Trashbreaking should start when the pup starts hitting the woods, but not before the pup has showed interest (I sparingly use a bay pen) and has been showed that baying a hog is accepted behavior.
You take a pup to the woods for the first time and shock it for baying a cow, all the pup thinks is "I barked and it hurt!". Do they really posess the mental capability to distinguish between what's okay to bark at and what's not when they've never done it?
I agee with matt but I would be careful with shck collars seen A guy from san jacinto county that breeds his dogs very well had agyp pup 11 months old smoken the woods down casting and finding hog like you could not beleave I was very impressed.Well there was no hog sign one day she jumped a deer he shocked her and she quit she is 2 years old sitting in an old mans yard after that she would not leave your feet.NOT saying all dogs are that way just becareful.
cward, I can see exactly what I described as being what happened with this dog.
As far as handle on young pups, I honestly could care less. The most important job of my dogs is to leave and find a hog. When I start a young dog, if he/she won't at least leave and go look I'm not wasting my time teaching it to sit, stay, fetch or whatever. People don't realize that every time you get a young puppy out of the kennel and play with it, pet it, or whatever you are conditioning that dog to stay near and rewarding it for a behavior you will be posting here later trying to figure out a way to correct. Call me crazy, but I try not to put a hand on my young curs until they are hunting well and I believe as a result I have NEVER had a problem with pups leaving out with the older dogs. I want my dogs to operate like machines with only one objective in mind.
I am of the thinking that no matter what I do... teach it to fetch, sit, trash break, what ever... if that hinders the dogs hunt the dog wasn't much count any ways.
Eric,
While I agree with some of your points, I (respectfully) strongly disagree with the above statement. I know there are probably some that exist, but in my years of hunting I have NEVER seen a dog with a handle like you describe that was a deep or long-range hunting dog and honestly I would pay to accompany someone on a hunt to see such a dog (then probably try to buy some pups!
) What you describe not affecting the dog is the nature aspect, but the nurture side weighs heavy also (as has been discussed on this board ump-teen times)
If people flip over to the "dog trade" section, there are ads posted almost every day looking for "long range" strike dogs. Personally, I don't think the genetics are near as scarce as the knowledge to not mess up a good prospect from the start, and what I have found more times than not is that those desiring a "long range" dog are really just looking for a dog that will leave their feet and go hunt.
Just what works for me...
