Getting a dog to get out there.

Heres an article i wrote about this, originally appeared in the August 2013 issue of Tuskers magazine

Seems like a lot of folks are talking about range these days, and all too often I see range confused with bottom. So lets start by getting our terms in order. Range is how far a dog will travel looking for sign of a critter to give chase. Bottom is how long the dog will chase that deer. Lol. Not the same thing. If you want to see a dog's range, it's pretty easy, take the dog to a place where you know there are no hogs, not even a week old track. The distance that dog hunts, looking for sign, is its range. Some dogs won't leave your feet no matter, and some dogs will be in the next county, running, who knows if they're hunting, but they are running!
Everyone wants that long range dog... 'til they get him and wear out boots and truck tires chasing him all over god's green earth! Everyone's got a different idea of what long range means. To the guy whose boot toe smells like a dog's rear end, long range might be 100 yards. For me when I say long range, I am talking about a dog that gets out hunting 1000 plus yards. I call medium range 300 - 500 yds, and close range is 100 yds or so. As for what is best, well that depends on how you hunt and the terrain, property size, how gritty your dogs are, and so on. I prefer a medium range dog, but I have yet to own one, seems the medium range dogs always end up getting talked into going long range by the older dogs. Tracy and I hunt long range dogs for the most part, and they are loose baying dogs. I have seen long range rough dogs, but with the high price of dog food, I'll pass! Besides, where you gonna put the dog box when the whole bed of the truck is full of staple guns?
The next big question I hear all the time is, "How do I get my dog to range out?" Again, a lot of the time this is a confusion of terms, and what is really meant is "How do I get my dog to hunt?" If you want your dog to range out you first have to start with a dog that has the drive to hunt. Once you have a dog that wants to hunt it is just a matter of teaching the dog to hunt the way you want him to. But you can't put hunt in a dog, so there is no sense is banging your head against a wall. 1. Don't start the dog too young. You don't want a pup out there just running, trying to keep up, and this often leads to babbling. 2. If you have a long range dog already you can kennel this new dog with the dog that hunts the way you like. They'll be running buddies. 3. Keep your mouth shut! When you are in the woods don't pay the dog ANY attention if its hanging around making sure a hog don't ambush you. I try my best to not even make eye contact with the dog. With a new dog

I will tolerate this hanging around for 5 or 6 hunts. I call them free hunts. 4. You've give the dog some free hunts to hang around, you've ignored him and grudgingly accepted the slack your huntin' buddy gave you. Now it's time to get this dog out of your sight and get your buddy's mouth shut. This works best in the spring when the sap is up, you get you a fresh green sappling like grandma whooped you with and you brush the fleas off the dogs backside with it. Don't try to kill the dog, just let him know you are less than pleased with his effort. This may seem obvious, but I've seen it, don't call the dogs name, or pet him and then get him with the sappling! Lol. If the dog has any sense he will get away from the big ugly man with the stick. He may just sulk in the brush, barely out of sight, that's fine, leave him be. Everything is going according to plan if you can't see him. We usually give the dogs a "GET IN THERE" when we cast, so as the dog is running away from you give him a command that he will learn means get out of my sight and find a hog. I guess it don't really matter what you say, you could tell em to "GET OFF THEIR TWINKLE TOES". After one or two "treatments" all you usually have to do is hit your leg with the sappling. 5. You need to cast your dogs! So many times I see guys just open dog box doors and let dogs pile out. One goes over here to empty out, one marks the tire of the truck, one is still asleep in the box, two are over here jump starting your breeding program, and one went hunting but the other dogs didn't notice. When you take dogs out of the box and snap them, you have control. You can take those 3 dogs that know how to hunt and point them to the creek bottom where you think there are hogs and cast them. This gets all the dogs going at once, hopefully in the same direction, and the likelihood of that new dog going with them is greatly improved. Number 6,7, and 8 are patience. Patience means giving the dog a chance to learn, but it don't mean wasting time and dog food. Dogs are like people, (just slightly more admirable). Not everyone can be good at everything with practice. I could practice dancing with the best coach for the rest of my life and still look like I was getting stung by bees.
So I hope if anyone out there is wanting their dog to range out this has helped a bit. I'm no expert, these are just a few of the tricks that were taught to me, and a few that I learned by ruining what would have otherwise been a great dog in more capable hands.