Keeping a pack in one pen.?

[mike martell]

I just think there is a thousand ways for a good hound to die a premature death and this one is avoidable....

Mike

[twist]

Wow how do ya think I feel Mark!

[dhostetler]

Mark & and Twist, I have this nice warm & fuzzy feeling that I am in agreement here. Give me some time I might start agreeing on 100% on the subjects yet. Lol

[Tanner Peyton]

So do you guys that have trouble with kenneling dogs together also have trouble in the box traveling to and from the feild? Or do you fellas have one of them dog boxes with separate compartments for each dog. I've heard of guys with a pac of hounds that couldn't get near each other any where but a hunting situation or they would fight and kill each other. It sounds like a pain, feeding 4 plus separate dogs, cleaning 4 plus separate kennels, watering 4 plus separate dogs every day, breaking all that ice and replacing bedding. A guy does run the risk of getting a dog killed by kenneling them together. But care and up keep is way easyer.

[dhostetler]

My dogs get along fine most eat out of the same bowl when I am camping. I have seen dog fights degenerate into a pack fight it is not pretty. A lot of females get cranky as they get older. Uncut males are very prone to fight if a female in heat is in the vicinity. I have no problem spending 4 times as much time caring for my dogs than to have a fight. When dogs start hating each other it is almost impossible to get it out of them.

[JTG]

Over the years, I have seen it many times. Everything is great, sometimes for years and some little thing sets them off and if you are not around, you have a hurt or dead dog.
Even if hounds are kept together, it best to feed and water them separated, because when they stop eating or drinking it’s an early sign of illness of one type or another.

[Msbobcat]

Thanks for all the info,I'm gonna fence off a half acre,but build separate kennels inside so that if I'm working outside nearby I can let them out but other than that kennel them separate.extra work to separate them some say? Well I'm gonna build like catdogs360 did,which is posted in the kennel section.looks like a smooth set up.

[Jeff Eberle]

I've kenneled dogs together since the 80's not one dog fight. Boone Shockly kenneled up to 10 female together no fight. I keep mine hunted down , Dogs with nothing to do will find something to do.

[mark]

Some people never realize disaster until disaster strikes.

[Jeff Eberle]

Maybe every bad thing we has seen it this world will happen to us. Lets all go hide in a corner. Sure I've seen peoples dogs that I wouldn't put mine in the box with let alone in a kennel , Some guys will put up with a lot of B.S from a dog that will catch game, I won't.

[pegleg]

I agree some strains of hounds are prone to dog fighting. I've dealt with them before. I also have some here and they are bred just like all the above post suggest. That said foxhounds deerhounds coondogs beardogs and lionhounds all over the us are kenneled in groups. I don't keep males or females that show dog dominance I won't even wait for aggression. My dogs should work towards catching game not one upping each other. Most of the time they ride loose in a trailer I have compartments in there and dog boxes with dividers. But I usually only use them if the trailer is full of horses or I'm hauling someone else's dogs. I have seen a two dog squable turn into a dog stretching as soon as one squeals or hits the ground. And everyone talks about the cure for all these other faults a hound can have well if the cure is ever applied wholesale this is the time. I've emptied a kennel before and its not the end of the world. Above all don't think this can't be bred out of hounds or that they'll be any less gritty on rough game .

[Tanner Peyton]

Yeah I'm not gonna rearrange my whole day for something that might take place a hand full of times in a fellas stay here on earth. If a dog shows aggression to anything but the critter I want it to chase it's gone. I have kids and a wife I don't need a game catching killing machine around, I'm not that serious of a hunter. Sure I sacrifice a lot game here and there but if I go the other way with a dog I can't trust then I don't or won't hunt it all. It saves me about 20 minutes a day worth of chores kenneling them together. Which equates to about 3k in wages or 120 hours per year that could be spent on something else I would rather be doing. I've had dogs about ten years now so I'm about 30,000 up right now. Will I lose a dog kenneling them together? Most likely I will some day but that one dog isn't gonna make or break me.

[Jeff Eberle]

It has nothing to do with time saved for me, Clean up is the same. It's the pack mentality why I do it. I have kennels for each dog with fenced it walkway in front of them, out the back of one of the kennels is a fenced in yard 99% of the time all kennels are open. Only time they are locked in is at night time feeding for about 15min just so I know that each one is eating a full meal, Midday I let them out of the kennel area when I'm working in the yard and will put a big pile of food on the ground for all to eat and that's with 4 border collie loose that run the main yard. I've seen guys dogs fight in the box, How many of you put all your dogs in one box? I've seen dogs fight a trees , How many of you run more then one dog ? Is there dogs that you can't trust to kennel together ? You bet there are , But they don't live here.

[pegleg]

Well here's another way to look at it. As houndsmen we should be a little ahead of the average pet owner in all things. So if these people who might only have 10-20 dogs max in their entire lives can keep four dogs in their yard or house of mixed breeds and types and probably size with out having them killing each other everyday why can't we as houndsmen /trainer/handlers and many cases breeders not have hounds we can reasonably depend on not to be killing each other? As far as game goes my experience has been dogs that are always jockeying for social standing in the pack or being jealous or marking every little thing trying to make a statement aren't nearly as effective as hounds that go out and work together solely to catch game. Most of these issues come from cur dog crosses or competition type dogs. I know a very successful life long houndsmen who has twenty or more hounds in a single enclosure and feeds in a cattle trough and as far as I know has never in nearly 70 years had a major issue. And his catch numbers are consistently high. But I know other hounds that can't travel together and have to be handled at the tree quickly or issues arise. Like some like to say what are you willing to settle for?

[al baldwin]

In all the years I have owned hounds had two dog fights that required vet bills. Have never kept dogs that had to be separated while transporting or tree fighters. Those two females I spoke of earlier were both very laid back easy going dogs, I was very surprised when they fought. Never had any problem before or after, the female that needed vet help was my best dog. The other incident requiring vet service was even a bigger surprise a twelve year old dog was the easiest going male I had ever owned, to my knowledge had never been in a dog fight in his life. He had bred some females, another hunter brought a female here for him to breed when she was ready. Placed the female in a kennel located away from the other dogs kennel, turned the others loose to exercise has I did most days. Mowing lawn paying no attention to dogs, just looked towards house to see another male had the old dog pinned to the ground, jumped off mower rushed to those dogs. I was really shocked to see what a battle had taken place, believe that younger male would have killed his sire had I not looked over when I did. Even more shocked the old male still wanted to battle. Kennel your dogs as you wish, these were just a couple lessons learned the hard way. Al