EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

When it comes to hunting/working dogs we sometimes make mistakes ad hopefully we learn from them and make the correction on the dog or at least make the adjustment on the next dog or dogs...

when I had my own places I would go alone with the pups and just turn them loose and watch/observe which pups went out and made a loop naturally and at what age... I was happy if all went together but I was always on the lookout for that superstar...I would leave the leader at home on the next outing and see who would step up and make the round...just getting out and enjoying the alone and quiet time and just analyzing and picking apart the pups performances, just looking for clues as to what the pups would become one day...and of course some of it is exposure and training...

now that I just go hunt with my friends we hit the woods and don't have the time to work the pups like I need...

Right now I have 2 young dogs that are doing great once the 2 lead dogs are turned loose... they will go miles and hours on a hog...but as young pups I turned them out first and they would run along with the wheeler...once I turned out the 2 lead dogs they would roll out at a dead run and the pups would follow...Now these pups are 15 months old and they are still doing the same thing...after analyzing the situation the only conclusion I can come up with is that they were never taken alone to hunt and explore and now at this point in time they are dependent on the other dogs to lead...They probably are depending to a certain extent for the other dogs to strike as well even though I have heard them strike first some of the times...I probably should take the pups alone sometimes, but I consider my self lucky to make a hunt once a week, so I try to take all my dogs when I do go...normally I know the progression of each pup so that I can decide which might be the best for breeding but I really can't say I know that about these 2 pups...I am sure time will tell but I like to know who started what and when...because I like early starters...

I have been around working dogs right at about 50 years now and still make mistakes...but I do try to learn from them...it is part of the game that makes it fun when we figure out the potential problem...

so what has been some of yawl's mistakes and corrections with your working dogs???don't have to be hog dogs...

  I really feel we all want a dog or our kids to perform in a way that is not realistic. I'm that way at times,but was horrible at one time when I was young. We all want a quick fix, but really all of us need time to be consistent in anything we do in life and dogs are not any different. If we were culled in life the way young dogs are, were would we be in life today. Just a thought!

Reuben I surely understand where you are coming from. After reading a whole bunch of your past postings, I'm pretty sure you and I do things much the same way and like about the same kind of dogs. I think when I first started 20+ years ago, I did the same thing for every dog when it came to training. Fortunately I learned that dogs are as diverse as people and horses. What makes one tick doesn't necessarily make the next one. It don't make them culls, just different. I've had some above average dogs that didn't start in a very conventional way. Early on I would have culled them.