Pen or Woods?

[hunter_131]

i was wondering if yall prefer to start your pups in the pen and train them in a pen or do it all in the woods. i have heard that you can ruin a dog in a pen. a friend that i go hunting with trains his in the woods.

[khoghunter27]

JMO I have always started my pups and dogs in the pen especailly my pups so i can get an idea of how there going to handle a hog. My pups i step by step them up ffrom piglet to boar as they get older and on any older dogs I like to see them work up close with my already trained dogs just to see how well they work together. The only way i have see a dog get ruined in a pen is by letting them get there confidence broke they even know what they are in the pen for.

[Wormy Dog Kennels]

Right on Kieth!

[318hoghunter]

I start mine in the pen at anywhere from 6 mnths to a year depending on their maturity level but only till they get to bayin good then its off to the woods we go. I don,t like to let mine get used to me providing a hog for them.

[Wormy Dog Kennels]

Personally i like to start in the pen, I've had them start as early as 3 months on a small pig, you cant haul one that small to the woods, so by the time he gets his wheels , he knows what a hog is, how to bay it how to stop it, and how to get his butt out of the way. I just fill like you are getting them ready for the outside world. I look at it this way, if a person was totally against the pen he would have to wait for a pup to be 5-6 months old before he takes him or when he really gets his wheels, which could take longer. So If I can start one at 3-4 months I all ready got him ginnin, and he's got a head start, so all the next step is to get ahead and use his nose, half the battle is won just my opinion...................W.D.

[shawn]

maybe have a puppy bay at a pig in a trailer or one you got tied up, startin out, if it's gonna be a woods dog.

If you want it to be a baypen dog, then start it and keep it in a pen, If you want a woods dog, start it in the woods. Just don't start em to young either way.

[cantexduck]

let a piglet go in the yard- let pps out.  Not in a pen and the pups get to see a hog. Size of hog moves up with age of pup. I have raised a very small number of pup but I dont like bay pens for pups. A dog barking at a pig dosent mean much to me. MY lab will bark at a pig,mailman,airplanes etc. When you are working a pup dont you want to get that dog to hunt for that pig. Le tthe pup bark at a hog in te pen, then pull him out. Now drag hobbled pigs and when the dog is older let hogs go so he/she can find them.

[shawn]

I don't see what good baypens do for woods dogs either, we used to use baypens to train dogs and those dogs couldn't find hot dinner in a sack right in front of em, lol

The ones we put in the woods and just let em run with good dogs are turning out though.

[muleman]

If you have a dog to hunt pups with I would go to the pen once just so they are familiar with a pig. then to the woods with the older dog. but if I dont have an older dog, I show em a pig, let em bay at it. hold them back and turn the pig loose. then cut the pups loose and let them run it. you can increase the distance you let the pig out until you are letting it out without the dogs watching and then cut them loose. This seems to teach the dogs to hunt good because every time you cut them loose, they can find a pig. you just gradually make it harder. Still no replacement for hunting with good dogs but sometimes you gotta do what it takes.

[ninja]

start your pup off in the pen, don't let it get run over.  you can even tie a leg of the pig to the pen and let the pup bay with another dog.  when its old enough take it out in the pasture and let it chase and bay.  then take it to the woods and drag it for 1000 yards and tie the pig up.  let the pup then try and work the track as you walk to the pig.  you should know what you have at 6 months to a year old.  run the pup with another finished dog in the woods and get him on as many hogs as possible.  trash break as you go.  you can't ruin a good strike dog that has it in him to make a dog by working in a pen.  you can only make him better.  IF he has it in him just try and bring it out and let it develop.  If he doesn't have it in him then introduce him to mr. smith or mr wesson before one of your gyps get bred to him or give him to somebody you don't like.

[pig snatcher]

I like to show a pup a pig in a pen.  Basicly show them what they are after in a controaled environment.  After they have the idea I see no further need for up close pen work, it is time to work on finding the hog in the woods be it set up or real.

[alzone1]

i started my dog in the pen first so she'd know what she was doing, but i also ran her with another dog that has been doing it for a while.

[BarrNinja]

How about pen and woods?

I have to agree with most of you here on some level after doing it both ways over the years.

I think the pen is the best/ easiest way to educate a puppy when he is starting out. Putting him on a hog in a pen that will not hurt him but teaching him respect at the same time is a valuable lesson for an "uneducated pup" and one that may save him from serious injury or worse when he finally gets hauled to the woods.
Its a little tricky to be selective in the woods so I choose to lead my pups until I can size up the hog that the big dogs find and bay unless they have already had that "pen education" I mentioned above.
I have seen this situation end badly for  "uneducated pups" on a few occasions and just don't recommend it when hunting with older, experienced hog dogs.
What ever age I choose to start my pup, I educate him in a pen if I can or lead him to the bay in the woods so I can size the hog up first.
After the lesson is learned and my pups are showing due respect for the hogs it is rare that they see a hog in the pen after that. I just don't see it necessary unless I am working on a correction or installing a new button on a pup, but I can usually get that done in the woods also.

[Pecos21]

I have done it both ways and there is really no right or wrong answer to this question.....it all depends on the dog.

The best finished hog dog I have ever owned to date wouldn't bark at a hog in a pen the first time I took him. I got a little discouraged, but in the woods he came around real quick. So I will say this, if you do take a pup or an older dog to the pen to start or try out.....don't get discouraged before you take it to the woods. Some of the best dogs I have hunted, including the gyp I have now, were given to me by people who put them in the pen and they showed no interest...they got discouraged gave them to me.....I took them to the woods and BAM! Hog dogs.....

Note: This doesn't happen everytime but it has happened a few times........

[Mike]

So I will say this, if you do take a pup or an older dog to the pen to start or try out.....don't get discouraged before you take it to the woods.

Good advice... I tell people this all the time.

[Jeff]

i tore my baypen down.  it's a waste of time in my opinion.  only benefit i see is teaching them to get out of the way, as a few have said already.

[crackerc]

Its interesting to read other people's opinions on whether to use a pen to start pups or not. I used to never do that, but got a couple of young dogs wrecked right off the bat and it ruined a few of them.  When you turn them loose with a grown dog in the woods, you can't choose the size hog he is going to get on. We got a buddy's 9 month old pup sired by my Monkey dog wrecked his first trip to the woods this winter. He was stapled in 4 places and cut & poked in several more. That was a 205 lb boar hog with a nasty attitude Monkey bayed 10 minutes out of the truck. The young dog had only seen smaller hogs in a pen that he could handle and was over-confident on this hog.
The past few years I have been starting young dogs either in a  buddy's 5 acre pen or by hobbling a hog and turning it loose, then letting the young dog find it.
As my dogs are pretty rough a hobbled hog won't usually make them bay, they are going to catch it most of the time.  On a less aggressive dog a hobbled hog works pretty good.
I just like the idea of being able to choose the size (and fight) of a hog that I put a young dog on the first few times.
After that, its Katy bar the door, as they are going to the woods!!!

[hunter_131]

ok i was just wondering what yall thought. i am fixing to get a pup this weekend and glad i asked this so i can kinda know. i think i'm going to let her in a pen for a while and slowly take her to the woods with a great strike dog we use.