what about a ten month old that likes a hog and has found a few in the groves i hunt that were a hundred yards away and kept them at bay pretty good. but last night on the way home from the grove we seen some standing on the side of the road. so we turned around and shined them and noticed they were good hogs. they started to walk off in the pasture so we stopped to let that pup out to see what he would do on that fresh scent. we had a bulldog in the box that winded them as soon as we stopped and was barking his head off. the pup ran circles were they were rooting and took off for 50 or so yards and came back. the only thing i can think of is that each time he found a hog before that he had other pups with him and had some confidence
Joe
I have seen the best of dogs mess up in situations as you describe. I am not an expert, but I am still researching the science of how dogs scent trail. I am finding out science is still wrestling with the technical side of how dogs do it. Scientists and handlers of war dogs, search and rescue dogs,etc., they are all studying the issue. No one has the answer yet or someone would have made a synthetic tracking device and you could buy it at Wal-Mart!
I would look at that circumstance like baseball. Three strikes and your out, but as young as that pup is and if it is from really good bloodlines, best give it a few more extra strikes before you do anything drastic.
What the dog does most of the time is what matters. Cut them some slack because we cannot control (or even understand) how they smell and process track scents.
Bud
