how old do u cull pups?

[BIG BEN]

 I have all young dogs right now, 3 males that are real young about 3 months old. 2 of the males are very hog excited and will bay and put teeth on a hobbled shoat and never leave it till I put it up. The other male when I got him was very shy but a lot of hot dogs has him coming around that humans are good and he will come when called. He is not showing the enthusiasim as the other males are and I was wondering when people cull pups, I know he is still way young and he has become my favorite pup buddy. What do think I should do, wait a couple more months and give him another try or cull him. He is from cow stock and seems to be a  natural cowdog, bays and is not affraid of any cow but not showing interest in hogs. one of the other males is his litter mate and is showing the making of a good dog.

[setexasplott]

the pups r three months if that one does not like a cow i think he will learn to hate a hog .  try tying him up while u bay other dogs he should start to want it and when he does always pull them out wanting more dont just let them bay till they loose interest.

[chainrated]

At 3 months old I wouldn't even consider culling him..

[ROCKIN ROO HOG DOGS]

"Give hime time and lots of affection" those were the words spoken to me when i picked 2 littermates from bill tolson and got them home one was shy and the other was a superstar.He said "I bet the shy one makes you a better dog",he was right.I never had to raise a hand around him but if i did i think it would have ruined him,struck his first hog at 6 months old and now at 3 years old is the best dog i have had the pleasure of owning.He is all business in the woods and has soft eyes of a wise old man while the rough and tumble pup is still an excellent srike dog he still has puppy characteristics at 3 yrs old.I think between 12 and 24 months is when a dog will chose there own path in the hunting world.BE PATIENT!

[Goatcher]

I have been doing this over 35 years and about the time you think you know it all, if you are honest with yourself, all you actually know is what you do not know.

I used  to cull my lines (hounds, curs, jagdterriers) at 12 weeks, based on prey drive.   Then held on to them a little longer.  Then at about my 15th year of hunting hard, I met a man with a dog that beat all other dogs to the strike, a dog you could hunt alone and he would find only the biggest russin boar and bay them until you came with a catch dog.  The owner said the dog would not even look at a hog until he was a year old!!!!!

I have sold puppies that do not turn on for the new owners until they get to 12 months, and then they are as good as any.  Those I would have culled 15 years ago!

A track dog needs to focus calmly to ground trail effectively, especially a cold trail.  I think most of the early bloomers are to hyper to focus, become just pack dogs and catchy.  The late bloomers tend to be the better first strike (lead locators) and the type that roll out after the catch or shot is made after another hog, then another and another.

Many good lines hunt effectively as  early as 6-7 months in the woods.  All my pups ae in the woods and doing well by then.  But that being said, they never reach there full potential until they are about 3 years old, regardless of breed or bloodlines.  I had a conversation with Larry Parker and he said he same thing is true of the Parker Curs.  I had cow-hog dogs from the N.B. Hunt ranch 25 years ago and it was the same with that line.


The big challenge is to weed out the dead-beats from the late-bloomer super dogs.  When someone finds out how, let me know!

[Mike]

I wouldn't think about culling a pup under a year old... at one to two you'll know something.

The best dogs i've hunted behind were late bloomers, two to three, and lived long lives. A lot of the early starters always seem to burn out early... that's what worries me about the pups i'm raising now.

[southtexasff]

how do you tell the difference between a late bloomer and a cull?

[Mike]

how do you tell the difference between a late bloomer and a cull?

That's the million dollar question... time and patience.

[joe]

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

[Goatcher]

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

[dgdawsonBMCs]

If he is finding and baying at 10 months, then you should be pretty happy.  He will get better with age, but remember he is still a pup and will do pup things..

[chainrated]

how do you tell the difference between a late bloomer and a cull?

Only time can tell you that..   

[aladatrot]

I know this can open up a whole new can of worms, but I have seen some dogs do nothing for one owner only to become the best dog in the pack for another. I wonder if you really like the dog but think he might be a cull, maybe send him to a trustworthy buddy to hunt with and see if he turns on. Perhaps he could get his confidence with the buddy (or the buddy's dogs) and then see if he would end up working for you. If he doesn't work for either of you, odds are he really is a cull. He had his chance to turn on as a hunting dog and so needs a different job on someone else's feed bill.

Cheers
M

[dfboothe]

I'm new to hog hunting
but have been around dogs quite a bit
i wouldn't cull a young dog till i know for sure he's not gonna go for what you want
i would give him all the time and patience that he needs till i can see it in his body that he just doesn't want it