Dog not wanting to tree.

[Yocham30]

I have a 1 year old mountain cur she is a decent track dog but does not want to tree very well. Any advice to help with this. Thanks

[macedonia mule man]

I have had or hunted with just about every kind of cur dog there is and just about every strain of mt.Cur and I can remember only two curs that treed as well as a hound. BUT, I have had a lot of fun and killed a lot of treed game with curs.

[justahunter]

Do you kill stuff out to her? Sometimes that turns them on .

[Yocham30]

Yes i have shot things out to her and i have climbed up and kicked them out. She has no intrest in any thing if its dead if i kick it out she will get on it. If i shoot it she just stands there. She will put it up a tree and will bark a few times and will stay close to the tree but will not sit back and tree good. I keep thinking she will get better with age and her tracking it getting so much better just wish she would tree a little better.

[mark]

You dont have a dog problem,you have patience problem. Keep hunting the little dog as you have been and sit back and watch the natural locate/tree ability come out in it. It is worth the wait and it will be an honest tree dog most likely IMO

[Yocham30]

Thanks mark thats what i was hopen the problem was. I do get impatient some times.

[Yocham30]

Thanks mark thats what i was hopen the problem was. I do get impatient some times.

[david]

Different bred dogs tree bark for different reasons, I feel.

An incomplete list of reasons might be:

Track dogs tree because they want to finish the track, but can't because the track goes up a tree.

Tree bred dogs, in the extreme examples, tree because they enjoy barking up a tree.

To me, there is a fine line here between mental health and craziness. You will see dogs in this extreme example that are simply looking for a reason to flip their switch into mindless barking at the sky. To me, it is a genetic fault. But some of these dogs will bark 6 - 18 hours up a tree. And this last trait, before GPS, was mandatory for tree game in rough country.

And I feel some dogs in the mixed breed and cur/ non-hound category seem to tree bark as a way to call their team-mate (you) to come see what a good job they did for you, and for you to give them a treat for it (downed game).
This category often will not flip the switch into something that could be described by the general public as neurotic, compulsive, imbalanced, mindless Canine Tourette's syndrome.

And I think various breeds will have a mixture of these three motivations. And the recipe might be as varied as the number of lines of dogs and mix-breds.

I am guessing yours is falling more in the third category. It might never be a mindless tree barker. But as Mark said, if it is locating up, and likes to please you, chances are it will become exciting enough to him to call you to the tree. Even if he is not turned on by dead game, he may be turned on by making you happy. Enjoy him and the process. I am sure he enjoys you.

[mark]

I think a dog should only tree for one reason. THE GAME IS UP!!!!
Their are several things that have to happen before the dog sits down and trees however. 1. The dog must know the track has 100% ended (either by checking and making sure or by seeing the game climb) 2. Once the dog has made sure the track has ended and not continued on due to obstacles that aren't dog friendly etc etc. The dog should then locate the game either by smell of the actual animal (not the smell of where it HAS been) or by being able to see it. There are always exceptions for dogs be off a few trees. One that i see occasionally is very steep ground with a up draft. That can cause dogs to be off a ways but they are where they can smell the actual animal. Its only my opinion so take it with a grain of salt.

[Kyle D7]

If the dog is putting the game up the tree for you and barking a few times tie it back and jump the game out of the tree and let it catch it again. I have found that it will make lite tree dog's turn into good solid tree dog's. JMHO hope that helps.

[david]

I have a 1 year old mountain cur she is a decent track dog but does not want to tree very well. Any advice to help with this. Thanks

Yocham30,
If you want something kind of fun to work on, when you can't hunt, that might help your dog understand what is wanted and what is allowed: teach him to speak on command. It's easy to do with most dogs, because most dogs enjoy barking to some degree. Set him up in a situation where you know he will bark. Then when he does, give the command to speak. And praise him when he does. He is a smart dog, and will get it quickly. Then practice it and praise or give him some kind of treat when he speaks on command.

A cur can be entirely different than a hound, and many of them, if not most, have some kind of a quirk that can test your patience. Many houndsmen do not do well with them because it can be like trying to read a book in a foreign language when we are used to our own familiar language. A good dose of hound blood can sometimes be enough for a Houndsman to make the transition, but not always.

A smart and sensitive cur that is taught that barking is not allowed (around home, etc) sometimes just needs the confidence that barking at a tree is allowed and expected and that it pleases you. When he is at the tree and he hears that familiar command "speak" "speak to him" "good boy" "speak"...then he will know that barking in this situation makes you happy.

The full blooded curs with very little hound blood that I have known, hunted with me and for me, and their goal in life was to please me.
But I never had one that would keep barking up a tree for 12 hours.

But as far as tree barking until I could get there within a reasonable time, It was only a matter of teaching them what pleased me.

[Jeff Eberle]

A cur can be entirely different than a hound, and many of them, if not most, have some kind of a quirk that can test your patience. Many houndsmen do not do well with them because it can be like trying to read a book in a foreign language when we are used to our own familiar language. A good dose of hound blood can sometimes be enough for a Houndsman to make the transition, but not always.

A smart and sensitive cur that is taught that barking is not allowed (around home, etc) sometimes just needs the confidence that barking at a tree is allowed and expected and that it pleases you. When he is at the tree and he hears that familiar command "speak" "speak to him" "good boy" "speak"...then he will know that barking in this situation makes you happy.

The full blooded curs with very little hound blood that I have known, hunted with me and for me, and their goal in life was to please me.
But I never had one that would keep barking up a tree for 12 hours.


But as far as tree barking until I could get there within a reasonable time, It was only a matter of teaching them what pleased me.

David , This should be a must read for any first time cur owner. I think its about time for you to write another book...

[Yocham30]

Thanks for the replies i will try the speak method and try to be more patient.

[dhostetler]

I never hunted curs but when I had hounds with treeing issues my problem was they wouldn't stay there and find something else to run. At least your dog is staying there your problem is very minor in my opinion, I have owned dogs that didn't tree at all at a year old. Do you tie back at the tree? That might help.

[Bear hounder]

I had a plott one time that would not tree the guy I bought him off of said he tried everything to get him to tree but he would not tree so I bought him thinking I would train him for deer hunting and so this dog was the very way I ended up bear hunting with hounds I was happy hunting a couple of beagles and that was it I did not know anything about hounds at all so got this dog from a man who hunted bears and he said he will not tree but if he can see somthing on the ground coon or fisher he will kill it he is A very gritty dog butt won't tree I said well we don't need to tree the deer I'll take him .what is gritty I said then he explained to me what gritty meant and I thought intresting and away I went back to deer hunting so to make a long story short we diced we wanted to hunt bear and we started to train ing with coons first this plott was named Ezekiel. so every time that zek dog would be but down he would not run atrack or tree he would go with the dogs in hopes of chewing on somthing but he would not tree so I would catch coons let them out with the dog tied back let the dog go hoping he would see it when it climes the tree he would not tree even tho he saw it go up the tree one freind seen this happen and said he is a stupid dog. I said nop he is a smart dog he knows he can't climb tree's so I changed the process we put a coon in a cage and put a rope over a limb he would try to eat cage and all barking every breath while the cage was on the ground as soon as the cage came of the ground he would stop barking and start jumping at it but as soon as it was higher than he could reach he would quit and loose all intrest so it seemed to be true this dog wouldn't tree we had another dog named old Ann and she was a coon dog that at the time has a different tree proplem she would bark up every tree that u pointed a flashlight at so as time went on we kept old zek around to rescue the other dogs we were trying to train on coons when they could not handle a big old coon we would turn old seek in and he would crunch the coon up and save the other dogs well one night I had a bag of grain placed about 5 feet of the ground and in the crotch of a tree for coon bait I drove back to the bait and turned the hounds out maybe 3 or 4 I can't remember but I do remember walking past the grain bag and I shined my light on it to see if any thing had tore it open and old Ann comes in glued and starnt treeing like crazy and zek does it to you could see a switch was turned on all of a sudden he was a treeing machine he climbed right up on the top of the grain bag in the crotch of the tree and just laying on the wood I could not hardly believe my eyes so I think if you can run your dog with another dog that tree's hard then you have a three times better those three things being 1 your patience 2 the other tree dogs example 3 repetition hope this helps you keep lookin up

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