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It’s been quiet lately. I was wondering how many of y’all have pups or young dogs, even new dogs, that you are excited about and getting ready to start?

I have one 5 year old male and the rest are young dogs. My youngest is a female out of the older dog. She’s about 6-8 months old. I’ll be starting her after deer season. The next two are littermate brother/sister. They are out of the littermate brother to my older male bred back to his great aunt. They are a year old. The female I’ve had since she was weaned. She has a big motor, brains, bottom, speed, and want to. Both of them are easy on the eyes when it comes to my liking. The male was sent to a friend at weaning age. They got frustrated with him and were going to cull him because he wouldn’t leave out so I got him. The day after I got him I took him hunting. He left and stayed out anywhere from 500 yds. to over half a mile with the other dogs. The only thing I changed was I took the shock prongs off of his tracking collar. He’s hunted every time I’ve dropped him. The next female is a cousin to the older male dog and is a year and half old. Another buddy that I gave dogs to raised her and hasn’t had time to hunt. She had two hunts under her belt when I picked her up. She’s a hard going gyp with a ton of want to. I like the way she’s put together too. She isn’t quite as fast as the other two but she isn’t slow. I’m really excited about all of them. I have more young dogs than I need but I will prove them out, good or bad, and if they are good place the ones that I’m not going to need with other people that can use them
and I’ll have access to for breeding purposes if I need to. Hog hunting is a dangerous occupation so I try not to waste time getting pups out of the dogs that do what I’m looking for. I’ve made the mistake of waiting too long and lost the opportunity. I tried to learn from that. The other thing is try to always have a stagger in ages. It just helps my program hunting and breeding wise. I feel confident now that I could go find and bay hogs with just the three older young dogs. I don’t like to hunt more than three on the ground at a time but usually do if other people are with me. We cast hunt 99% of the time.

Let us hear about your prospects.


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Well I’ve got 2 males right around a year that are both coming on nicely, one a lipper bred walker dog and one that’s half my own blood crossed with some southern dry ground stuff. The lipper dog was already catching his own game this past lion season and is a nice dog but lacking in the brain department for my liking a bit. The male with my blood is progressively getting better and is much more track driven and persistent than the other male. They compliment each other nicely! Also have 2 5ish month old walker/English cross pups from a buddy in Virginia, more bear bred dogs and their grit is already showing. They are really nice pups. Both doing well on training but the male is shining over his sister so far, he’s already rigging and treeing well. One of them insists on pooping in my dog box and I’m over it, I believe it’s the little female because she’s still gets motion sick in the box, I started riding them on the rig Friday to see if it will help her. I enjoy bringing up young dogs very much, they can be a pain but the reward of watching them grow into a capable part of the pack and do things on their own is the fun of it!

I love to watch the young dogs progress as well. The Walker blood in my dogs is Lipper blood. The last Lipper male I bred to was never competition hunted but was a Cracker Jack of a coon dog. He was real easy to get along with and he was really smart. It seems most of the coon hound bloodlines in most breeds are less track minded anymore. They’ve almost got the competition blood bred to where it isn’t going to be any good for anything except competition hunting. So many straight line hunters, lack of track mindedness, and independent to the point of refusing to honor other dogs. At one point I thought they had done a really good job with the comp dogs but I feel like they gotten away from those dogs. Sounds like your pups are on the right track. With that many young dogs you’re going to have to start hunting more. That will be terrible, lol.


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I definitely need to go back to hunting as much as I use to! The lipper dogs is definitely a fine hound already at just over a year old. His dad is lipper and his mom is a hickory nut harry descendant, too bad I’m not a fan of going coon hunting all that often! All 4 of these young dogs are pleasing me . The Virginia pups have a great temperament and are a tad wilder than anything I raise around here which is why I’m trying them. Also wanted something a little more apt to stay with a nasty one, but not all that interested in vet bills everytime a bear doesn’t climb. Trying to find a touch of middle ground.

I personally think finding that right amount of grit is the hardest thing to breed for, at least in hog dogs it is. There are so many variables. I think that’s the biggest contribution from the catahoula blood in my dogs. Stock sense usually gives them the understanding of when and how much pressure to put on a hog. A good cur type dog working cows should always be in front of the livestock so that’s where their instinct to bay to takes them. A hog and a cow are opposites though. What pushes one turns and stops the other. The dogs with stock sense learn to bay to the head end and try to turn them by getting ahead of them but if they aren’t responsive to that then get a mouthful of ham and sit down on it until they turn and face up. Some dogs pinch or nip. That only pushes them. We bayed a sounder a few months ago. The dogs were circling as best as they could in the brush. They weren’t crowding them and each time the hogs felt a dog was circling too close 2 or 3 would run at it. That would bring another dog or two swooping in to bunch them back up and keep them off of the other dog. Nothing was baying within 8 to 10 feet of the hogs. When the hogs acted settled the dogs would slow their action and let them. Then the lead hog and about 3 more decided it was time to leave and made a dash. They made it 5yards tops and my Outlaw dog was quick to get over ahead of them and cut them off it just amazed me. Three of them backed up but the lead boar challenged Outlaw and instead of circling out or side passing the hog, teeth went to popping and snapping at the nose of the hog. He stopped but did not get back in the group. Outlaw gave him zero room. They were breathing the same air. Outlaw won the stand off and the boar backed into the group. We sent the catch dog and him and one dog caught that boar. 25-30 yards away Outlaw and another young dog stretched a pretty good sow. As soon as we had those hogs down the bay dogs had all relayed and we had two more bays. Outlaw had another boar and he had cover enough on top of being aggressive and big enough to maybe hurt a dog that outlaw gave him just enough room to stop the charges. If the hog looked away or turned though he would take up slack and keep the hogs focus. That was as fun a watchin to me as it gets. I tell that story as an example of stock sense and grit in the same package. Most dogs are too willing to try a hog or not willing to do enough. Then because of the pack mentality, the not as brave get braver and they can talk each other into making a bad decision. I think the dogs with better stock sense tend to judge the animal more than they are worried about each other. Of course these are just my opinions.


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I have 2 males just over 2 so might be getting to the point I won't call them young dogs anymore. One is from some breeding I like from out west and have had some luck with. Small build maybe 45 pounds but fast and gritty. But very calm dog that will lay around the yard. The other is some local breeding of best to best in my hunting area in wisconsin be is a big long legged dog and like a wrecking ball haha probably 65 pounds in shape. Not as gritty as the first listed but won't leave. But the better tree dog of the two. I really only run bear they seem to do well. They both seem to have decent noses but have their days where they don't want to work the track hard and arent afraid to run trash. Ones trash of choice is coyotes and other is deer. Usually always a buck not sure how he always manages that. But they run it hard and fast so can't get to mad at them. Don't like a dog to half ass run trash or half ass run any critter I guess. Then picked up a pup a month ago just turned 14 weeks I believe yesterday. He has some lipper breeding in him but rest goes basically back to the first dog listed. It will be fun to watch him grow, he is very observant and I have been on the road so the wife has him in the house. So this will be a interesting journey.

They all sound nice but I really like the sound of the first dog. I truly believe speed is one of the most valuable tools you can have if you want to produce game. Slower dogs can get it done but difference in the distance traveled that it takes to do in can be drastic. Our hunting country is shrinking by the day so it’s more and more important to have track driving speed. You may not get to hunt that youngest pup. Momma may say you can but if he gets hurt……:uhhhh I bet she has a fit. Are those two 2 year olds the only dogs you are running currently?


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The second young dog isn't slow but he seems to wear down quicker hopefully in time can find a balance with him. But agreed a strung out pack is never as good as a pack that can run together. Last fall was a rough year, lost two of my main dogs so down to 5 dogs, the two young one previously stated. Then a male that turns 7 this year that has the same sire as the first dog listed, then a 4 year old out of the 7 year old. Then have a female which is the wife's dog a local breed walker she is 8 she is a decent pack dog but nothing to write home about she got on a few rough bears and usually stays back now so can usually tell when its walking or baying. They do well and catch me game. But most of my yard seems to be coming from a more directed breeding program than whe i was just trying a bunch of what I could get my hands on. It doesn't hurt to try different dogs to see if they work for your style or liking. Yes I feel like there could be some hurdles with the wife and the new pup.

Lol you might lose the pup to her but as long as momma stays happy things are much easier over all. I agree about the dogs you use. Lots of dogs can do a job but purpose bred dogs change the game. Sounds like you have a particular style that you must like. The better hunters do, it’s one of the reasons they are better. The consistency and having something to work towards cuts out a lot of chaos and confusion. I tried a pair of dogs that were a cross of Treeing Walker and Mnt. Cur. Both parents were good dogs. The sire was a coon dog the mother a squirrel dog. The female I tried never worked and the male was too far off the mark for what I wanted. I had two males out of my family that I started at the exact same time as those two outsiders. After the first hog, my two were acting like they had been doing for a while but the outsider never got past the first time ever stage, every hog was his first hog. When I was a kid, if it was a free dog it was my next hog dog. I didn’t much care what it was as long as it would hunt and bark at a hog. Then I lucked into one of those once in a lifetime dogs. Luckily one of mentors had a once in a lifetime dog before I got mine. Hunting with normal dogs for a few years and then getting to hunt behind his was an eye opening experience. When mine came along, it was easy for me to see and understand what I had early on. That’s when I started trying to breed for particular traits instead of grabbing up every stray or freebie. 30 years after getting that once in a lifetimer, everything on my yard goes back to him. They are far from perfect but I sure have enjoyed them and I thank the good Lord for ‘em.


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The bigger of the two 2 years old goes about 65 pounds is out of one of the dogs I might consider a once in a life time dog. He was bigger and barrel chested but didn't get wore down until he was probably 8 years old where he would need a break or a day off. For being such a bigger dog he had speed too. Funny thing was at the time I was traveling a lot for work and was keeping my dogs at basically my mentors yard. He doesnt have any hunting dogs anymore unfortunately but he went and got this pup then said run this one it will be good. Which turned into a argument because I said if I wanted one I would have gotten one. Well i lost the argument took him hunting. By the time the dog turned 2 he was a one dog bear pack at least in my area. But he caught bear for me in canada, maine, wisconsin, and idaho. He was one I lost last year at 10.5 years old really missed him this summer on a few old tracks. Not sure if the young dog will ever fill his shoes but he has been improving and doing enough to get fed in my yard

Man that sounds like a super nice dog. I’m glad you have something out of him and better yet it’s working for you. To me it’s always been kind of a heart breaker to see those great ones gone and not have left offspring to carry on their legacy. That first once in a lifetime dog I hunted with was bred once to a subpar female. The best of that litter would’ve been at the very bottom of average if I was grading him. I wished many times I had found my own female and bred to him. I would’ve given anything to have been able to breed one of his daughters back to my old dog. Genetics are funny. Mathematically, my dogs don’t carry much walker anymore. Looking and watching them though, you can still see the hound influence strongly in a lot of them. My older dog right now has a lot of hound traits like a good nose, track minded when need be, his color and markings, and persistent. His nature is so much like the old dog I based this family off of that it’s crazy. There’s hardly a day goes by that I don’t think of the old dog when I’m with this dog.


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Yes I really should have bred him earlier in his life or more than once. I did basically a line breed as tight as I could and all the dogs are running well from what I hear. It was a small litter six males.

Awe man, all males! I have a litter now. I’m in it for females every litter and as luck would have it there are only 2, lol. Which 2 is better than none and if neither of them are quality then I likely wouldn’t breed to any of the males later either. I’m big about breeding to a litter or I guess dogs that are out of high percentage litters and less about the dog that’s real good but the only one that turned out in his litter. That’s really good that your big dogs litter is turning out good. Maybe you’ll luck into the right female to take him back to one day.


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I used to run only females, but now have basically an all male pack. Maybe one day I will get back to it but only issue i have now is they all like to pee where the other pees and on occasion a snarl in the box. When I had all females I mostly spayed them all because our season didnt want them to come in during it and less headaches when running with people to say your dog messed up the hunt must be in heat. Always found it odd the females were at the tree but the male the guy was complaining about wasn't usually I would think it would have followed the in heat dog to the tree. But oh well I really don't have a preference on male or female anymore as long as it has some decent breeding behind it.

I hunt females for a couple of reasons. One I have a family of dogs I’ve been working on for close to 30 years. I need the right females to continue that and I want to have control over what stud they go to as well as the pups. Second, as luck would have it, the direction I went with my dogs went towards a female that reproduced to every stud she was bred to and so far her daughter, granddaughter, etc. have been doing the same. I know there’s more to it than just the female high quality, dependable females are really a treasure as far as I’m concerned. I usually only have one male on the yard but I have two right now. If all of my gyps were in, I could load that one male and go find and catch hogs behind him. I’ve done it numerous times.

I understand your strategy as well and it makes sense. I don’t know if there’s a right and wrong way just different ways. If it works for a person it’s the right way suppose. It’s kinda like the “what’s a good dog” lol. I’ve seen males that got messed up if a female was on the ground period, she didn’t have to be in heat. I was always scared to spay because I didn’t want to have this well bred gyp that was a Cracker Jack of dog and not be able to get pups out of her.


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