BigGameHoundsmen.com

I have no knowledge about rig dogs what so ever but would like to know if anyone has had an exceptional hound, (bobcat, bear, or lion) that would not rig or strike from truck?

I'm a firm believer that an A-1, top notch rig dog is born and not made. I'm sure there are exceptions though. I was fortunate when I bear hunted because the line of dogs I hunted were natural strike/rig dogs. You know you have a good rig dog prospect when you are driving in the woods and your 4-5 month old pups are striking deer and coyotes (and pretty much anything else you see run across the road in front of you) from inside the dog box while driving 30-40 mph. In my experience, you put one of those kinds of natural strike dogs on the box and you will 9 times out of 10 have a dandy rig dog.

The next obstacle is going and finding the track after they strike it off the rig, that will usually come natural too, if they can strike it, they'll go look for it when you set 'em down off the rig..

Several of these males I raised over the years would strike cat, fox ,coon out of the box naturally. There have actually been many times where I was driving in the woods on my way to a huntin spot and the dogs would strike in the box, I would turn around, put the dogs in the road and go back thru there. Started and treed several pieces of game that way.

Some dogs just don't have what it takes to make a good rig dog.

Just to clarify something I said in the above post, I didn't mean to say a person should start rigging 4-5 month old pups.......I waited til they were quite a bit older..I was trying to say at 4-5 months old you could tell you had some good prospects for rig dogs.

oh great andy, you opened the door wide open for some brutal comparisons. i won't even get involved in this one because for one i haven't any silver bullets yet today and also don't have any true rig dogs. i have dogs that will rig but i don't like running off of rigs especially blind rigs. i think around here you kind of set your dogs up to run off game if you don't physically put the dog on the track on a rig. too many coons, coyotes, fox, possoms, wolves, porkys and big ass bears to get in trouble with.

Hey Joe you are starting to worry me when Ace gets down there he is a Michelob ultra kinda dog dont be converting him to the silver bullet he has to watch his weight .

the main reason i drink the silver bullet is because my friends all drink it and i can just steal it from them i also need to know when it is cold enough and the silver bullet has the mountains that turn blue when it's cold enough.

Mr. Twist,

Sorry I miss pronounced your Hounds name in the Thread Ike started.

As to rig dogs, with our Hounds some just are not comfortable on top rigging. One of our best young gyps who is a H$##av a Strike dog on the road in front of the truck, will not Rig at all.

As the other gentleman just said that pup or young dog that strikes out of the truck will probably make a rig dog!

As to a "Blind" rig strike, all ours are pretty much blind as unless we are here in FL. tracks are hard to find. You have to have trust in your Hounds and YOUR Houndsmanship that #1 your Strike Hound is BROKE, #2, #3, et al refer to #1!

From what I read on hear I bet that knowing your Hounds won't be a problem for you! Houndsmanship generally comes through with ones writings!

Good Running to All!

C. John Clay
Dads Dogboy

I agree one of my best hounds I have ever owned would not strike off a rig but was a great strike dog on the ground and all mine are blind too, I agree you have to trust them. I have seen great hounds that would not rig and great rig dogs that couldn't trail their own selves back to the truck 10 feet away.
IMO if you get one that can rig and cold trail and drift andgot you run a fast track you got yourself a keeper

great answers guys thats the kind of reviews I was hoping to get. later Andy

ive got a eight year old walker male that wont strike off the box and kind of a babbler in the box he dont like it at all but couldnt ask for a better dog to find and start a track on the ground. on the flip side i have a plott female that is a really good strike dog off the box but i cant start her have to turn her loose after one of my other dogs starts it and then she is good all the way to the tree. dont know why she wont start a track and think she just runs with the pack but on a walking/fighting bear shes the first one to pull hair and when treed will stay all day. shes honest as hell when she strikes so i dont know what her deal is.

I have two awesome bear dogs in my kennel. One is a white cloud and the other is a sackett. The white cloud is one of the best rig dogs I have ever seen. I bought him off off a good friend in oregon when he was four years old. He can strike a bear on a hot 90 degree day when the bear is halfway down a canyon in a accorn patch just laying there feeding. My other dog (the sackett) is just as good as a dog as the white cloud but does not rig. He stands on the rig and will open when another dog does but he will not strike by himself. When my white cloud opens on that bear way down the canyon I can put the sackett down and he will drift that bear just as well as the white cloud. So I guess he has the same nose but just doesnt have confidence by himself on the rig. I thought he might get more confidence the more I start him but he is now 5 and still will not rig by himself. The only thing I can think of is the White Cloud has the natural breeding for rigging, and the sackett was a made dog. Not to say that sacketts aren't great dogs but he didn't catch on to the bear hunting as fast as the White Cloud. He was taught and the White Cloud everything just came natural. So I believe that a dog can be made but it is easier when it is natural to them. I have a great friend who raises and trains a ton of dogs every year up in Idaho and he will start them on the rig at 6 months old and they figure out how to rig just by watching the older dogs. Oh, and one more thing, my white cloud has a ice cold nose so i like to rig my female with him who has a hot nose just to see how hot or cold the track is, because if she opens you might as well tailgate! Which is always fun! Good luck I hope my two cents helps

i have a male that is a good rig dog doesnt strike real cold tracks but he is what i would call a natrual strike dog my female on the other hand was made she wouldnt strike for a long time took dang near a year and a half for her to start and even when she did she wasnt sure of her self so i set her up one time i had a coon in a cage and hide it drove by it she half ass struck it and i turned her loose she found it and after that she has been striking good ever since now she is just gettin better ever time i go out. the thing i like is both my dogs if one strikes and the other doesnt smell it they wount honor the others strike if they both smell it they both will strike. but when there runnin they honor each other. as far as the blind rigs thats all it is over here unless im on a good dirt road that i can find a track on but i have enough confedence in the dogs now that i can turn them loose. a while ago i had a little problem of my both them striking trash i would turn one dog down to start it and they would hide under the truck or jump back on the box they new better then to run it but i guess they just couldnt resist strikin it i fixed that little problem now i have them pretty dialed in, i have a 6 month of pup that i am sure is gonna be a natrual strike dog as he is already strikin inside the box when i take him out i just shut the sliders on the box so he cant smell anything makes it easer and when he strikes my other two dogs put there head down like there sayin it wasnt me dad i didnt strike that one LOL

Bluedogs, that is a great idea. I never thought of setting up a young dog to build there confidence on the rig. I appreciate the advice I will try that with some young dogs!

I like to start when they are pups on a rig.I just put the box on the ground and let them hang out on it for hrs they love it so when I let them out for yard work they would just jump on top of the box after awhile like they were loading up so i know they are confident up there.I've been working with 2 redbone's since 3 months old now 8 months the other day the wife was working with them in the yard I started my truck and had to go back in the house for some thing she told them to load up when i came out there were 2 hounds on my hood.She asked me when did I show them that I said I never did I guess they just wanted the high spot.I didn't have the box on the truck.I told her i need to put 2 eye bolts in now and rig up some type of rug up there.She just shook her head and went inside.