finished dog quit?

[make-em-squeel]

Have yall ever heard of this, I havent ...? any advice ..

I had 2 real hard hunting finished BMCs, the 3 yr old male died of a non hunting incident in his kennel with her. They were best friends and lived together unless she was in heat. Since then my 5 1/2 yr old gyp has not left my feet and will only honor a bay 50% of the time. Basically went from being one of the best dogs ive owned since she was 10 mo old to a cull. its been about 9 mo this has been going on. IDK what to do, Ive got another male with her now.

[HIGHWATER KENNELS]

I had a Parker cur male dog do this when he was 4 yrs old..  this dog had partnered up with another male dog of mine and they were a real good pair..  Where one weakness was the other would pick it up.  When one of them died it was like the other one changed demeanors and just lost the hunt he had in him..  I tried pairing him up with several different dogs and to no avail..  Until I finally paired him with a another male plott dog,, it was like they clicked and I seen it in his demeanor that he had the want to0 back in him..  They bonded and hunted for several yrs together before he heat stroked on me at 7 yrs old..  So keep pairing him up and itll click with the right dog..

[t-dog]

I hate it for you bud but I’ve been in a similar situation before. I hunt my dogs differently all the time as far as who I cast and when I cast them. I do it so that I see who has the independence to do it. Some take a few hunts to figure out hey, I’m the man and I gotta go do it. Others hit the ground and look like it’s all they’ve ever known. I want to be able to go to the woods with any one bay dog and catch hogs. I say all that to say your dogs were dependent upon each other, for lack of a better term “buddy sour”.  You see horses do it as well. If you try and let everyone else ride on ahead and your horse won’t stand or travel away because they want to be with the herd. Dogs and horses are pack/herd animals. Where the red fern grows is exactly what you have going on. She may come out of it like Highwater said and she might not. I’d leave her kenneled up next to another dog that I was gonna hunt her with but don’t load her to go hunt when you go. Let her experience being left at home for a while. Maybe let her and the new buddy bay a hog together a little and put her back up. Build chemistry in a sense. It’s like a good team. They may not have team chemistry on the first practice but it can be built through some team building exercises. And lots of praise when she responds correctly and no response when she doesn’t. That’s my two cents. I hope she comes around.


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[Shotgun66]

Tough one to deal with bud. HW & TDog have given some great insight. It seems like losing her partner has really got her down.
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Couple additional  ideas to consider:
Be selective about the dog/dogs you pair her with. Sounds like she needs to bond with another dog to be at her best. A pup/young dog might be a good option here. She has a better chance of bonding and feeling a type of responsibility for a young dog she is superior/dominant to.
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I would also single her out and give her opportunities to bay hogs alone. I’m talking go back to square 1 as if she were a pup just starting out. Use the bay pen or mock hunts to build her confidence. Try to use hogs that are NOT rank unless she needs that to fire her up. Drop her in smoking hot sign on a familiar place by herself. When I say by herself, I mean don’t have any other dog with you except for a catch dog she knows. At 5.5 years old, If she has been exclusively pack hunted for most of her life, this will require a significant amount of patience. She probably won’t do her best work this way for a while. Don’t get frustrated with her. If she won’t go, just put her up and try again another day. She knows what hogs are and is capable. She has to find her confidence to do it alone. She might never do it alone. At least you know this way.
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I hunt BMC’s too. It has been my experience that ALOT of them are “ comfort zone” dogs that do not deal with changes very well. Females seem particularly sensitive to it. It certainly takes my dogs a couple times of being exposed to new people, places, hunting styles, dogs to perform well. It is EXTREMELY frustrating to see a dog not work the way you know they can. I’m rooting for y’all and hope she comes around for you.


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[Cajun]

  A lot of dogs get dependent on their buddy and when they get separated they just do not know how to act. They have relied on that dog and probably vice versa. i would start putting that dog out in sign by himself and give him opportunities to do it by himself. After a few try's the dog will either do it or not and you will know if he has relied on that other dog too much. jmo but you need to change it up on the dogs so they do not get to dependent on each other.

[Reuben]

Everyone made some excellent points…I say pen her up with another dog that is known to cast and find pigs…after a month or so of being penned together they should buddy up and cast out when hunted…just make sure to turn them out in some open woods that is known to hold pigs or at least have plenty of fresh hog sign…if she’s not wanting to go just hang out for 20 or 30 minutes…chances are she’ll get bored and roll out…once she decides to hunt again she will be back to her old herself again…good luck with her…

[ModisettH]

Yup! I have a 1/2 cur 1/2 pit here that was an excellent dog. His running buddy got killed and he quit after it. You couldn’t beg him to hunt after it. We retired him after that as he was already an old dog. Crazy but it happens.


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[hillbilly]

This is why I start mine out young solo.

[make-em-squeel]

Thanks for all the advice. Im going to stick it our with her through this fall at least since i dont hunt much in this heat. For what its worth she was very independent and never needed another dog to find me a hog.

[make-em-squeel]

Happy to report she hunted good for first time since the incident this past saturday. I had not been in 8 weeks avoiding the heat and hitting the lake instead but dropped tailgate and she was gone all night, checked in once then didnt see her again until bayed. Not sure but I think time with this new young dog shes been living with has her back to normal, hopefully for good.

[t-dog]

That’s awesome man and I’m sure a huge relief to you


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[make-em-squeel]

That’s awesome man and I’m sure a huge relief to you


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Yes sir, I had bad luck with dogs last year/this year. Lots of death/injuries for random bad luck reasons, breadings not taking etc. Didnt need my old dog giving up on me lol

I not sure she isnt gun shy as well and we have not been shooting over the bay the past 2 hunts. 

[t-dog]

Yeah my dogs have never been shot over. I’d probably lose communication with them if I did lol


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[Shotgun66]

Glad to hear she’s getting her Mojo back. Good job on your part for sticking with her and working through it.


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[Arkansashunter96]

I had a one old gyp that would only cast with one other dog on the ground. Most of the time that dog being my old yellow dog. I think she was trash broke to hard.


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