Starting a new hunting dog.

KyleCoyote

New member
I went with a blue heeler. I'm relatively new with hunting dogs (used to have 4 blood hounds that we used on mt lions, Bears etc when I was real little)

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She is currently 6 weeks old. I have been reading a little bit but as i said i'm pretty new so i'm not afraid of being corrected.

I'll start her off now on basic obedience, getting her outside regularly, and socialized.

I have read that I should not do any real hunting until she about a year old or full grown any opinions on this?

Would it ruin her to get her chasing squirrels or rabbits before then if its not real heavy exercise because she is still growing or does it matter?

EDIT: Sorry guys i saw a thread just a couple posts down asking the same thing. I hate to be that guy.

 
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Originally Posted By: KyleCoyoteI went with a blue heeler. I'm relatively new with hunting dogs (used to have 4 blood hounds that we used on mt lions, Bears etc when I was real little)

10336625_10201318767364880_8838355365164755862_n.jpg


She is currently 6 months old. I have been reading a little bit but as i said i'm pretty new so i'm not afraid of being corrected.

I'll start her off now on basic obedience, getting her outside regularly, and socialized.

I have read that I should not do any real hunting until she about a year old or full grown any opinions on this?

Would it ruin her to get her chasing squirrels or rabbits before then if its not real heavy exercise because she is still growing or does it matter?
EDIT: Sorry guys i saw a thread just a couple posts down asking the same thing. I hate to be that guy.



I assume you are wanting to Decoy Coyotes??

Why would you want your dog chasing Squirrels and Rabbits?? Every time you bump a cottontail or jack rabbit off they will go.

My pups decoy/chase anything other than coyotes? They get lit up!!

Now on the other hand if they were to become Squirrel and Rabbit Decoy dogs? Then so be it, they chase squirrels and rabbits.

My pups don't chase Geese, ducks, people, cows, calves, horses, chickens, ponies, skunks, porcupines, rabbits or any other critter.
Mine are Coyote Decoy Dogs!

I am sure many, many other Houndsmen with chime in and everybody has a different method for their dogs for the most part.

Best of luck to you!
 
My dogs chase squirrels, skunks, possums, coons, deer, rats, rabbits. They don't bother cattle, horses or fowl. I'll put them up against anybody's too.
 
Originally Posted By: SHamptonThis was 10 minutes before I made my stand here.






This is what my sorry, pathetic skunk chasin dogs did afterwards.





Like I said Scotty!

Everybody has their own way of training their dogs/pups.

What works for one doesn't always work for another!

That is what I like about this country, (For now) we have freedom of speech and many FREE liberties
:)

***I have heard from some VERY reliable sources, you chase cars!
 
exercise isn't going to hurt them, I had a 6 month old go 19 miles on the gps yesterday. tired dogs make good dogs, get them out and do something with them. they wont learn much at the house
 


Mine go to the dog park every night after work!

I run them as much as I can and they continue to go go go!


Originally Posted By: trapper2exercise isn't going to hurt them, I had a 6 month old go 19 miles on the gps yesterday. tired dogs make good dogs, get them out and do something with them. they wont learn much at the house
 
Before you believe anything that you hear about me you might make sure that your source is reliable. One thing about me versus all these " dogmen" you speak of is that I don't just get on here and run my mouth. I have proof to back up every claim that I make. Of course it's hard to beat advice from experts that don't do anything but run their mouth and think they're God because they've been able to pull the wool over the eyes of a small predator forum crowd. And I'm not talking about the guy from New Mexico.
 
Scotty,

I know exactly who you are and I know who your friends are!

You do a GREAT job with your Dog(s)!

*Don't get COCKY like the "Other" guy!!

With that said - Back to the original post - Everybody with a dog(s) has a different theory or training process, what works for some does not work for all! If you believe in it? Use it!

I will be out with my dogs in 2 weeks trying to find some snakes for my dogs, they need to be snake broken.
 
As far as the squirrels and other varmints go, wouldn't it eventually help with becoming a decoy dog if when it chased a squirrel or something and I hit the remote to set the collar off then it came back consistently that way it knows no matter what it is chasing it comes when the collar goes off?

Like I said I don''t mind if i'm dead wrong, i'm here to learn. I have just been thinking of different ways to train it for hunting in general before it starts to work coyotes. That's what it'll be used for primarily.
 
Getting one to respond to the tone doesn't take very long. I can post a dozen videos and not one single time was a tone used in them.
 
kyle, you listen to scott and what he says you can take to the bank, good guy and is the real deal. get his number and holler at him, it will put you along ways ahead of the learning curve
 
Or you could listen to slicker than snot and not get a freakin bit positive from a guy that probably doesn't have a dog!!

But I am sure he has one helluva decoy kitten!!
 
I don't want a dog running something that isn't what I want it running. I make sure my dogs get worked or excercised 2x a day at a minimum so I don't need to use trash game for excercise. My philosophy is that I want my dogs to not even lift their heads when they are running a track or are on a cripple. I break them off of trash early and my 2 year olds and older don't even wear shock collars.

If you are just looking for a decoy dog, I don't think a dog interested in trash game is that bad of a thing though since they don't need to run a track or stick with a long chase. As long as you make sure your dog is aware that Coyotes are at the top of the list and the other stuff is only for when you are not on a stand then it won't be a problem.

There is no perfect science and all dogs respond differently to methods. Listen to the guys on this site that have dogs that are obviously excellent decoy dogs (btech, hampton, jglynn) and also realize that you have your own dog who will develop it's own way.

Worst thing you can do is coop them up in the house and not get them out in the field.
 
I've wondered about this quite a bit. You want the dog focused on the game, but you aren't always playing the game. Nothing builds gaminess and experience quite like learning how to disarm and kill a raccoon without taking damage. If a dog had the ability to "wind" an area you are hunting like a hog dog "off the box" to locate coyote, that would be neat. But that is probably unrealistic. I have a 150 pound trash/carrion expert, and whatever he grabbed ahold of last summer, he grabbed the back leg first. Pierced his cornea, put holes in the tongue, little holes and scratches everywhere. Probably was a large coon, yet most of these cur dogs or pits don't have much of an issue. Hunting for the right bite, and dealing with something trying to bite you takes practice.
 
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