Starting pups

[jdt]

i agree t bob and bryant . seeing what a dog does at a real young age might be a indication of the dog at maturity ... and it might not , i,ve seen lots of 5 months old super stars fizzle into duds by 18 months . ive seen lots of dogs ruined by pushing them too hard too young when they start showing promise . i ve ruint a dog about every way possible.

i don,t wanna raise and feed nothin but the best blood i can get a holt of and i let them run loose as long as i can , when they start harrassing the neighbors stock i put them up . at 10-12 months i work them several times and if they aint shonuff hookin up they are eliminated from the feed sack and the gene pool 

[halfbreed]

  nope I don't think you're sincere t-bob ,  you hurt my feelings and I ain't gonna talk to you no more   lmao  .  but just different strokes for different folks  . that's what keeps life interesting . but I am stuck in my ways when it comes to dogs . I just like finding the naturals sooner than ya'll  . and as for culling I wont tell anybody I've done any as long as nobody goes  by the old farm with a backhoe and try and find a spot to dig without hitting bone no one will be the wiser . lol

   jdt I've heard that a lot about young dogs fizzleing out when they got older  but have yet to have one of my own do it , been lucky I guess they have all ways just kept on going  . have had a few pick up a bad habit now and again but it was correctable .

 these discusions are good and hopefully some will gain something that will work for them , whatever they choose to try the wait and see or work and know   lol

[T-Bob Parker]

I like the way you put all that! as far as wait and see or work and know; I still say all these high school boys who are constantly putting their puppy's in the bay pens 3-4 times per week and getting plum stiff over how good their dogs bay in a pen must have packs full of true jam up jelly tight hog dogs.

if only they weren't having to buy there pen hogs... 


Just kidding around folks, don't get butthurt

[Reuben]

 
   jdt I've heard that a lot about young dogs fizzleing out when they got older  but have yet to have one of my own do it , been lucky I guess they have all ways just kept on going  . have had a few pick up a bad habit now and again but it was correctable .

 these discusions are good and hopefully some will gain something that will work for them , whatever they choose to try the wait and see or work and know   lol

x2...

[Reuben]

after 5 generations on the dam side and 3 generations on the sires side...talking about best to the best of linebred and inbred dogs I gave a 10 week old pup to one of my brothers for a blood trailing dog...I gave him a pup that had a good winding and trailing nose...two years later he wants to get rid of him because he never did anything with him...I took him and put him in the bay pen and took to baying like a pro pen dog...took him to the woods and he was hunting as good as the other dogs...second time out he took a hog by himself for a couple miles and swam the brazos...Someone caught thdog on the other side and called me to go get him...but he was a hunting dog...when breeding it is best to look for nature ability and inclination...if you have to hunt a dog 2 or 3 times a week to make a hunting dog out of it then we can expect the same from the pups...

the above paragraph I copied from another thread where I posted it...so yes...a well bred dog does not need to be exposed as a pup for it to do the job once he is started...even at 2 years of age...but all the dogs in this dogs background that I mentioned had been tested and exposed to trailing and baying shoats a few times so that I would know who started when and how well they could work out tracks...I even tested them for how they took to water and who swam like a gator...meaning that all you see is a wake and no splash just the water moving and the dogs head moving smoothly forward...I also noted if a 3 1/2-4 or 5 month old pup bolted the first time in the woods and went and made a big loop...all this was documented because I wanted early starters for hunting and breeding...early starters but those that did it naturally...we can call it training, conditioning or exposing the pups...the meaning is the same to me...but then the pup has to be hunting pretty good at 10 months old and one will always rise to the top and that one gets to breed...I also ran them and found out who had the heart to keep running and finish first...I let them run behind the truck and after a mile of hard running I let the lead dog beat me so that made me stop because that was the game...pass me up and I gave in...all this testing was only a game but it served a purpose for me and the pups...

loading pups and unloading pups and making trips here and there is all for a good reason...

the bay pen is nice but it shouldn't be over done...kind of like ice cream...a kid that has all he can eat too often and after a while he won't want any more...give him a little ice cream every now and then and he can't get enough...same principle with the pups in a bay pen...

staged hunts are good too...don't need many but a few...same thing with teaching them to bark when rigging the pups...stage the hog upwind and make sure you know exactly where the wind is carrying the hog scent across the road...when you get to that point encourage the dogs to bark and once they do drop the tailgate and let them go bay a hog...when using the bay pen the pups must know to respect the hog or the pup could get killed the first time in the woods...

I don't do much of this anymore but still know how... 

it doesn't take days or weeks of doing all this just a few times here and there and it is all that is needed...

Or like some others have said on here...turn the pup in to the bay or turn the pup out in heavy and fresh hog sign...

all kinds of ways to start the pups but my vote is to work them when you can...just don't over do it...

[Muddogkennels]

i pick the first pup that drives for hog scent an first to bark.. it seems that they will all ways make a dog . 

[kerreydw]

we take lots of pigs and work pups we dont tie them or cage them take them to a big open field or pecan orchard and let them roll might take my wifes stud  chihuahua to get them on the right track.lol

[Black Smith]

The mock drags worked for Dan and Ann. they even help mop the floor!! lol!! I say do whatever works for you I don't think you can go wrong investing time training your pups just hope they don't get wrecked to young then you might have a big set back!!

[Bowtech99]

  these discusions are good and hopefully some will gain something that will work for them , whatever they choose to try the wait and see or work and know   lol

Yup, Im not saying much but im sure reading and learning. Having a bay pen at the house is a blessing and a curse. Mine's a half acre woods pen. The Young dogs actually have to find the hogs and learn to work the hogs around obstacles. Thats great, i can work the dogs and stage mock hunts whenever i need/want too.

The downer is, Everytime i turn the dogs loose to stretch their legs thats where they go. Wont run an play in the yard, Just a one track mind, get that hog lol.