R Severe, That's the best advice so far That's what I did when I started out. Find a reputable cat hunter in your area and go with him or her a few times and pick there brain for every bit of info you can sqeeze out of them, pay attention, listen and be respectful, it took that person alot of time and miles to learn what they know and there sharing it with you. An old veteran hunter has forgotten more then most of us have learned Don't be in a hurry to get a dog, your going to have every houndman in the country trying to give you or sell you there junk that they should be culling them selves instead of passing it on to a new guy that don't know anybetter. If you find the right person to go with you'll be well on your way. BE PATIENTE
"Relentless pressure relentlessly applied"-Rod Klawitter
"If you did not see it in the tree it did not happen" -Herb kennedy
cliff I'm not saying you cant get a cat dog for cheap all I'm saying is be careful on what you do get, there is alot of crocked people out there and you don't want to get burned. like alot of people on this post have said go hunt with the dog more than once by itself even better it would be nice to hunt it were you live. i hope you find what your looking for and good luck
I know and have talked to one cat dog breeder in oklahoma. He said his dogs are a line his daddy started back in the 40's or 50's that he's been hunting and breeding since. I told him to contact me next litter but I never heard back from him. I'm right now in PA but am moving back to Oklahoma within the year. I'm going to make sure I contact him again and see if he'll let me hunt with him. Not that it mayyers really but he said his dogs are not pure bred, they have several diffrent breeds in them.
Cliff Ruppert
careful what you say bout a coonhunters wife, but you be darn careful what you say bout a coonhunters dog!
cliff get ahold of dale cole there in oaklahoma if that is not who you allready talked to. he has been breeding cat dogs for along time that his dad and uncle started they are mix breed dogs and have heard from sevral that they are darn good dogs
Yea Ryan that's exactly who I talked to! I only live about two and a half to three hours north of him. Like I said I'll be sure to contact him again just as soon as I reach Oklahoma. I might even contact him from here in Pennsylvania just to let him know I'm interested! whata think?
Cliff Ruppert
careful what you say bout a coonhunters wife, but you be darn careful what you say bout a coonhunters dog!
your right Spanky the price is in the eye of the buyer or seller. a $500 dog might be a $5000 dog in someones eyes and a $5000 dog might not be worth a dime to someone else. most the west coast dogs that are acually worth the price they are sold for are straight cat dogs that hunt off the box, from guys who catch anywhere from 60 to more than a hundred cats a year, mostley on dry ground. the problem now days is trying to find someone who is honestly selling a good dog. coondogger make sure you hunt any dogs you are trying alone, if its not doing it alone in you probally dont want it.or be patient with a young dog and keep putting it on cats and maybe you will get lucky and get a good one right off the bat.
man, I really appreciate the warning that I've gotten from several of you, to make sure I get to hunt the dog I'm interested in, befor I fork out the money. In the eexcitement of it all, you could eaisily, well, let me rephrase that, I could eaisily just forget about being caustious. And something I really didn't think about, but I 'll be sure to do, is make sure I get to watch the dog hunt by itself, thanks much! But I do have a question to ask? this could get extremely expensive, I most likely won't find a tip top finished cat dog in the next town over! The way I'd have to go about this is to use some vacation, plus the flight ticket, plus the money for the dog, ect ect.? I'm sorry, but I'm thinking that I might just wanna take my chances and buy a started dog! Now granted I don't have much experience in runing bobs!, yet!
Cliff Ruppert
careful what you say bout a coonhunters wife, but you be darn careful what you say bout a coonhunters dog!
You can do it, Yep it's probably more Expensive in the long run.. But most of the Top Cat Guys I know didn't buy their dogs. And they are the first to tell you how hard it is, but how rewarding it was also..
Pete had a qoute that I really liked..
pete richardson wrote:with patience and perseverance , you can "fool "a bobcat if you want to-
Good luck howevery you decide to roll the dice.
Buddy
Cliff,Tim Cook hit ti right.I've hunted lots of dogs from OK here[Oregon]and there and the best catdogs I've seen come out of that country are from Buzz Anderson[blueticks and B&T] and I'm a walker fan!!
If I was that close I'd give Mike Leonard on here a try.
Tim Pittman
That's what I did when I started out. Find a reputable cat hunter in your area and go with him or her a few times and pick there brain for every bit of info you can sqeeze out of them, pay attention, listen and be respectful, it took that person alot of time and miles to learn what they know and there sharing it with you. An old veteran hunter has forgotten more then most of us have learned 
that's interesting. Though I'm not familiar with the name Buzz Anderson?