The two guys I got my hounds from advised me to not let them get roughed up until they were over 8 months old. They said it would set a puppy way back to make that mistake. Allegedly hounds on average start later than cur type dogs. I have been raising my own puppies. It is costly and a crap shoot as to whether I will even end up with a good one. If you are really wanting to get into hunting soon, it may be best to go ahead and spend the money it takes to buy a good one then try to build around it. By the time you figure in everything that goes into hog hunting, $800 is a drop in the bucket. I have no doubt you can buy a dog that finds pigs on its own for that or less. If I didn't hunt with guys that have good dogs and I wasn't neck deep in what I've started with these puppies I have now, that's what I would do. There is a real good chance that there are people on here that would be willing to sell you a good dog pretty cheap that just has some tendancy that pisses off the dog's current owner
