurcher. I'll be starting from scratch. It's going to be somewhat of a challenge to say the least. I don't think I'll be threatening any game populations for a while. I'm going to run the UBD pups fresh so I can determin where they rate cats naturally. I think I should start catching sometime next Winter. Never know though. I'm excited about all of the mention about grey fox populations there. I hear it from nearly everyone. I'm also excited to see those well spotted cats. Our cats here in WI, while large and heavily furred, are brownish red and not much for white spotted belly fur either.

I don't kill much during training but I'll find a spot to stretch out during the prime season in a couple of Winters. I like to camp in deep and make an adventure of it. Now that my kids are old enough to keep up, I'm sure we're headed for a lot of good memories.