Advice on a new bloodhound pup

[wisconsin hunter]

Hey guys, I know this is the Majestic section but there is no bloodhound section and I figure you majestic guys would know them best.
I have hunted with bird dogs my whole life but this is my first hound. I know bloodhounds are not necessisarly the best hunting hounds but I ended up with one and would really like to hunt him. He is black and tan and his parents come from lines that are smaller (around 70-80 pounds) and have been hunted.
Right now he is 8 weeks old and just learning manners but I guess my question is what is the right age to start training him to hunt and how should I do it.
He is showing some grit already, he tried to steal a treat from my boxer and when she went after him he just snarled right back at her, and he has no fear of my wife's 20 pound cat even after it swiped him.
I hope to one day hunt him around here (iowa) on coons, and on bear at my place in Wisconsin.
Really any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.
Also if there is anyone in my area that would let us tag along next summer I would even pay to get him some experience.
Thanks guys

[majestic mccoy]

hello from Wyo. I hunt majestics and am fairly new at it.But from what I am told and learning Start them young on scents. Let older dogs show them the ropes.I was lucky and was given a very well trained lion dog and trained my pups with her. NOw I have some very amazing hounds. Also have a another little pup in training. good luck and have fun.

[Emily]

What a sweet pup!

I grew up with a bloodhound. The problem with using one on coon and bear is that some bloodhounds have the instinct to run game up a tree, but many do not. Also some lines of bloodhounds are open trailers--they bay on track, and some are silent trailers--silent on track. You can hunt coon with a dog that is silent on track, but it is very hard to hunt bear with a silent dog. Some people prefer a silent trailer on coon, but the hound music is a lot of the fun for most of us.
The best way to find out if your pup has the treeing instinct is to see if he looks up when there is a noise above him--a raven squawking in a tree, a person calling to him from a second story window when he is in the yard. Most coonhounds look up fairly readily even as pups. My old ridgeback never looked up, even when the lab net door barked at him from a second story window. He simply couldn't imagine anything interesting would be above him.
Even if your hound is silent on track and doesn't tree instinctively, he may be helped in that direction by hunting him with hounds that do these things. However, bloodhounds are typically slower than coonhounds and may have trouble keeping up, especially when he's a gangly puppy. Don't try this until he's lost that puppy gait.
Start by working on general obedience. Teach him to sit and come when called and load up.
Give him a fresh coon hide or coon tail as a toy, and jerk it around on a string. Let him pounce on it and encourage him to bark at it. Tie it to a rope thrown over a tree limb and encourage him to look up and bark at it. You can use a rag soaked in coon or bear scent as well. Keep these sessions fun. Lay short trails and play hide and seek with him. You can even do this with hot dog pieces as the quarry.
Take the pup for walks in the woods and let him explore with his nose to the ground. Expose him to as many sights and sounds as possible. Bring him with you everywhere you can take him (within reason) and let him bond to you. Get him used to gunfire and to going out and using his nose at night, and the sights and smells and sounds he is likely to encounter when hunting. You may want to keep him on a leash while you do this, but let him choose the route.
Encourage him to run and play and develop stamina. If there's someplace you can safely get him to run in front of you while you run or ride an atv or horse or bicycle, or (carefully) drive a bigger vehicle, do that and help him build up speed and agility.
Some hounds start hunting way earlier than others. Bloodhounds typically start later than coonhounds--around a year would be typical, but it could be as much as two or three years, or as early as three or four months. Show him a caged coon if you can catch one. If he barks and gets excited, he's ready to start. If he shows no interest, don't push him. Wait a month or so before showing him another. Just keep testing until he seems ready.

[wisconsin hunter]

Thanks for the reply, I knew it was somewhat of a crap shoot with this breed for hunting. I am hopefull though, he will chase our cat right up a recliner and then be right up standing against it howling his little head off at her. Not that it means alot but it is incouraging. Also he loves playing tug of war and I never let him get ahold of the toy untill it "runs" up somthing and he goes up after it.
Hopefully by spring I will get him playing with coon skins and see what happens.
Thanks again for the reply. I am totally new and really don t have anyone i know around here who hunts hounds so anything is helpful.

[Emily]

tell us where you are, and maybe we can find away for you to meet some hounders near by.

[wisconsin hunter]

Thanks that would be great. I live in Cedar Rapids Iowa. I also have a Cabin near Birchwood Wisconsin, about 45 minutes south of the Hayward area in Rusk county. If I hunt bear it will be up there.