Message #499056

[t-dog]

I too think that exposure is all important. I don't usually take my dogs on live uncontrolled hunts before they are a year old. Just like a 16-18 year old teenager, they may be superior athletes and sound really sensible. But when they are all of a sudden faced with life or death adversity they still just don't know how to deal with it.  I have seen dogs that were doing everything right at 8-10 months old and were out of a long line of nice dogs, meet one of those rank dudes and get ruined. The cutting was severe true enough and they healed fine. Mentally though, they were as crippled as one could get. The littermates that didn't get wrecked before a year old recovered from bad cutting just fine. It was simply mental maturity. I like them to hit the ground on their first live hunt thinking they have been doing it for months and trying to be the lead dog. As for calling them a pup or not, it boils down to how much exposure they've had. Life happens and sometimes I don't get to put the time in one that I think gives them a fare shake on the culling curve so I give them the benefit of the doubt for a little longer. I also have a tendency to be more patient with dogs out of proven lines verses a random dog or an experimental cross. By the time they get that year old mark, I have a pretty good idea of cull or keep just from the mock hunting.