Obedence

[mondomuttruner]

I hunt where there's a lot of private land that is off limits to hounds so I have mine trained to stop on the road when they see me (or usually anyone else). If it's good, I'll tell them to keep going, if not, I tell them to load up. A few weeks ago a coyote was circling behind someones house so my buddy went in to try and flush it. He ended up seeing it and shot at it. The dogs saw him and stopped but apparently his (go getem) voice isn't the same as mine and they would not go on the track, followed him out to the truck. Good or bad...idk One of my pups was bringing up the rear and took the track so all wasn't that bad. It's so nice when you have 6 dogs coming on a critter and you can't let go on a piece of land and you say lets go and they follow you out or load up if on a road.
The single most best thing I learned on this site quite a few years ago was not using a leash anymore. I could not imagine having to leash dogs out of the woods or where ever. Improved my hunting experience 10 fold.

[cfanno01]

Im still a beginner but I find hunting to be much more enjoyable when the dogs are obedient. I used a leash when my first dog was a puppy and it got old real fast. I would rather catch a few less cats than have to chase dogs around the woods for hours after Ive decided its time to go home. I cant imagine leashing up 2 or more dogs and hauling them out of the woods, one is hard enough to keep from getting tangled up in every tree on the way out haha

[dwalton]

I have seen dogs over handled and not hunt or go with the other dogs I have not had one that I raised do that. I have had some that had to smell their own game before they would go with others.I have had pups completely quit hunting by trying to deer break them with shock collar before they knew good game in the past. I don't let my hounds but one Leopard ever be a house dog, she was one of the best dogs I will ever own. That said In the Miller book on hound train they looked and hunted with the best coon dogs they could find and campion coon trial dogs the only thing they had in command was that they were family pets. It surely must depend on each dog and each person as to what they want. I only leash a dog at a tree if I choose to kill a cat. They come off a tree on command and they will come off a jump track with a tone and voice call. I have called them off a trailing track several times with a tone. You can teach your dogs anything you want if you take the time. Hunting instinct and obedience training are two differ things. The better control and obedience trained the more time I have hunting for bobcats and enjoyment. Each to their own.Dewey

[huntinwyo]

I'm really new to hunting with hounds and a lot of my fears are being talked about on this thread! I bought a pup 2 years ago and raised and trained him myself. I taught him obedience, took him to the mountains, rivers, woods etc all the time from when he was big enough to get around, about 5 mo. I'm guessing. He would tree squirrels in the yard at 6 mo. He got in a fight a couple times under my porch at around 8 or 9 month. Anyway I started taking him out at night at about 10 months old. He would hustle out and hunt really hard....He'd get so far that I would have to get him back with the tone because of roads or private property. He'd strike something almost every night but he didn't actually catch a coon til he was 13 months and that's going out twice a week at that time. Anyway he has treed a ton of coon since then but he doesn't seem to range near as far as he used to. I raised him in the house basically and he is with me a lot of the time. I have been wondering if this is the reason. He is a way better dog than he was a year ago ad far as catching coon but he doesn't go nearly as far as he used to?

[huntinwyo]

I meant to say he got in a fight with a coon under my porch a couple times!

[twist]

Sounds like you got a nice hound with a brain. Andy

[david]

He is a way better dog than he was a year ago ad far as catching coon but he doesn't go nearly as far as he used to?

Do you walk when coon hunting? I like walking, but have learned that if I want my dogs to go deeper, i need to hold still. In the old days they would build a fire and sit around and talk. If you have an area your dog is familiar with and knows where to find the coons, just release him further and further from the hot spot, and stay there. Go to sleep if you can't stand the waiting. He will go find the game eventually. I hunted with some top competition trainers in Missouri and they drop the tailgate and sit there till the dog is treed, and it can be a long walk to that tree.

A lot of it is breeding, as Kevin pointed out in a different thread. But even close hunting curs will learn to go find game when they figure out you are not going to do it for them, and you are waiting right there till they are bored out of their mind by staying with you. (Hunting more than one dog will sure help with that because they will compete with each other.)

By staying in one place you remove his insecurity with having to find you.

Some competition hunters let their dogs know they are not allowed to check in until called (because some crooked judges will take that opportunity to say the dog quit hunting and scratch him.)

[david]

He is a way better dog than he was a year ago ad far as catching coon but he doesn't go nearly as far as he used to?

Another thing you might learn from the competition hunters is the release from the leash is a very powerful command to hunt. I know it seems opposite of big game hunters who want to walk leash-free back to the truck. But competition dogs know for sure that when we are on a leash we are walking somewhere or otherwise not hunting. And when we are released from the leash it is time to get gone. And there is never any confusion or insecurity.

[huntinwyo]

The way I hunt usually is lead him out to a spot, turn him loose and he'll start hunting. He Wil hunt out right away meaning he doesn't take off running and babbling at all. He'll generally run a 4 to 500 yard loop so to speak and hunt that whole loop inside. If he doesn't strike he'll check in and we'll move on. He used to keep going out until he struck something. He turned 2 in nov. and caught his own about a year ago and since then has really turned into a nice coon dog. I entered him in his first competition hunt this coming March and I'm anxious to see how he goes against better dogs. He's never had the opportunity to hunt with a real coon dog in his life. The discussion with Kevin interested me as well because my dog and pup are both from the same line of dogs as Kevin has. I'd be willing to bet the ancestors are pretty tight to his.

[david]

You have a nice dog. That is exactly what most coon hunters I have known enjoy. A dog like that in Iowa would catch you 100 coon in the first three weeks of November without much sacrifice.

I will send you some old time information.

I hope you have fun in the competition. You will learn some things for sure. It is not always pleasant though. Your dog has never had to refuse to run off game under the preasure of another dog running it. He has never had to hold his tree with other dogs trailing. He has never had a sly dog run him off the tree when no one is looking. All of these and more can happen. And I haven't gotten into the sly people yet. But hopefully none of that will happen and you will have a great time. I hope you win, and you sure could.

[scrubrunner]

Huntinwyo, you said he hasn't had a chance to hunt with a real coon dog. Sounds to me like he IS a real coon dog, and you don't know you may have the best hound in the hunt. If he doesn't win, it still doesn't mean that he's not. Good luck and hope you have fun.

[huntinwyo]

David I've thought about all those things you talked about. Like Kevin was saying about his dogs, he hasn't been real trashy. I started him on coon and he had early exposure to coon naturally (without a cage). That's not to say that he hasn't treed turkeys, ran deer and coyotes because he's done all of these!. I think the best advice I got from the years of research and reading I've done and did before getting in to this sport is, buy a well bred pup and don't put a shock collar on! I've never shocked him in the woods and I'll give one example why. Last night we hit a spot that is bordered by the Platte river to the north, 800 yards of woods that follows the river all the way and then a large irrigation ditch to the south and then a very large pasture. Boozer hit a track right away on the ditch and then ran fast and hard wide open a cross the field. I thought for sure he hit a coyote which he has done twice in the last month or so and probably would have shocked him if I had one on. Well he curved the track around went back across the ditch went silent for a min or so and let out his super long locate bawl! I knew he was treed and I knew I'm too stupid to be trusted with a shock collar! This sort of scenario has happened to me a bunch over the past year and I'm glad you guys give sound advice. I'm not going into the competition with any illusions of grandeur, but I do hope to see some good dogs and see where we stack up.

[david]

Awesome story, you got us right there with you.

That dog could win the hunt. Don't think he can't.

There are strategies handlers can employ, but starting out if you just call him streight exactly as he does, you won't be blaming yourself later for bad calls. That way if he makes a mistake, it's his mistake and not yours. You did not lose the hunt or win it for him. He did it, and you just called what he did.

I wonder if you can get hold of a score card or download one so you can start keeping score on him when you hunt between now and the competition. That would help you a ton.

I hope you have a blast and see some great dog work and meet some great friends that you can keep the rest of your life.

[pegleg]

Obedience training has always been something I have messed with. I like dogs that learn easily and naturally. If I have to drill a dog over and over it gets to where I question things. Is this something that's really needed? Are there more natural dogs out there? Or are there dogs that don't have these faults? I don't think any dogs perfect but there are dogs with strong abilities and minimal weaknesses. The real issue is we all look for different things.
Something that was mentioned was hounds hunting out. That's a issue for me. Hunting on horseback means the dogs need to pay attention to you and pack with you. But after the strike sometime that track is probably going to get away from you some how. Now if its hot you probably won't have a issue but if its due to terrain and the tracks not grabbing those young hounds its common for them to check back. I try and parallel the dogs working this gives them the incentive to swing back to the track with out really ignoring you so when the track heats up they're in a position to go with the older dogs.
I have tried different methods but this gives me the type and amount of handle on young dogs I want. This is the only area to much control can be a issue for me. Once in a great while it might have a dog leave a tree to find you but its rare and usually only when your in close to them anyway. One other area its been a problem is on bobcats if they can kill the cat on the ground it causes some confusion. There's a great race and then nothing pretty soon either you meet your dogs coming out or they're hunting again. It sure looks like a loss . I don't have a solution for this other then mixing the pack up making it smaller or staying close. Although a lot of times its a specific dog causing this. Some just can't pass a chance to grab a cat up. Often they aren't very strong tree or bay dogs. If you hunt mostly off the truck the amount of control you have over your dog changes to include the truck/box . how many guys will stick a dog in the box if they don't want to deal with them acting up? I've had dogs that you could let out of the kennel and first thing they do is find the horse or trailer. Its all learned behavior and falls under training. Often times you see someone who is against coddling or over training dogs but their dogs have a lot of this situational training they have picked up through repetition. Its still training. Just like the dog that is boxed and only dropped on a track then pulled off the tree. That dogs been taught too. Granted its a real small lopsided type of training but its still there.

[macedonia mule man]

I know nothing about what other hunters need but i trot dog out front and all they need to do is come to the truck horn or voice. That's pretty simple for any dog to learn and any hunter to teach.