Who needs the best hounds?

[Mike Leonard]

I know we all want the best possible hounds we can find but here is an intersting thought.

I had a young hunter tell me once. Well I would like to buy one of those really well bred hound pups out of those proven game catching dogs but I really can't afford it. Heck I only get to hunt a day or so a week during season and maybe we find a track and maybe we don't so really I can't justify spending much money on a hound. those full time hunters are the ones that need to buy those kind of dogs.

Hmmm?

In reality the excact opposite could be true. The full time hunter who is out there exposing his dogs all the time getting him on a lot of game can many times make a very good dog out of a hound that possibly would prove inferior for a weekend warrior.That is why so many times people get dogs from an outfitter or full time hunter best two dogs and try to raise them up and train them when they get tyime and usually end up with nothing anywhere approaching the dogs they came out of.

Now nothing takes the place of lots of hunting and exposure but those who don't have that luxury need the very best most natural dogs they can find.

Those that nearly train themselves if you will and will continue to give reasonably good service even if laid up for varied amounts of time.


So before you make the decision to just take a pup somebody is going to give you and try to make him into a game catcher if you have the time, you need to stop and think. Maybe you don't have the time for a dog at all and you should just go with your buddy who has them, or maybe you should do your homework and buy the very best pups you can find with a proven history of early starting natural tendancies. Is it going to cost a bit more? Usually in the beginning but in the long run you probably won't go thru half a dozen dogs trying to find one that trips your trigger.

[Big Horn Posse]

That is an excellent post there Mike. Not many people "get it" and expect a young dog that is from excellent bloodlines to be outstanding when taken out a few times a year. Fact is the more you put into a young dog the more you will get out of them. I think more people should take that advice and go with someone who has time to work with a dog than to buy one themselves and not have the time to work with it proper.

[FullCryHounds]

Excellent info Mike. I've always said, there has been a ton of very good dogs put down because it was the owner that didn't get him out and hunt him enough. Not all dogs start as early as others.
Just look at 90% of the 'Dog for sale' ads out there. They are all the same. "This dog will make a great hound but I've only had him on three trees. He's now 2 years old."

Well no kidding.

[twist]

Mike, great post to some it up (you pay for what you get). Most of the time cheap is not the best. That stands for reason in what ever you buy dogs or boots, charmin toilet paper vs store brand What pair of boots last longer Danners or Walmart brand? They both serve the same purpose but the Danners will out last the Walmart brand more times than not. The same goes for a proven strain of dogs. later, Andy

[Mike Leonard]

I think on the other hand a lot of times we do pay more for hype or glitz or glitter but when it boils down to where the rubber meets the road it is the proven product that really is the best value.

But proven by who? A marketing board? No a panel of paid of experts? No again. By somebody that doesn't hold to the same high standard of excellence you do? No
It must be proven by you and others that operate and seek the same thing.

A lot of things flash in the pan and come and fade out quickly but genrally the real deal prevails and stand the test of time.

What has this got to do with hounds? Well it seems every couple of years you will have a new UCK world champoin emerge on the scene and others in each breed category and before long they are the hottest bloodline or breeders out there but soon they are replaced and the same can be said for certain big game breeders and strains I could count 20 that were suppose to have the end all of big game hound at one time and a lot of folks wouldn't even know who I am talking about today. But the ones that attain and remain thru generations just like that tried and true Winchester rifle or that pair of Whites or Russell boots, or that Marble knife or similar things seem to grow even more valuable in this emotionally spastic world of new and improved.

I was talking to an old man at the gun shop the other day as he held a time worn Pre-64 Model 70 Winchester 30-06 in his hands. He said now there was a rifle lad. I had to admit they certainly set the standard and the bar back in the day. He said when Winchester decided to hire a new marketing staff and cut costs by switching to pressed out parts of allow and sheet steel and did away with the controlled feed action and the hammer forged barrels they called their new rifles ( The new and improved model 70) the public bought that for a bit but before long logic filtered back thru the BS and they classic Pre-64's that were left sold like hot cakes and then became collectors items.

The proof of the pudding is still in the eating.

[Ike]

ike

[FullCryHounds]

Mike, I've got two pre-64's. A .270 my Dad bought new and an .06 I picked up years ago. No, they are not for sale.

[chilcotin hillbilly]

Mike , good post. My first hound was picked up as a stray. The people you got her did not have enough time for it and only took it for the odd walk. I answered an add for a free walker hound and took her up country with me. I knew nothing about hounds but have always had dogs. I spent all winter hiking with her and breaking her off trash. Come spring she was putting bears up, treeing hard. I had to train her to not be afraid of gunshots but by the next winter she treed lynx on her own, was in on afew cougar but sadly was killed in a ground fight with a big tom. One mans garbage is another mans treasure.

[Dan V]

On their best and worst days, they are still just dogs.

[Roy Auwen]

So true ,they are just like kids, brag on them and they will make a lier out of you.
Work is a big factor , old dogs do go pen stale and sometimes seenile.
Can not live on their past, its what they do today.
Just my exsperiance.

[R Severe]

Seems like very few can afford the time to take a pup to the best he can be these days. I think once you've got a dog to what you think is it's best you start using your time a little better in the training process.

I for one blow it on a real regular basis, only now I know it
I say, do your homework and buy the best pup you can afford that's parents hunt the way you want a dog to hunt.

After that it;s the quality of the training you put in that's gonna get that pup to it's best.

Nother great thread Mike