Buying finished dogs vs training pups

[king26]

This is just an open question so feel free to let me know what you think. Is someone better off spending big money on finished dogs or be patient and train dogs to your liking

[grittydog]

It is probably best to have a good dog or 2 to train your pups. If you just start out with pups you have to depend on others to start your pups. But it is Probably harder to find a REAL finished dog for sale.

[Noah]

Depends on the person that would be doing the training... I would always vote on trainin' a young dog up yourself, but if you don't know what you're doing a finished dog can sure get you on the right track

[hogdoggintn]

It's more rewarding to raise your own... but you never know how they will actually turn out. Like grittydog said you will have a hard time finding a truly finished dog.

[king26]

Totally agree with having a finished dog to help train, but I often see guys buying what they think are finished dogs only to be dissappointed. It just seems that you could save what ends of being thousands of dollars if you be patient and train pups to your style of hunting it could save you lots of money and maybe some grief. A finished dog in my standard may be a trashed dog in the mind of someone else. I made this comment for guys to see the view point of many others and maybe they will save some money and learn a thing or two along the way being that the dog business is not a guaranteed trade.

[Noah]

If you think you will save money training a dog up yourself... haha... good luck 

The amount of money it takes to cover the expenses of hunting a dog to a finished level cannot be recouped...   A good dog for sale that is actually finished is always underpriced 

[king26]

Well the issue is as you say ACTUALLY FINISHED. Finished seems to be a pretty broad term in some of these conversations

[smarlowe]

Noah, I'm with ya 100 percent on that! Where I'm at there aint many hogs and startin pups is real hard. Spendin the money for a good dog is well worth it, just hunt it before ya buy! The time it takes for a pup to start and get straight about it is much shorter with a lead dog ! I love watchin my young dogs learn and its probably my favorite thing to do now over all other huntin. Absolutely one of the best things I ever did was to buy a dog to help train me and the pups !!!!!

[Reuben]

The kind of finished dog I like cost a lot of money or is not for sale...but some can be had if you luck in to it...I would rather buy 2 or 3 well bred pups that have been well cared for and socialized...then train them myself...well bred pups are easy to train...

I like raising my own pups...that way I can socialize and train them my way...and observe and test them as they grow...

[king26]

This was the conversation I was looking to get started. Different opinions on a good topic from different perspectives. Thanks guys. I've learned in a short time it takes a good mixture of finished dogs and great pups to have a pack worth taking about.

[king26]

Hopefully somebody reading this learns that when buying dogs your best bet isn't always going after a $1,000 dog.

[boarhog1]

Its hard to find a finished dog. Not very often does someone sell a good dog. But its not always easy to train a pup. If you buy a grown dog becareful lots of dog traders out there sellin alot of number 2eaters.

[hogdoggintn]

Several finished dogs on the dog trade... 

[baddogs87]

i would like to kno if you can find a finshed dog thats not going to be a 1000$ a true finshed dog  im new and all i have is two 8 month old pups and would like to find a good dog to train thim with but it seems like i have to spend that kind of money to find a good dog are keep wasting my money on bs and people telling me that this dog will hunt and it dont.... im not rich and would love to have just one good dog to hunt thim with and not pay 1000$..... so how do i kno if people really have a good dog pay the money and find out?

[hogdoggintn]

so how do i kno if people really have a good dog pay the money and find out?

Hunt with the dog before exchanging any money.

[baddogs87]

so how do i kno if people really have a good dog pay the money and find out?

Hunt with the dog before exchanging any money.

most of the time im meeting someone half way cuz i cant seem to find a dog in LA so i have to drive itleast two hours and most people dont have time to show the dog hunt are the place to when we meet so im ready to spend the mony if it will be worth it i have had two dogs on a trile and both times and both guy would never pick up the phone after i got to hunt the dog to bring um back... i guess bad luck...

[Bar R Ranch]

i would like to kno if you can find a finshed dog thats not going to be a 1000$ a true finshed dog  im new and all i have is two 8 month old pups and would like to find a good dog to train thim with but it seems like i have to spend that kind of money to find a good dog are keep wasting my money on bs and people telling me that this dog will hunt and it dont.... im not rich and would love to have just one good dog to hunt thim with and not pay 1000$..... so how do i kno if people really have a good dog pay the money and find out?

Let's say you take these 8 month old pups and start hunting them with a "finished" dog. Pretty soon they start striking ahead of the "finished" dog. You feed these dogs and hunt these dogs for the next 3-4 years until they become "finished". One of them turns into a top notch dog. He is your idea of a perfect hog dog. Would you sell this dog for less than a $1000 after you have spent all this time and money on this dog? I use quotations around the word "finished" because I don't think a dog is finished until it is dead, but that is a whole other thread.

[king26]

That's been my point all along. Get you some good pups from working stock, let a great dog that hunts how you want to hunt train your pups. And no I would not sell em when he is "finished" you breed and allow him to be that great dog that trains your pups.

[halfbreed]

actually you boys DO NOT NEED  to buy a finished dog to train pups !!!! i never run any of my pups with a finished dog until they are far enough along in their training or [ exposure ] don't wanna start the traing v genetics debate again    . but there you go , work the young dogs on mock hunts and drag [ exposure ] till you are confident they know what you want them to do . and when you finally get the pups working at tracking and baying well , you take them to the woods and start hog hunting . if the pups are worth the feed to begin with this is all it takes . ah alas but this takes time and patience , and that is the first thing the beginner needs to acuire be he or she be old or young . me personally i have never in all my life purchased any dog over 6 months of age but i have never in my life been accused of being in a hurry [ just get behind me on the hyway ]   and remember to find a [ finished dog ] that is able to please YOU  you will have to hunt with several from differant people and STYLES of hunting [ there are many ] i hunt close to medium dogs and if you are looking for a go yonder wonder my dogs wouldn't please you and vice a versa . good kuck in your indeavers and remember  PATIENCE  is what a dog man HAS TO HAVE BEFORE ALL ELSE   

[firemedic]

This is a good topic for this forum to kick around.....mainly because I don't think that there is a clear answer to the quandry of buying finished or training your own.

I've done the training thing and enjoyed it tremendously.....then I got a chance to get a very well started, or in some circles she could have been finished, 2 year old female cur dog....from a guy that I knew well and had hunted with....so I trusted him. She started barking a bit on track and he can't have that I reckon,....so she was up for sale. I traded him a male cur that I had that I was thinking of parting with. He came and hunted with us and brought her along, I liked her and we traded....best move I've ever made during over 30 years of hog hunting. Best hog dog I may ever have....I truly enjoy hunting with her. Had her 4 years and killed a lot of hogs with her and the rest of our pack.

About that same time I gave away a female Ridgeback/Campbell dog that I had raised from a pup that I was really disappointed in,....One of my best friends had a female Plott/Catahoula cross that he had gotten from someone in Fla. a few months earlier....so I had hunted with her and liked her a lot....bought her for $200 and never looked back, she's a great little dog that I've never had to get onto about anything....just a good hog dog that I can depend on. I've had both of these dogs for about 4 years now and I'm enjoying hunting with them more every year. They do exactly what I want a dog to do,....they find and bay or catch hogs.....and work like a team with my friends' hounds. They don't have that endless bottom that so many people want,.... had that and don't want any more of it. They hunt like I want them to and I like that.....we have fun at this and that's what I want....to enjoy my hog hunting time. I've cussed dogs waaaaay too much over the years that didn't do what I wanted them to......not anymore.

So,......I'm saying that you CAN find a dog that suits you, that's already doing good and you don't have to pay a $1000 for it. HOWEVER......and here's the sticker for most younger folks,......you cannot be in a hurry.....read that again please....be happy to get to hunt and wait until a dog that you like comes available....then buy it. 

I know that my views are a lot different than they were 30 years ago....heck....I'm 60 yaers old....I don't really care to raise pups and find homes for the ones I don't keep....we don't have enough hogs here where I live to fool with puppies. If I lived where some of y'all live it might be different, but I don't and never will.

I want to hunt and enjoy my 'finished', if there is such a thing, dogs that I don't have a fortune in. Oh,.....and the other thing I wanted to comment on was this.....Why in the round world would any hunter with walking around sense pay for a dog that he hasn't hunted with? I cannot for the life of me even come anywhere near understanding that move..... That is the reason there are dog traders that prey on these people....stop buying dogs that you haven't hunted with and they'll go out of business and have to get a real job.... Such are my opinions.....