What makes a dog that yips or barks on track worth any amount of $ ?

[coach]

Had a kid ask me why a dog that yipped on track be worth $400 started to get riled up but figured it would turn into a good topic.  What do most of you think here.

[Circle C]

If he can find and bay hogs, and the person buying the dog does not mind yipping on track, I say go for it.... In the past I have gotten rid of some decent dogs because they were not 100% silent. Nowadays, I am more likely to look at the total package, and a dog might get a pass if it yips a little.

[t.wilbanks]

my main strike dog is silent on track, but will yip when a hog breaks and he is right behind it, but that helps me keep up with what direction they are heading in, so i dont mind it.  

[uglydog]

Its a personal preference, I prefer a totally silent dog. Although there have been a few (very few) oppertunities that a dog that would yip, would give you a clue as to the direction they were headed when they broke before I had the Garmin.

Top 3 Reasons I don't like a dog that yips on track-
#1 lets everybody know they are coming including the hogs, gives dog smart hogs a head start
#2 might/has pulled another dog off a track/scent that it is trying to work out
#3 A dog that is young and goes to a dog yipping on some scent, that pulls the other dogs to it, and the dog is not yet close to the hog, those other dogs learn to not honor that dog

[BULLMASTER]

A little yiping on a track doesnt bother if he makes up for that small fault in other areas.I do like dogs to be silent but a little yiping doesnt bother  me like a  fully open mouthed dog.I have a pup that has run silent for a year and a half and started yiping on tracks this weekend at Glenn Husseltines place.

[tnhillbilly]

I prefer it, it helops to know which way your dogs are going int these mtns. I would give $400 for an old mouthy dog, as long as it could find, and stop a hog.

[Randy_P]

I have always ran hound crosses that would run silent.  In the past couple of years I have acquired a bmc and a redbone bmc cross that will give mouth on a hot track. I also have a few young dogs I am bringing up this year.  I have found that a dog that barks on track or yips when things get hot actually help my young dogs get going quicker and gets them to were there is something that they can pick up and run with.  In the past my older silent dogs woudl go hunting only for my young dogs to get out ran or loose interest. ( not all the time but mroe times than not)  I am not advocating for a babbling idiot that opens and never produces pork.  So IN MY OPINION one that yips on track does no damage to a young dog AS LONG as the dog is about to be looking at pork.  My only question is this - if a hog is going to run when a dog opens up wouldn't they run if they hear people talking or four wheelers riding around, or smell us walking through the woods? I am for both silent and somewhat open dogs.  Did not mean to get on my soap box.  

[uglydog]

Ag Teach, I said it is personal preference and those are my beliefs as to what I have experienced. I will say that I can walk right up on hogs in some situations that never move, humans and 4 wheelers and cars are something they are acustomed to going by them all the time and are not a threat, because 4-wheeler and humans don't chase or bite the hogs, usually don't even see a bedded still hog. Let  a barking dog walk/run up to a hog and the hog will go to chompin and feel threatned and get in a defensive position, raise its hackles and either sit or stand and walk sideways to threaten a dog.

How many people on hear are standing around waiting and listening for dogs in a spot, then the dog come back to check and bust a hog out right next to where you were standing?

I remember just a few days ago a discussion about Mike striking a hog in a very small clump of brush they had been standing next to talking and visiting on their bikes/ATVs. I have seen this happen several times with my own eyes. I am saying "dog smart hogs" will run ahead of yipping dogs, a dog with enough bottom may stick and put the bay at the end, however many miles that may take.

There are some hogs that don't run, stay bedded & bayed, but those are ones that are not smart to dogs.

[coach]

I don't think anyone who has posted has done any wrong. All I wanted to do was educated this kid who believes silent is better than open or yipping. Yellow vs black or anyother color. Breed vs. whatever they have a calling. I don't believe one is better than the other but in situations a person must make the right choice.

[walkerchaser85]

After hunting silent closed ranged dogs for years and then adding trail barking hounds to the mix I can say from expirence that on low game propertys you will cover more ground on average with open dogs but I dont seem to be loosing those runners as much as I yoused to , my hounds stick with the runners and their loud barks keep my silent dogs right on their heels.I still dont catch every pig out their but I do beleive my hounds help in my situation. As far as high game I love hunting my hounds, they can run all night and I like being able to hear the race unfold. I like to youse one walker on the ground untill he strikes and then we drop the reserves and head in with catch dogs, seems to be working for me.

[matt_aggie04]

I like silent dogs for no other reason than I don't like to be teased, I want to know when I hear a bark that my dog is looking at a standing hog.  I will say this about open dogs, I have never seen an exceptional dog that was open that the owner didn't wish was silent and I have never seen an exceptional silent dog that the owner wished was open.  It is a trait that most people consider undesireable no matter how you dress it up.

[Circle C]

I have never seen an exceptional dog that was open that the owner didn't wish was silent and I have never seen an exceptional silent dog that the owner wished was open.  It is a trait that most people consider undesireable no matter how you dress it up.

I can't argue with that statement...

[BULLMASTER]

Matt you couldnt have said that any better,it would take some big money to buy the Cat I have in the classifieds if he were silent.He is one of the best strike dogs I have ever seen but will blast the acorns off the trees when he hits a track.I just cant handle that.

[walkerchaser85]

No doubt about it , trail barking is a "undesirable" trait for hog hunting. I know my hounds are stringing me out all over, but like I said I would rather stay with a runner then loose him every time he breaks out away from the curs, they can run but they cant hide!

[Randy_P]

Ugly Dog, I was not trying to argue with you.  I have always been the guy who absolutely hated open mouth dogs.  With this said I also was basing my knowledge on two open mouth dogs that never actually produced a pig.  This is where I made my decision. Since then I own and have hunted semi and open mouth dogs.  I have not seen a decline in the number of pigs we catch.  My buddy and I were talking last weekend during a hunt and wondered how many running hogs did our silent dogs chase and us saying to ourselves "Man ol' dan sure is hunting deep tonight."  We have places here that the best thing to do is turn catchdogs loose in order to catch hogs and other places that pigs just stand there.  But you are right it is all personal preference.  

[tnhillbilly]

No doubt about it , trail barking is a "undesirable" trait for hog hunting. I know my hounds are stringing me out all over, but like I said I would rather stay with a runner then loose him every time he breaks out away from the curs, they can run but they cant hide!

Like I said before, trail barking might be "undesireable" for some or most hog hunters but not to all. I desire it, not that i am against a silent dog, but if you fellers brought them close range, silent dogs up here, you aint gonna catch nothin but a cold or a cramp. we dont have many roads at all, and it is straight up and down and thick. even if you strike a hog with silent dogs and they trail across a ridge and get bayed out of hearing you aint gonna find them, cause you got ridges on each side and you dont know which one to go up to get to where you can hear and if you pick the wrong one you are another hour or more to the bay "if" the dogs are still there. SO it pays to have an open mouth, medium or more range, and can run a track that is a couple hrs old.
 UNLESS you have a Garmin, "I dont". IT boils down to a couple of things, MOSTLY in MY OPINION personal preference, terrain, the people you hunt with, they way you hunt, some people dont like to get out of the rd. some people like the chase.
I hunt bear and hogs, and to say that an open mouth dog will push hogs, therefore not catching them because they are too far behind, Well just not true, we turn loose on bear tracks that are 10-12 hrs old or older, and have a very good success rate. sure it may be a long race but that is all the fun of it, it just all boiles down to HOW you prefer to hunt, and how good your dogs are. There is good and bad in all.
P.S. ya'll just send all them rangey, open mouthed dogs up this way.

[Randy_P]

Couldnt agree with you more hillbilly.....ONE MANS TRASH IS ANOTHER MANS TREASURE. If the drive is to far to get rid of them mouthy pot lickers then bring them to texas.   

[WestTexasCurs]

Most of the guys on here havent hunted long enough to see a good hog dog.Let alone a good open dog,and a good silent dog.They hear all the big names that post on here alot run down open dogs.Well if ole HollywoodHoghunters says its so it must be so.They can spot a open dog right off the bat,thats one fault some green rookie hunter cant miss.Bam,he dont like that open dog.    I argue about how good a silent dog is to all the hound guys.So dont think that I am for one or the other.I just cant stand someone that throws out blanket statements about either.Both dogs can catch critters.Dont close your mind to either one.Matt, I have seen some real good open dogs.The men that owned them would have considered them culls,had they been very quiet.

[Beejay]

Hillbilly and agteach, I'm with you two. I'll take a dog that yips anyday. To me it makes no difference other than it aggravating my friends, who are firm believers in silent dogs. Send me a pm before culling any yippy dogs.

[Texas_Cur]

If you have an open dog that will consistently find hogs, hell I'll buy it for $400!  My preference is a dog that finds hogs