EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

What are some ways to start some pups that range from 4-6 months? Is that age to young to start or is there simple small steps I can take with them to get them ready?! It is pretty hot right now and don't want them to overheat.

My pups are 4 months.  I've bought some hog scent and I take hot dog wienies and cut up into pieces. I then make a scent trail 10 or 15 feet long and place a wienie then make another trail from that and Place another wienie etc. I also take some hog scent and wienies and put in ziplock bag. I'll throw them around in the backyard. It's fun to watch. They will work the scent out and find them. Sometimes it takes a bit but they will find them. This how my friend that raises them starts his. Hope it helps.

Show them pigs then once they're interested, start cutting them loose and letting the pups find them unless you wanna play with hog scented weiners :D just joking bobo. ;)

I'm knew to this sport also. I'm just going off advice from people that have more experience then me.

No man, im just playing with you. Its a decent idea. No offence meant.

T Bob do you have any more  advice for young pups. I'm also oPen to any suggestions.

you might be new but it is close to how I tested and then selected pups for hunting...

Great idea fishing_ bobo, wouldn't have thought of that! Where can you get hog scent? I think I saw some in my nite lite book.

I get get wild boar urine from academy. It's called code blue.

MOM4HOGS,

I tested for nose and winding abiity and then tested for trailing. I used beef liver for my tests and it worked fine...used hunger to my advantage. When the pups are young the test needs to be for which pups to keep for hunting and breeding... Of course hog scent would be better if sprayed on the liver. When they are young I think that the liver would be the reward at the end of the trail but the hog scent would re-enforce the training for hog hunting...in other words you would be killing two birds with one stone...

I can say with certainty that over the years I've done more harm than good by trying to buddy up to pups, creating simulated drags with things and scents other than actual pigs, and taking on pups that I thought I could train to hunt instead of pups that couldn't be trained not too. Im nowhere near a "dogman" nor do I consider myself the great white hunter, but my theory on hog dogs is the same as my theory on money, "it takes some to make some". What that means to me is that for someone starting from scratch, your human relationships are more indicative to what type of dogs you'll have than your canine intentions.

My dad said hang with monkeys and you'll swing from trees... Find a dogman you truly respect and if they'll let you drag out their hogs for a fewyears you'll be far ahead of the game

Take a pig in shake its to make its squeal then let its go if they start baying keep doing that, now u can drag the pig though some wood then tie it to a tree with about 10 foot of rope then lead them to the pig the first time just to show them the pig now start back at the truck an see if they can find it! Do that about 1 to 2 times a day!
 

above mentioned is first step... second step is to let the pups bay a pig and/or stage a mock hunt like setting a pig out or have the pups wind off the rig just make sure you mark the place where the wind is carrying across the road where the pups can wind the scent...

Also take the pups to the woods when they are fresh and let them out and see who rolls out and leads., Once you know this leave the lead pup at home and find out who is the next lead pup. If none others lead but they follow the lead pup then at least you know you will have good me too dogs... :)

The idea is to make sure you select the best pups and not to sell them and this will up you hunting dog power as well as your breeding program... Wrong selection equals to failure of a breeding program or at the minimum a set back...you might not be selecting for breeding but you need to make sure the selection process is right for keeping the right pups. when training the pups do not over do it or the pups will get bored, pull them still wanting more.

i personally wouldnt play with weiners and boar p... lol what if you end up training them to only run boars and not sows lmao ;D but thats just me, the best training on a 3-4 month old pup is on a live hog by that age, take a pig bout 60# and let em bay it, as they progress over a month or so tie the pig and drag it a hundred yards or so and let them go find it, even if u have to walk them down the trail u drug it down if they dont follow it on their own, keep doin it till their consistently doin it on their own and gradually extend the distance each time, by 6-7months they should be goin to the woods with older dogs learning the ropes and takin hogs and turnin loose and lettin them run em and such on "mock hunts"  just my opinion, works pretty good for me, theres no substitute for a live pig ;)

good point reuben, its just as important to cull your pups as it is to train em, if there not cuttin it then i only keep the ones that are, can hold the whole bunch back on progress if u keep messin with one that dont have the desire too much, even if hes the prettiest one lol, looks dont hunt and if gonna make good dogs some day gotta put the effort into the ones that are worthy ;) jmo

x2

what I said above is part of what noelle is saying but also the testing I am talking about are for younger pups. As the pups get older a real pig is the way to go...Lots of small details left out but are important, just need to be creative... :)

Dont be upset if when you start the pups on a real hog if they follow the scent all the way to the hog and then come back.... they were expecting to find a hot dog at the end of the track, but instead some stinky little pig already got there and ate it!!!!

But i guess it could also make them mad at the hog for stealing their weenie and start baying it!!  ;D

lmao ;D ;D ;D

this is what i did with my last litter and so far they are so good its hard to cull!
Take a pig thats smaller than the pups and make it squeal this will get them excited, and build confidence then after they are baying get a medium size pig (100 ) let them bay it. tie it up and drag it around the yard and hide it. they will gradually start to learn to find the hog then when they get a little bigger take them to a small set of woods and repeat. also run them with older dogs they are just like us they will learn from others. hope they turn out!

All great ideas! ;D Thanks for the advice bobo, don't take their jokes to heart, everyone's method of training is different!! Guess nobody can be perfect.... Thanks guys!

That would be my dream dog and in fact that's my next project is to try and make a dog run boars more often than not.

I wish I could find a dog that goes around inspecting them ol boars nutsacks, and when they find one that is big enough latch on and hold em til I get there  ;D a hog is a hog but I hunt to walk in a bay and see a big boar or Barr popping his teeth and slinging dogs, but that's just me

 I just let mine run loose and run what ever they want. Rather it be deer rabbits hogs etc etc.
Every now and then I'll let them bay in a pen with an older loose baying dog but I don't put them in a pen much.
When they get bout 8 months old I'll start hunting them with a older dog that's going good. After bout two or three good hog hunting trips I start breaking them off of trash.
Prolly not the best way but i think it makes the pups more independent because I'm not always around when they are hunting...

train your dogs in the bay pen with a 200 lb boar and you will be running and catching more boars...

Yeah I'm a firm believer of that Reuben.  I do that already, some dogs just naturally like to run boars more.

At 5 weeks I put all the litter in a pen with a tame 10# pig they just play. I will chase the pig and they chase me. My dogs dont touch dirt unless they are training or hunting. each week end I do the same. At 9 weeks they started chasing the pig. then the pig bit them and they started biting back. Now at 13 weeks its starting to get more serious. the dogs chase the pig and the pig will chase them. they bite the pig the pig bites them and they started baying. my dogs dont ever sleep more 50 yards from the smell of hogs. They see the other larger dogs going in the big hog pen, they can hear everything that goes on. As they start barking in there kennel to get out I let them out now and they run around the pen baying like the big dogs. As they grow, the pig they train with will grow. I feel to wait is to waste. I'm not saying to put them in a situation their not ready for. But expose them as much as possible. Thats how Joey dennison did it. Good Luck!

ric o.


well said... :)having the set up is nice...the only thing you didn't mention was to not over train the pups.

i use the drag  method for my pups iuse my old coon roll cage and put a shoat in it hid in the woods then i'll drag a piece of hog hide [from recent kills put in the freezer] and go around and drag a trail back to the cage not away from it [ dont want to teach em to back track ] . this is after they have learned to bay at a pig usually in the cage using an older pup  allready baying . it is a lot of fun cause you can watch them run the trail and i''l put hoochie koo's in the line to throw them off and see how long it takes em to line it back out . this is the same way i started my coon hounds . it's really fun when you run a drag and hide a pig  and turn the pups loose and they start baying where you know the caged pig ain't and you run in there to hooler at em to get off that trash only to find a differant pig bayed up !! after they get used to trailing the drag i'll start holding them back after they find the pig and turn it loose then let them go find it on there own again