I socialize the heck out of my pups . as well as work the heck out of them from 6 weeks up . if I take a special liking to a pup it stays in the house with me for a while . all socializing a pup does is reinforce it's trust in you and gives it one heck of a handle . I have never had a dog to not leave my feet because of this . if it's bred in them to hunt they are going to hunt , might as well have them hunt for and with you instead of themselves .
I agree! I have a good seasoned hunting buddy and he tells us the same thing about not lovin on them too much "like a pet" or they'll not wanna hunt. I feel that if they're gonna hunt, they're gonna hunt regardless. I feel that it's important to bond with pups, and establish that trust. After all, at the end of the hunt, when it's time to load up....who do they come running too? I've seen a lot of folks with the "only fool with them to chuck feed" method that are cussin up a storm at the end of a hunt because their dog is acting half feral and skittish not wanting to be caught to be loaded up, just staying out of reach of their handler. I think that in any sport or activity involving man and dog, there should be a bond there. I don't think you can establish a solid bond with a dog with just two minutes a day of you pourin feed in their bowl. Dogs also have a natural instinct to want to please, and when you have a good bond with a dog, you can often see a difference. I have seen this as fact, specifically with the bulldogs. All in all, I don't feel that being lovey with a dog will have any negative affects on it's willingness to hunt. I'm real close with my blk/tan Catahoula bitch, and when we get out to the woods and I cut her loose, she's up ahead, or gone. At the end, when we're all calling our dogs and loading up, she comes right to me happy as a clam. All the while I'm helping others catch their dogs cause they won't come to them, haha.
