Young pups

[tubby]

My young  bmc cur/catahoula pup turned six months the other day.  I was thinking about letting him run with the pack this weekend when we go hunting. I myself just getting started in hog hunting with dogs I was wanting to see what other opinions are on the matter letting them run with the pack that young still?

[raider54]

Currs typicaly start earlier than hounds so 6 months is certainly a good time to start them depending on the pup. When pups are that young they want to play so you will have to make sure there is not another pup in the pack the day you take him hunting. One other thing I would advise is to know the other dogs you are turning him loose with, It is alot better not to expose your pup to bad habbits than it is to try and break him off them later. Just food for thought

[westtxhoghunter]

heres my opinion and i know people that disagree but if im gonna feed em im gonna have em in the woods asap

[chancebrown]

westtx. i agree with you on that. if im gonna feed a dog im gonna start them when i think they are old enough

[doublel]

i agree i dog has to earn its keep if it wants to stay on my place

[Mike]

To me a six month old dog is still a puppy... let it grow and mature a little. I've seen and heard of too many young dogs ruined and killed at that age. I like to start mine in the woods around a year old... or when the dogs matures.

[HogzgoneWild]

Tooshay Mike, if they still got puppy in them they will act the part as well, trying to play with the other dogs and everything they can find, I usually introduce in a pen to get the intrest and go from there depending on the individual dog. JMO!

[jdt]

i agree with mike , some can take the punishment of the real world younger than others but more dogs have been ruined between 6 mos and a year than have been made .    i might haul him along and pick my time to turn him out , a hot track , or hog that wont hurt him . but i wouldnt just turn him loose and forget him .  at that age they cant fisically keep up and they learn to quit , or they get hurt and never get over it .

 start slow let the pup win every time and he ll make alot better dog .

[cchogdogger]

in my younger years i ruined some good young dogs starting them to early , put them in a bay pen against a hog alittle to big for them and got there confidence broke , ive also put them in a bay pen and built there confidence up to much and had that confidence get them cut bad at a young age some will get over that and still make a good dog , i agree with only taking one young dog ata time , and maybe the turning in when you want to is good to , i just try to go where ive seen lots of sign or hogs , nothing worse on a pups training program than several dry runs , they get bored and start looking for something to get into

[dirkshane]

JMO i think it all depends on the dog and how it matures and what you have exposed with it i say six months and with dogs that the puppy knows go for it that is what i done with my ybmc and now they are 13 months and both have found their own hogs

[khoghunter27]

I have made the mistake of taking a dog to early and that mistake resulted in him r.i.p. Even if a pup is a jam up dog in the pen. doesn't mean he or she is ready for the dangers in the woods so mine from now on wait till i know they can hold there own in the woods just my opinion.

[Baypenbubba]

I have been starting young dogs for 40 plus years and have tried many different breeds.It would not be unusual for your cat cur cross to start at this age and work like an old dog. However, very few puppies this age can stand the punishment he is likely to receive without quitting or getting hurt seriously "burned out".
If you like him take it easy with him. Play with him in the pen on hogs you pick not too soft or too hard. Let him grow up a little bit. Don't mean to sound like a know it all, just seen alot of them come and go. Try him once or twice in the fall after the frost. Try to make sure he sees hogs his first few trips. This is the most important thing.