Obedence

[1bludawg]

My example was given in response to Al's question about a dog running behind being helpful or could they be helpful ?
Another example would be when ole Rex comes in way behind his faster packmates and then sits down and locates the tree for them.
Ideally you want your dogs working together whether you hunt a pair or a pack but every now and then you'll run into someone hunting a oddball combination that catches game.Ask them why and they say because they do catch game.

[dwalton]

1bluedawg I realize that but I can not see where a dog running behind can be helpful. It happens all the time but if it does I am saying you need to look at dogs ahead if they need help aren't they hurting you and if the dog behind is the best dog why is he behind. Balanced dogs that work well together will catch more game. If your dogs don't work well together it mean lost cats.That said I do know as puppies mature they will and can get ahead and not pick the loose just as the beagles did with a good slower track dog behind. I feel with bobcats those little looses cost you from making a quick catch and giving the cat enough time not to ever tree or make a long race[trail job]. Bobcats are not as hard to tree as some believe, they are taught to be hard to catch. Just something to think about. Dewey

[1bludawg]

Dewey ,
You and i wouldn't hunt dogs like that but i've known of several that did with pretty good success and here's why . If they sell ole Rex they no longer have a strike or tree dog and that equals no cat caught .If they sell the 2 speed merchants they no longer have the drive to make ole stubtail climb and that means no caught cat .
Did you know Doug Rice ,the old cat and coyote hunter.When i was much younger Doug had a crippled tree dog called Hap .When his running dogs treed a cat ole Hap would come in behind and locate the tree like he saw it go up.
When you get right down to it some guys just wanna tree cats and aren't to picky how they do it .
I know what you're saying and agree with you but as you've said people do what works for them..

[al baldwin]

Yes I agree bobcats can be made hard to catch, that is why I say your catch ratio can depend on the cats one runs. Recall years ago when we were having a steady diet of educated cats to run, we would move to an area cats had not been dogged so hard. Made it much easier to catch & train young dogs, problem now days for us, we don/t have access to such an area. Some cats that have never been dogged are no more than treeing a coon. Dewey I have an email from a young hunter who has an 6 year old dog & a two year old he got from me out of dogs I bred. He works five days a week cutting timber, wanted to think me again for selling him buck, six and giving him bones, two year old. He was pleased to inform me he treed 17 cat & put six in a hole past season. This hunter is hunting where others hunt, & bare ground, said the last cat he treed, hunted 10 hours before getting a strike, does not have lots of cat. I know that buck dog is full open with a big mouth, which makes him very enjoyable to hunt with, in my opinion. This was accomplished hunting three dogs, buck, bones & an eight month old pup. I believe for the time he had to hunt he did as good as you this season, I write this to let you and others know some of these dogs we breed catch cat if giving a chance. The amount of running dog in these dogs is so small, doubt if it has any influence on the dogs performance. To each his own. Al

[merlo_105]

Good to hear Al them dog's are working out well for that young hunter. We talk about dog's behind barking to much ruining a race what about dog's a head not barking. That tick's me off more then anything. Biggest problem I have found with some of the running cross's is not opening on a cold track till there two plus year's old. That really slow's the track down.

[South Texan]

Interesting topic. Enjoyed the reading. Scrubrunner, you and I think a lot alike. Agreed with all your post. Your description of the beagle video was just the way I saw it.

[mondomuttruner]

Dewey, what do you consider a clean track? Around here, if a dog didn't bark on a rut or crossing a rut, it would be a silent race. I would guess our cats run their own rut over 50% of the time. Dog barking on an old rut the cat went down= good dog barking on a covered track=unacceptable..

Say a dog is barking behind 50 or a hundred yards (still on the track), may this noise deter the cat from circling back around? I think a lot of cats are caught when they circle back into a silent dog bringing up the rear.

[scrubrunner]

I can't say mine won't open on what y'all are calling a rut where the cat has already ran, run one last week that stayed in about 2 acres for the last 30 minutes of the race up and down the side of the road in some thick nasty stuff and the hounds were screaming the whole time. I know they ran over the same area numerous times. It ended right there like turning a switch off though, might have treed, went in a hole or just got away.

[twist]

Holy shit everyone is way over thinking lol. Andy

[al baldwin]

I reread a post, Dewey you stated you never wanted a dog to be more than ten feet off a track when running bobcat, was that a typing mistake? i have seen a pack running a bobcat that we saw, those dogs were running heads up a good 40 feet off where the cat ran. Recall that being a good race that ended with a treed cat. Pretty sure there was barking when the cat reran a few circles. Have also seen in snow where cat walked the ditch line on a logging road, dogs boxed that track and went to the opposite side of the road & trailed that cat down the road, a distance of a least thirty feet, away from where the cat had walked. I assume you would cull those dogs? To each his own. This just makes a stormy day go past a little faster. Thanks Al

[scrubrunner]

Bluedawg, I understand completely someone not being able to keep a bunch of dogs, or it may be detrimental to the catch ratio where or how you hunt but every hound man should experience 10 or 15 running dogs driving a bobcat or gray fox when they get him in the short rows. It's intense, I can hardly keep from jumping and dancing in the road, yelling for ole Stub to catch him. When I was a little boy an old man that hunted around here had a hound named Stub, he'd yell Hyyyyy get him Stub! That was 50 years ago but I think of Mr. Ross every time it sounds like they are about to catch it.
Have really enjoyed this post, I'm glad it picked back up after a few days.

[mark]

Scrubrunner: the short rows???????

[scrubrunner]

I'd say so, wished I'd have been there!

[scrubrunner]

Is that 6 dogs ?
There is surely not any contour lines on my alpha like that though.

[mondomuttruner]

Those are the kinda races I like Mark...separates the men from the boys..