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I am currently training a plott, a walker and a blue dog. Every time they cross path of skunk or porcupine they have to catch. I dont own any e-collars and was wondering if there was a way around purchasing them. We come in every time with green switches and scolding while they are chewing on them but it seems to get us no where. Now, they kill it and run from us because they know they are in trouble.. I know they know better because if they catch a coon or cat they wait for us with tails wagging. WTF? I was thinking maybe I should just run one or two dogs so I can concentrate on not so many. They have consistentently caught three or for skunks or porcs a night ... And got quilled 10+ times each. WHAT TO DO??

At this point i'm worried about the dogs' safety. I eventually they'll get some bad infections from those broken quills.

A shock collar will solve the problem. Sell a dog, buy a Trashbreaker. Two dogs treeing game is better than 3 running trash.

Alberta wrote:A shock collar will solve the problem. Sell a dog, buy a Trashbreaker. Two dogs treeing game is better than 3 running trash.

x2

Well said! Also don't be afraid to punish them after the fact. Dogs are not nearly as dumb as people make them out to be. If they kill and run from you they know they've done wrong. They don't forget very quickly, if you don't punish them (even if it is a few minutes late) they only know that they can get away with it.

A Transhbreaker is not cheap. However it's cheaper in the long run, in get your dogs doing what you want. Bite the bullet and buy one. You'll be glad you did!

Sounds like your trying to do a job without the right tools. Get shock collars

Sell a dog buy a trashbreaker sounds perfect. But who's going to pay enough money for a EXTRA TRASHY DOG to buy a e coller, nmplotthunter870 is probley thinking right now.

AZDOGMAN- Hounds have been hunted long before e collars were even a possibilty. How did the old timers used to break them? There is always a tool to make a job easier, but it is always not the only way to do the job right.

Switzie- That's exactly what I'm thinking. I live in an area where unpapered walker pups are free and on a good day, might get 100 bucks for that trashy ass walker dog if she'll catch a coon that night.

If shock collars are the only way, ill bite the bullet and get a set. I'm a full time engineering student and full time mechanic with two kids... I just broke the bank on my garmin system. And with diesel as high as it is, hunts aren't getting any cheaper.(How's that for some poor me mes! ) I'm just trying to save a little dough if u know what I mean.

The problem is you let them catch and that is reward enough to counter alot of scoldings...

To stop them you have to be with them before they catch and lite into them with those switches and scoldings. Because they have gotten away with it numerous times already its just going to be way easier with e-collars.

I have broken mine off deer and porkys without e-collars, it was way easier when I was younger and faster. Also getting a handle on the dogs while they are still pups helps alot. Thats what those old timers did and they realy put the fear into them if they did wrong... and if they had one that didn't learn fast enough it was fed a lead pill.

I got E-collars this year and its saved me alot of leg work, they make your arms alot longer if you know what I mean

a bit of advise form the school of hard knocks..Skunks are hard to break But you will have to set them up-- get the best shock collar-- find a good Trashbreaker--- some of those others i used were not reliable...you can sometimes find a good TRASHBREAKER on e-bay.
I would not get a Classic 70 -- range is not good enough. yes they are cheaper..

on breaking of skunk-- find the skunk before the dogs catch it and it sprays them.. they run the skunk scent not the musk---after they get sprayed they know the musk is not good.

porkies are easy compared to them!---

TomJr: How am I suppose to know if they strike a porc, skunk, or coon? They strike, go tearing ass through the woods, and next time i see them, sometimes as far a mile away, they are chewing on a dead porcupine.( its so thick where I hunt, i can take five minutes to go 200 yards) I don't want to bust em if they struck a coon, cat, or bear. You know where I'm coming from. Even if I had an e collar, I'd hesitate to use it if I didnt know exactly what they were chasing. DryGround suggested to me that I only hunt one dog at a time to find out who may be the culprit. ( hopefully not all the above. ) One redtick we know is broke will hunt with my plott( The brains of the operation) and go from there.

On the lighter side, if there is ever a bounty for dead porcupines, I'll definitely be able to quit my day job!

Yep thats the problem if you can't keep up to the dogs... I used to be able to run with my dogs but age is catching up. It was realy thick here too but everything burned this year so I can see across the canyons now, got to see a bobcat being run a few days ago and they didn't catch It was atleast 200 yards in front of them when it came past me. On the plus side they did catch two foxes yesterday...

Its likly going to be easier to catch and cage a porky and skunk so you can set them up. Your going to have alot of work ahead of you even with those e-collars. I still think the collars will work better than scoldings and switching them. Mine where a bit hard to call off the tree before the E-collars but now will come with just a tone, and latly have started coming with just my voice again. I had been calling them off with voice but they had gotten away with sneaking back a few times, mostly due to a new dog that I didn't raise from a pup leading them astray, those e-collars fixed that in a hurry.

nmplotthunter870 wrote:AZDOGMAN- Hounds have been hunted long before e collars were even a possibilty. How did the old timers used to break them? There is always a tool to make a job easier, but it is always not the only way to do the job right.

Switzie- That's exactly what I'm thinking. I live in an area where unpapered walker pups are free and on a good day, might get 100 bucks for that trashy ass walker dog if she'll catch a coon that night.

They caught the trashy game alive, tied the dogs to them, and beat them till they couldn't walk... If you wanna do that instead of buy a shock system, be our guests.

They also hunted without trucks, tracking equipment, heck, Billy Coleman didn't even have shoes... Hats off to him, but you won't catch me without shoes or tracking collars.

Thanks for the advice all. I guess i'm gonna half to get a e-collar system.

Nikki: I'm Daniel McFadden from FB.

live trap a skunk place in a 55 gallon drum place at the top of a hill re atach the lid and let roll down hill and then buy a shock collar to solve future problems .