hard hittin dogs

[Dan Edwards]

I just want to hear from yall on this subject. Tell me if you like em or hate em and what your reasons are for your thoughts. I have my thoughts of course but want to hear from as many of you as possible on this subject.

Go ahead Pete! HAHA! I know you will be given me hell on this one. LOL!

[larry]

what do you mean, "hard hittin"?????

[Dan Edwards]

Grab and go Larry. Swingin dogs. Always movin ahead even at a loss. I just want to know what most big game hunters think of these dogs.

[lifreediver]

had a hard hitting whippet once.She was like a garbage truck running over a ant.She would hit rabbits so hard the hair would fly off.Lol my pits look like wimps compared to her .Just kidding she was good the said thing is I got rid of her and she was never ran again.What about those running dogs?

[TomJr]

Not sure what you mean by hard hittig but my Buddy dog (mostly lab with some rott 95lbs) used to body slam bears and knock them over... This worked great until he ran into a big mean 336lb boar.

He would run fast and hit the bears in thier ribs and accualy knock them flying...after one of those hits they would climb right away. He did this for 3 years and had no problems until he met the wrong bear. My dogs got this big bear bayed up on a slope and Buddy did his usual body slam, only this time instead of the bear going flying poor Buddy sorta bounced off the bear and looked stunned for a moment. The bear pounced on him but somehow Buddy squirted out from under the bear and ran back and hid behind me. I called the dogs off and we went home, ended up shooting that bear the next night as it charged me inside the orchard and my dogs were not with me to distract it. Buddy was limping the next day but I could not find any marks, but that ended his bear slamming days and he gives them alot more respect now.

Don't think thats what you ment by hard hitting but thought I would share anyway...

[Dan Edwards]

had a hard hitting whippet once.She was like a garbage truck running over a ant.She would hit rabbits so hard the hair would fly off.Lol my pits look like wimps compared to her .Just kidding she was good the said thing is I got rid of her and she was never ran again.What about those running dogs?

I was talkin bout running a track actually but I am curious about something here. What did you call your strain of whippets? I think I might know somebody that you know actually. Its a small world.

[Mike Leonard]

I know excactly what you mean Dan and I love that type.

My old Booger dog was that type to a tee. I mean I watched him so many times they would be going on a lion track pretty tough going but he was in the lead the other dogs would bog down at a lose. Not him he just went to swinging out and boom! He would hit and go, Boom! again ahe he was gone and then treed. WOW!

One time we had ran a traveling tom a big rascal weighed 190 when we finally hung him up and he was a mover. I had three really good dogs on him and the other dogs that were put down by another guy never even got in on this race. Well he went into that trot and he just ate the miles up. We couldn't catch up with the dogs it seemed we went to the trucks and went around. We found dog and lion tracks crossing another road, so on we go. Finally some 5 miles further they cross another road at an angle and cut a little forest road right after that where some men were cutting wood. Now all of these dogs were great track dogs and I mean fast but here was the difference in Booger. We stopped and asked the guys if they had seen any hounds. Oh yeah three of them barking their head off. When did they cross? Well one spotted dog came thru here about 45 minutes ago and the other two passed about 15 minutes ago.What? Yep the first dogs was running so fast he wasn't even barking much like the others. Well to make a long story short . Booger would not let up just grab and go and drive and drift. He had the lion caught way up ahead of the other dogs, and these were a-team dogs. I saw hiom do it numerous times. He would get away from you if you didn't know what was going on.

I have a 14 month old female that looks like Booger, and is built like him and even at this young age she is already doing some of this stuff. Old dog beware this female is a hard hitting, hard driving go catch somthing hussie.

[Nolte]

Dan,

I'm not completely sure what you mean on "hard hitting" but I've got a couple of comments that might be what you're looking for.

For bear the dogs that are the fastest are nearly always track drifters. They have to pull their head up and go when they are able to. Same with cats/ yotes, the dogs that can really push have to pull that head up and go BUT the good track dogs also have to know when to put it back down when it gets bogged down.

Another real good trait to have is a dog that will range out or make swings when the track gets fouled up or get too bad to take. They've got to hunt around until they find it in another spot to go. I do not want a dog that will just keep ranging to another runnable track. I've seen a lot of dogs that were thought of great cold trailers that were simply dogs that would keep hunting until they found something. Good cold trailers are the ones that just keep grinding on that crappy track. One characteristic that really irks me is a dog that ranges on a track (which is good), but barks when it doesn't have it in the process. All it does it pull the other dogs over to something that isn't there. Even if the dog eventually figures it out, the time lost puts you that much further behind the critter.

Good track dogs are a thing of beauty but they can be a damn headache. But it's worth it to have to pop a few asprin to be able to catch up to a tough old track on a trophy critter. Also, most good track dogs don't seem to want to honor another dog if they've got a track of their own, or won't honor at all. Some will start to once you hunt them together a bit and they know this dog isn't boo hooing around and has something.

[Dan Edwards]

Mike and Nolte, both of you had some great comments and both of you know exactly what I am talkin about. I love a hard hittin dog that "KNOWS HOW TO DO IT". I cant stand one that trys it and sucks at it though but some are just gonna be wild when they are young but with enough running, will get damn good at it. I think for me as a coyote hunter, alot and I mean alot of running in the cornfields and at night can really take those wild swingin dogs and make some of the absolutely best dogs I have ever seen. Alot of people want to complain about a dog that swings and hits hard and thats fine but them kind of dogs, IF YOU LET THEM ALONE will catch more game than any track straddler and they will do at least twice as fast. I have seen alot of track straddlers when it comes to running coyotes and man thats all they do is run and run and run but you give me a dog that when he makes a loss he is on auto pilot and will cast ahead in that direction that he was moving and pick it up and run with it and I will show you a dog that can catch a critter and make it look easy. I cant tell you how many times I have seen a dog do that and get just absolutely infuriated but then in another jump or two sit back and say, "I'll be damned, he just jumped that sumbitchin yote up again and he is gonna catch him now."

[lifreediver]

Mike L this story true lol I know a female one eyed dog who sounds alot like your dog treeing bears in maine.She would srike from the truck run up the mountain the other dog a good dog ran the track back wards we get up the mountain she had a 425 pounder bayed bit his tail off already the 2nd dog arived some time later he would not tree could not shoot him with the bow.2 more dogs were dumped 45 minites later the other 2 still have not made it to the bay we were under 2 miles from the truck Dont think they made it there untill my freind fired his pistol if I remember right .Different story but I saw this female strike and tree bear before you could dump the truck.Have also been in the guides truck and she was picked her up 10 miles away from were she struck and the pack quit pretty quick. 2 miles maybe
Sorry Dan did not know what you were talking about learning figured jump in with a joke. Yea small world the whippet I had was from I think oregon or washington cant remember the line been 5 years I had her shipped to newyork .I think tony lewis was the breeder. He used to have racing dogs and feild dogs .I think you know stuntman maybe?

[Dan Edwards]

Thats where I figgered you got the whippet from. Thanks.

[pete richardson]

Go ahead Pete! HAHA! I know you will be given me hell on this one.


naaa-

results is what counts ---
i think i know what you mean by a "hard hittin "running dog -


a good one is FAST -
a bad one will make ya tear your hair out-

i guess i like hard hitting , dont like, hit and miss, or mostly miss

some might run miles on a skiddo trail or road- as fast as a sight chase -- overran the track by a few miles , but whos counting

running dogs are bred to run -
some will run with or without a track in front of them -

i hate it - when they blow up a race -



some running dogs are just plain crazy

crazy ones have made me a little skeptical

I wish i could bottle that attitude somehow-

- dispense it in tiny doses -
maybe a patch
never heard treehounds descibed as hard hitting but some can drift a track, its the same idea -

if ol hard hittin can start a track and doesnt lose on crust , frozen bare ground , roads ,skidoo trails , etc
, you wont get hell from me

[tramp]

dog should run TRACK as fast as he can, or as slow as he has too.

[pete richardson]

dog should run TRACK as fast as he can, or as slow as he has too.

there ya go--- i agree---

ol hard hittin will rarely run as slow as he has too--

to cold trail -- or even just run at all in worst conditions

otherwise i wouldnt call him hard hittin-

if he could handle oldest tracks and worst conditions and still fly --i might call him superstar


ol grubber cant keep up with hard hittin on a fresh track in good conditions-

he may be a little too fascinated with a TRACK--- i want to see what made it -

hard hittin couldnt care less about an old track , hes just running to catch --

at his worst , he may be running to feel the wind in his face

he couldnt get his nose to the ground if he tried -

you have to elevate his feed bowl and point it out to him or he might starve

thats when id give dan hell- - lol

[waycool]

he may be running to feel the wind in his face

Dont you mean to hear the WIND in his EARS ???? Gotta run awful fast to get a little ear flap going

uh huh..... hard hittin right there !