What size and build do you most prefer for you big game dogs

[Mike Leonard]

I know we have covered this before but I want to put it out there again and ask not oly what but why any particular reason?

I recently did a little straw poll of hunters that I know in person and here were some of their responses.

1. I like dogs no larger than 50 pounds and compact built. Why? Well I hunt a lot of tight brush and they seem to get thru it better than others.

2. I like dogs with plenty of leg on them but not too thick in the body. Why? Well I hunt a lot of pretty deep snow and and a squaty dog bogs down too much and it wears them out.

3. I like big dogs. Why? Cuz they look like the hounds my grand daddy ran.


4. I don't give a damn if the weigh 30 pounds or a hundred have ears that are long as your arm or ears that stand straight up as long as they will cold trail in bad country and catch what I am after. He answered his own. LOL!


So you get the jist tell us you what and whys.

[rooster]

looks is a great place to start. i like long legs, long ears and a ringing bawl mouth. i dont care if they are 30 or 70 pounds. if they are put together right it is ok with me. ive seen a lot of dogs that werent built well that had more determination than looks that could run with anything. but i still like legs and ears. my luck has been the prettiest ones usually had a hole in them and the ugly one would do real good but that is my luck

[Idaho]

Talking bear dogs, speed is one of my main considerations when I'm evaluating a dog, so I don't like bulkyness. Where I hunt, a faster pack will catch many more bear than a slow one. I don't mean to say that a bigger dog (i.e. over 70 pounds) can't be fast because they can if they're built right. I have a big, tall, leggy walker that probably weighs 75 pounds. I consider him to be fast. He's big but not bulky or blocky.

In general I have had luck finding the speed I like in dogs that weigh fifty-five pounds or less. Two of my fastest and best bear dogs are females that weigh right around thirty-five pounds. Smaller to medium sized dogs are what I have found to work best for me but I'm not too narrow minded to notice a good bear dog whether it weighs thirty pounds or seventy-five.

[gkckak]

I like a dog that looks like my granddaddys dog. I agree! I like a big dog above 60lbs that has long ears, bawls like its drunk, has long legs but not too long so it can get under obstacles. I also like a thick neck incase the animal turns back and wants revenge

[plottpappaw]

I look for heart in a dog mostly! I seem to find it in a litters runt. They are small and had to survive! I like my females to be 50lbs and males around 60lbs! Good legs and good conformation. A well built dog seems less likely to become sore unlike a dog with horrible conformation. Best i can describe it would be well balanced! I like the looks of a dark english

[Tim Pittman]

40-55#'s color, length of ear,both irrelevent to me.As long as they catch cats.The only reason for the preference in size,is that size of dog, built right,with tight feet should go day in day out.
My Idea of perfect wood be a Hi Tan,houndy ears,Built like a running dog,that uses it's tail like a rudder[not flagged or curled] and a big ole houndy drawlll voice on cold trail with a yodle on a jump track.
GOOD POST MR LEONARD
Tim Pittman

[rooster]

whats up with those kinky curly tails anyway. ive seen them on dogs where they almost made 2 curls? yuck. where does that come from? ive seen it in running dogs and registered walkers.

[Redwood Coonhounds]

My ideal build. My late Crash dog.
About 21" at the shoulder, 53#. All muscle, lungs, leg, tight feet, and a nice houndy head and ears. Could run one speed all day, and get through some mean country fast. Hold up to hard hunting, and just about any weather. He was always a little thin looking to me. I'd try and feed him everything under the sun to get weight on him, and after one run he'd be thin again. I always worried he'd die if I lost him overnight in the bad weather. Never did happen.

[Big Mike]

I prefer 50lb range with tight feet. They seem to have more stamina and get around better in bluffs. I have owned and still own dogs in the 80lb range. They do ok but the littler smaller dogs seem to be better for day after day horseback kind of hunting.

Most importantly they eat less!!!

[Nolte]

What I want and what I seem to get that hunts are usually not the same. I am more in line with #4 than the others. Find me a dog that willl pound out a crappy track, stay on it caught and then let me know it's treed and I will ALWAYS find a tie out spot for it. I could care less what the thing looks like.

If I had to build my ideal dog it would be a leggy, rangy, long eared black dog with a stout build, foghorn loud bawl and wicked tough feet. I'd like the bawl on a cold track to be long and for it to shorten up the warmer the track got. Have it chop on the tree and warble on something that was caught. Now if it was cold, tough, accurate and fast I don't think I could ask for much more.

[blackpaws]

the only thing i would like different from what Nolte said is that it would be ideal if the dog would bring the animal out to the road after it's dead. would save me the walkingand dragging .

[Dan V]

In general: For those of you who have hunted the big 80 lbs plus dogs; do you think they break down more with old age? Do you think the smaller ones have less lameness and hold up better?

I know there are some large dogs who are very athletic in build; but it seems with other large breeds (st bernards, great danes etc.) they seem to have some problems later in life that seem to be associated with large size.

I know with horses, I have seen the smaller horses out do the larger horses in the mountains (just don't tell them they are small!) Seems to be that way with some dogs.

[rooster]

i have seen big dogs break down with age especially the thicker type. big old raw bone horses as well. did you know if you were to take the bones from a 900# horse and the bones from a 1200# horse and put them in sacks they weigh virtually the same? it is true, the smaller horses bones arent as pourous, they are denser, fyi. dont know if its true with dogs.

[sourdough]

I prefer a mid size hound, 40 to 55 lbs, rock hard feet, athletic build, super cold nose, with hard headed desire, yet easy to handle.

I love the looks of the old school cold nosed trail hound, the track speed of the running dogs, the tree power of a competition coonhound.

But as nolte said, what you want and what works are two different things. I have different builds and abilities in my pack but they all compliment one another and it works for me.

sourdough

[Brady Davis]

I like the hounds that are 70-100 lbs maybe even more. We all agree that they look cool but it is true that they break down. I think the key is finding hounds that are built correctly...not like a brick shithouse. I like them tall, rangy and obviously to have solid feet...Without the good feet it doesn't matter how your hounds are built!.

I like y'alls idea of dogs that drag the game to the road I'd sure like a pair of them!