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Say your a ways away from the dogs when they tree, do you try to slink in and watch them from afar to notice bad habits and correct them?

When my two pups last year were doing good, I would sneak in where they couldn't smell or hear or see me. I saw a few bad habits when they first started but I somewhat was able to correct them. One female still likes to chew the tree or limbs yet but I tolerate it. (I used a light buzz, just enough for them to feel it)

I think the dogs act differently if they know dad isn't there and I think its a smart idea to assess them in other ways than just being there. The tree climbing topic in the big game hunting brought this up to me.

Well with my pups only being on coon and fox so far i did the same thing. knowing the game most likely wasn't going to get away or that it wasn't a crisis i liked to just sneak up and watch what they were doing and practice letting them tree and seeing if they would stay locked on that tree.

Every chane i get i slip in and watch. It is on the best way to see for yourself if all the training and ground work you did is showing up or if you need to work on somethings like climbing chewing or digging.

I do also but I like to make some noise some times from a distance to see what dogs will pull off a tree and try to meet me. That I can not handle from a dog with much more than a year under his or her belt. If you sneek up on them all the time you don't always get that chance soon enough to correct that.

I have one that trees better when I am not there. Trees fine when I am but after thinking about this and watching the transition over the years, I firmly believe he knows that what is in that tree is MINE and he gets less intense on the tree once I arrive.
He must know his job is done.

box rocker wrote:I do also but I like to make some noise some times from a distance to see what dogs will pull off a tree and try to meet me. That I can not handle from a dog with much more than a year under his or her belt. If you sneek up on them all the time you don't always get that chance soon enough to correct that.

I'm having this problem with my dogs. Can you or anyone share some tips on how to correct this.

brad ferris wrote:

box rocker wrote:I do also but I like to make some noise some times from a distance to see what dogs will pull off a tree and try to meet me. That I can not handle from a dog with much more than a year under his or her belt. If you sneek up on them all the time you don't always get that chance soon enough to correct that.

I'm having this problem with my dogs. Can you or anyone share some tips on how to correct this.

Brad, I'm assuming you are asking how or what do you do with, "tree greeters". You haven't provided near enough information for someone to help you with that problem.

Example; How old are your dogs? Breeding are they tree bred hounds, running bred hounds or mixed with both? Describe whats going on? Is all your dogs pulling from the tree or just one or two? What game are they leaving the tree to greet you on? Bear, Bobcat, Lynx, Coon? Having all this type of information can give someone enough of an idea to maybe help you out or give you some tips.

I have 3 hounds the oldest is about 4 looks like a redtick but is out of a couple walkers. I've had him 2 years and he's pretty solid. The other one I'm concerned with is a redbone cross that is green as gooseshit but shows lots of potential. He's about 2 but new to hunting this spring. I hunt bear,lion,lynx and bobs if I can get a trip down south. They come to great me on pretty much any tree regardless of the game.
On the bear this morning they came out and the bear got it in his head to climb down. They were back at the tree but the bear already made up his mind. 3 hounds and a cowdog all chewed on him before he was able to break free. It was pretty western for a few seconds.

The circumstances for everyone will be different. In my case my dogs all start out from pups from good hunting backgrounds. I don't put on a lab coat when I breed dogs and some I pick up from other hunters as pups. The first year for my dogs starts at about 6 months to about a year and a half. In that amount of time my dogs see about 30 to 50 trees. Not huge numbers but any pup worth his sand should be hip to the game.I like my dogs happy under the tree, tail waggin happy. Me to hoopin howlin and petin pooches.No dominant geting possessive over the tree barking. That can push pups away from trees. When walking to tree any pup that meets me gets no praise unless I can see fur in the tree. sometimes a tone or light bump with the trainer if I can see them leaving tree on the gps and they are out 100 or so yards.The less trees you get the more time you should spend at the tree. Especially the ones with good visual. Hours at tree fire them up than step back reward the ones that stay fired and repeat. After working with them for countless hours the ones that don't get it should be culled. In some packs this gets over looked because of a couple good anchor dogs that do there job. Alowing for tree greeters as it was said. In pups this means little to nothing but in adults can be infectious disease. Maybe coming to greet you maybe going to find something that is not up a tree that they can get more personal with. It would Be hard to start with older dogs that have been raised as pets or just not hunted for that tender programing stage but all you can do is show them lots of game. Know when to (hold'm and when to fold'm) Hope that helps and I wasn't just blowin smoke. GOOD LUCK!!