early starter or late starter

[lifreediver]

everyone loves a pup startin early but when there 2 or 3 what is the best dog you got and does the pup startin early mean much to you
was talkin to a old timer about this and he says with tree dogs sometimes a pup at 6months looks great but does not get any better a lot of times with tree dogs bear the dog that starts off slow usually is a better dog at 3 because he keeps gettin better
he was tellin me about a old houndsmen from way back who would not even bring a dog in the woods till they could lift there leg to pee
he did not want his pup gettin whipped by a mean bear or gutted by a hog till he was big enough and had some sense
i also used to know a guy who thought by 8months if they were not great they would get culled maybe he culled his best dogs he thought late starters were a flaw
what do you guys think thanks

[twist]

The tale about early starting dogs that dont get any better is not true if exposed sensibly to the game you want, it most always just gets better with age. Some dogs start earlier than other this doesnt make them any better but to me if they are 2 yrs old and a person is still waiting for them to come on as a dog is time waisted I am not saying a two year old dog should be completely finish but it sure better have a good start toward that or it is not my calibur of hound. This is just my opinion as I know there has been alot of dogs people have had that come on at a later age its just not for me as I like to see progress fast.

[kordog]

seems like the dogs that start early are more natural and the dogs that start after a year old are from what training a guy puts into them and what the other dogs teach them. i had a dog that didnt start till he was 16 months but turned out to be a great beardog castrated him though ,and bred to his sister that started killin coons and treeing at 4 and a half months old . you might as well buy a dog already running if you have to wait till a dog is 2 before it does anything. 2years worth of gas food training shots etc runs into alot of work and money . jmo

[spruce mountain]

Personaly I have never been disapointed in a pup that started early. All of the best dogs that I have had were early starters. Thats not to say that they are the only ones that turned out. Some are late bloomers. It could be because the early starters get more attention and thats why they turn out. Out of the last litter that I had I kept 5 pups,the 2 that started the earliest are still the best 2 at 3 years old. Granted they got the most attention and the other ones did come along and did alright but the early starters ended up the best. JMO

[Caincando1]

Not my line, but I believe in it.

"It's not how they start, It's how the finish"

[Outlaw 3]

The earlier the better. I have never had a pup that turned that wasn't showing me something by 6 months old. I am not talking about running to catch. I mean showing interest in game. Treeing the cats or coons. running and baying on small hogs. wanting to go with the other dogs. Once they are grown enough to keep up the excuses run out quick.

[Smiley]

One thing to think about is at least for me those early starters are more prone to what I call a teenage moment when they just look stupid . This seems to happen most about 14-20 months old . almost like they go backwards for a time especially if they had a season then let rest this is more apparent then the second season the almost act retarded for a time . Still they seem to pull out of it and get back on board .

[Nolte]

Smiley,

I have seen this too with some dogs. They get to a certain age and then start screwing up, not being where they are supposed to. I think all dogs will at some point have a screw up phase but most get through.

Then again, I've had some dogs that were permanently in this from the time they opened their eyes.

[Smiley]

I think that often what it is in many cases is those young dogs start hitting a streak when they want to be independent they do well but they make mistakes . these are the dogs in their first season that are always there starting tracks rigging treeing and just look great WHEN you see them . Then they try to do it on their own and make mistakes that woods time takes care of if people will be patient.

[spruce mountain]

I have also seen what Smiley and Nolte are talking about. They try to do things on thier own but it is a learning process and they will make mistakes but I have found that these dogs ,if you stick with them will be you're future lead dogs. Sometimes the ones that just follow the lead dogs will at times look better but they have what I call the pack dog mentality not the lead dog mentality. JMO