Keeping a pack in one pen.?

[Jeff Eberle]

Most of these issues come from cur dog crosses or competition type dogs.

I've got a pen full of cur dog crosses, They all try to pack into one dog house every night even though they all have dog houses.

[Nolte]

I've got to agree with those that kennel dogs separate. I think it's great to have a big run where they can exercise though. It doesn't take much more time to clean up or feed with separate runs. I can grab the water bucket and feed from the garage and be back in before the next song is on the radio. Might be 2 songs when I've gotta clean them up. That is a small price to pay for me for peace of mind that I won't find a dead dog in a kennel. Hounds find a thousand other ways to croak prematurely, figure one less in my control is good insurance. One of the best things we did was run power to the kennel so we could plug in heated water buckets for the winter. Saves. A bunch of hassle for not much invested. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

It takes one moment for a little scrap over nothing at the wrong time to turn terminal on a dog. Seen it happen and dogs revert back to their canine survival roots pretty dang quick if a dogs yelps wrong. Don't care if they've never even looked sideways at another dog, they'll be in it and if you aren't standind ready to kick @ss something bad is gonna happen.

As the years go by I find myself rarely using the terms always or never when it applies to dogs.

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[mark]

All I was trying to say to the guy that asked the original question was there was the possibility of things going south and when they do it happens fast.

[david]

Man you guys been putting together some good reading.

The first group pen I remember was on a trip to the Olympic pennensula. A guy named Barnes had a big pen full of bobcat hounds. I think they were all females.

Next time I saw it was at a government hunters' yard in Oregon. His were for sure all females.

From time to time I see it. Most recently, in
Virginia. A third generation fox and cat hunter named Perkins had several pens, but most of them had groups (sometimes rather large groups) of dogs together. Seems like they were separated by gender and age. It would sure be good to know exactly how he groups them.

Until the last couple years I usually kept females, and kept them together in one pen when I could.

There is definitely a delicate balance that exists in a pack of canines though, and if you do it, best pay attention to little changes. The most obvious would be adding a new dog to the mix. I added a female that wanted to fight all the time. Until I came home one day and she was cowering in the back corner of one of the houses all covered in dried blood and saliva. She never picked another fight. Lol. Balance.

I have seen way more situations where the dogs were kept separate than together. Great houndsmen in both cases.

My philosophy has been along the lines of Jeff's, and Tanner the mathlete. The advantages of keeping them together out-weigh the risk for me. One advantage is that It is a way for me to extend the pleasure of watching hounds beyond the hunt itself. Watching them interact has always been entertaining and informative for me.

[U.R.E.]

I keep mine seprate for two reasons.
1) I only hunt 4-5 dogs (females only), Losing one to a dog fight would be a big deal for me. I could lose a 1/4 of my pack in one fight.
2) I like to know who is drinking how much water, who didn't eat last night, who vomited or has diarrhea.

[mark]

Bingo!!!!!!!! On #2

[david]

Here is another idea I saw in Virginia. It was a Freind of Perk who enjoyed competition including showing his dogs. Beautiful dogs for sure. But he also kept them in groups. If I remember right most groups were four to six dogs. But what I had not seen before was every pen had short chains attached at different places around the pen. Every day each dog would go to his station at feeding time. He would fasten the dog, examining and handling it a bit each day, and the dog would be fed there at his station, and then released again after feeding time. Everything about his set up spoke of order, discipline and attention to detail. He did well in competition.

[Msbobcat]

Here is another idea I saw in Virginia. It was a Freind of Perk who enjoyed competition including showing his dogs. Beautiful dogs for sure. But he also kept them in groups. If I remember right most groups were four to six dogs. But what I had not seen before was every pen had short chains attached at different places around the pen. Every day each dog would go to his station at feeding time. He would fasten the dog, examining and handling it a bit each day, and the dog would be fed there at his station, and then released again after feeding time. Everything about his set up spoke of order, discipline and attention to detail. He did well in competition.

The short chain thing is not a bad idea,I was wandering how is was going to work out at feeding time with 7or 8 dogs even if you had all the feed pans filled and set them on the ground at the same time you are still gonna have dogs that eat faster than the rest.the short chains would make things simpler maybe.

[Tanner Peyton]

You guys are gonna think I'm crazy but I keep all my dogs on full feed and water at all times. If a dog can't stay at a healthy weight on there own accord then I ship umm out. If they can't get along with other dogs at all times then there gone. If they can't get along with people then by by. It's like Mr pegleg said, it all depends on what a fella is willing to put up with. I use an automatic feeder I built that holds about 200 pounds of food. It's pretty handy and I only had to feed my dogs about once a month. However I could definitely see the advantage of handling a dog every day around food time for discipline and order. URE that was about the funniest and best reply I've seen in awhile. Good post man, sure got me rethinking my dog boarding ways.

[perk]

The short chain ensures he handles his dogs every day, can check them for injuries, regulate the amount of feed they receive. This same man used to keep beagles for running deer always 16 or so, in 2 large pens, when money was right would throw whole deer carcass in for dogs to eat, all dogs are off same dead deer, no problem except pens smelled worse. Most everyone I know keeps the majority of their dogs penned in groups of 4+ or so depending on number of dogs and pens. Most of my pens have 2-6 depending on how many I have, when numbers get low there are fewer per pen, as they grow vice versa. I have a few males I keep on chains, and some kennels together. Try to avoid keeping males and females in same kennel but it does happen, that's only so if I'm not being meticulous checking for them coming in heat. Each grown dog has its own food bowl, they know which bowl they eat from, when I feed them I take the time to handle them for injuries same as my buddy with short chains, when I feed them I know whose slow eaters, whose tougher to keep weight on, whose gains to easy, etc. And they are placed accordingly. If a dog attempts to run another dog off its food, he gets a good old fashion reprimand, and yes I do it inside that 15 foot safe zone that was being discussed in another thread, bc I'm in charge, I mKe the decisions, and if I feel 2 dogs wouldn't do good together they won't be kenneled together, and might end up on a chain not in a pen, if they get super old and retirment age they may get moved to a chain or to a pen with another retired dog or brood gyp. Dog fights to me are far less likely to happen in pen than dog box, at a hole, at a tree. When dogs are invading each other's space, esp at home or tree where intensity and desire to catch is running high in a dogs emotions. I also don't like to breed dogs that aren't super played back, I've got some dogs at my place I've never heard growl about anything and are over 10 yrs old. I think the answer to this is regional, like I said you won't find many dogs in my region not kenneled together, but we tend to have more dogs in a pack, and every wild animal is able to be pursued with dogs in my area. I understand the dogs kennels separate ideas and feelings, just don't echo their sentiments

[scrubrunner]

I keep most my hounds in 1 pen, like Perk said its according to how many I have at 1 time and how they get along, I have fed them on the ground together on full sheets of roofing tin and in separate dishes at different times. With the separate dishes I'd put 2 more dishes than I had dogs, some would go like ring around the rosey.
Now I have a table that is 2'x3' with a short chain for each dog, all the younger dogs that I had when I started feeding like this will get on their table before I will go in the pen, a couple of older dogs just can't figure it out. I like it, doctoring, worming, applying dominion, field trial painting ect. is all way easier.

[blackpaws]

i built a pen 50x50 with an attached shed with houses off the side. i like it a lot for letting pups run free. i also have some older dogs on chains right outside the kennel and i turn them in there all the time to let them run around a little. i have one female that is real cranky with pups so she doesn't go in there and a couple males that have become escape artists so i just tie out. right now i have 5 in there and they all eat at the same time in their own bowl. now there are houses cut in to the side of the shed they all sleep in there. sometimes in the winter there will be 3 dogs sleeping in the same house.

[pegleg]

Run some hot wires top and bottom that'll stop the escapees

[Olmuleskinner]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNKfucd0 ... ata_player

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[blackpaws]

i would say those dogs are from the same lineage hahahaha