EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

How long is too long, to wait for a dog to turn on? Seams like my only real top of the line dog was a late starter. Or am i just making excuses for him?

6 months going with big dogs, 10 months finding own and at a year if not doing either won't be eating my feed anymore

By "turn on" are we talking bayin a hog in a controled setting or are we talking rollin out and huntin in the big woods producin pork or somewhere in between???

I guess it depends a lot on the hogs you are hunting around here a pup is not going to be finding and baying hogs at ten months on his own with very few hogs and long races but it should be try hard at a year and getting it done by two but it also depends a lot on when that dogs ancestors started did the start early or late

Absolutely true! If you can't feed a young dog a lot of hogs it would take a lot longer I guess, but at what point do you throw the towel in with those pups being hunted with your grown dogs catching low numbers of hog a year?? I am in Florida and we have no problem feeding young dogs tracks. So I can only speak of experience with the dogs I have raised in the conditions I have hunted.

  10 months .....he is at the bay but aint finding his own by no means. Hell, sometimes he even acts like he cares!

I'm with you jr. he has plenty off fresh sign and he will keep his nose to the ground but he aint lined it out yet.

I'm thinking he get to stay a couple more months, but an old friend says the years have changed me and that dog should be producing or pushing up daisys by now. Just fishing for some other opinions.

I've asked myself and others this same question and I am still not sure that I know the answer.  A couple things I do know are:

All dogs are different and you cant compare them apples to apples"; some start earlier than others.

The starting age doesn't always depend on the dog- the environment and the handler also has a lot to do with the dogs ability to start.

Once you give up on a dog, the dog is done.  I believe some dogs know when the handler has given up.  Once a person gets rid of a dog, there is not brining them back.

I've held on to some dogs longer than I should have and I now know that I let some dogs go that I wish I would have kept.

I'll end with this.  My favorite all time dog is coming on 12 years old.  Over the years she has been on probably 500+ hogs.  That may not be much to some, but I only get to hunt weekends and my spots are not full of hogs.  This particular dog started baying in a pen early at 6 months, but she never turned on until she was 2.  I am so glad that I gave her the extra time.

You just never really know.  I would give a dog that is out of proven crosses a little longer, just playing the odds game.

I agree with Junior...all pups have a learning curve and  if they are not doing certain things at certain ages I will be concerned...when breeding better dogs one must evaluate and take the data and make decisions based on that...but starting a new breeding program one must be more lenient at first...and if not breeding dogs hang on longer because some do turn on at a later age...also, like already mentioned some strains start later than others...especially larger type dogs...

but it sure is nice to see a five month old pup strike a track and try to run it alone...even if they are running the track in the wrong direction...or a 8 month old pup that is super trashy...that is a sure enough tale tale sign of great things to come from that pup when it figures out what game it is to hunt...

10-4 on that Ruben

Is the dog still progressing?  If I can see progress everytime out they can stay.  If I got rid of all my dogs that were turnin it on by 10 months I would have an empty house.  My lead male didn't figure it all out till he was over two. But he always was trying and I could constantly see him improving. I recently bread him to a good female and I kept two puppies both are 10 months old and are constantly busy, one is slightly ahead and has found one hog all by himself but has figured out trailing 100% or sticking in there yet but I have no doubt he will. He still a dang baby at 10 months.


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Hoghunter.......that is what I was wanting to hear. I know at almost 11 months he is not a finished dog. And i seen more than one late starter, but he really hasnt stepped his game up in the last 3 or 4 months. He really aint doing anything now he wasnt doing at 6 months. I am not ready to give up on him yet but I think he should be learning at a greater rate. I will keep working him for now just hope he gets his chit together soon.

I know what you mean and I know exactly how you are thinking.  One of the best sayings I ever heard was, "It is hard for a dog to live up to a man's pride".  Just don't give up on him if he is otherwise a good pup. 

Maybe just leave him alone for a while and take pressure off of yourself.  If feeding him or housing him is too much and you need to get rid of him, then let him go.  If you can give him a break and let him be a dog for a couple months, I think you ought to do that.

Just remember, he is still a pup, and he is not thinking that same thing you are.  Some dogs have it in them and some don't.  I've given a lot of nice pups away as pets.  Youu will know when the time is right. 

By you asking the question, it shows that you are losing confidence in him, but there is some part of you that wants to believe in him.  As long as part of you believes in him, let him stay.  You will know when the time is right for him to stay or go.

I don't even start a dog in the woods till a year old. I like to wait till their brain works. Now once I start them I look for improvement. I will give any of them nearly 6 months. If they are improving we keep stepping. If they aren't showing what I want to see by 18 to 24 months. They don't live here no more. What I want to see changes dog to dog but I expect them to be making a showing and giving me the feeling they are gonna make a dog by 2yr mark. I have 2 right now that are a touch over a year. They have gone to the woods once. As soon as I find some places to hunt here I will begin the inspection process.


Shotgun
Arkansas

If ur taking hem with finished dogs how is he goin to shine when they don't give hem the chance or have u hunted hem alone at all not saying that u can't train one but he may need set up hunt hogs tied to a tree stuff like that alone he may not have the picture in his head that he is suppose to go find the hog when he smells them I have seen it a lot or maybe it time to send hem to some one else


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ALL the BEST (5) hog dogs I ever owned were finished and needed NO help whatsoever to find, run, (as long as it took) and bay hogs by the age of 2.   Most of them were well on their way by age 1 but a couple were just getting going.  Long story short, I don't get real excited or discouraged before a year of age but it better pick up real quick after that.

I don't see the big rush I like them to start as soon as they can if they show a little something or not at 4 months then I put them up till 8 or 9 do some mock hunts and put them on a nice salty pig to test there heart but not mess them up then take them sparingly to the wood I like to leash them up and cut them to a bayed or caught hog just me tho

Thanks to all that replied. Some good advice and some I don't agree with, but thanks for giving your opinions. I really am not in that much of a hurry I just think he should be picking it up a little faster. For now I will leave him in the pen for a while and see how he likes that. lol   Thanks again everybody!

I think that is probably a good idea.

This is just my opinion but a dog learns nothing in a pen. The more a dog is in the woods, the faster he will reach his full potential. Could be he is a cull but you will never know until he gets a fair shake. All dogs mature at different levels. Some learn at a quicker pace then others but you can bet that even the early starting dogs cannot learn in a pen.
  When we get in hog sign we always give the younger dogs a chance to trail it out. They learn to be more independent & do not develop into a me too dog.

Agree 100% Cajun!! You might try leaving him one time and then see how bad he wants to go the following time when you start loading dogs. Give you an idea on the kind of drive he will have but if you leave him in the pen for the next couple months you may as well just call it quits with that dog and start over with another pup. If you are truly trying to get a pup going you have to feed him as many tracks or bays as possible so that light switch turns on!

 Just thought i would try to post the dog (http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/Jasonmangum78/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150126_174437_zpsa2cbca46.jpg.html)

(http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t385/Jasonmangum78/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150126_174437_zpsa2cbca46.jpg) (http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/Jasonmangum78/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150126_174437_zpsa2cbca46.jpg.html)

(http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t385/Jasonmangum78/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150126_174121_zpsfb7ad825.jpg) (http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/Jasonmangum78/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150126_174121_zpsfb7ad825.jpg.html)

(http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t385/Jasonmangum78/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150126_174417_zpsef9779d1.jpg) (http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/Jasonmangum78/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150126_174417_zpsef9779d1.jpg.html)

Sorry guys that was my first photo post. just wanted to see if i could...

Does he have any bulldog in him?

He's like Bushes Baked Beans, its a secrete family recipe.  lol

Looks shouldn't matter, if you like the dog keep feeding him tracks and see how he progresses over the next few months. If he keeps getting better keep him if not get rid of him

I see the problem right now...looks like his rudder is broken.

My favorite dog didn't do anything at all until about 10 months old. I knew he was from good parents so I held on to him. I'm Sure glad I Did, he is the best all around dog I have.


Sonny

The only reason that I asked if he had bulldog in him is, I see what looks like bulldog in him.  If a dog had some bulldog in him, I would give them a little longer period that a dog that doesn't.  I believe dogs that have bulldog in them take a little longer for the hunt to come out than a dog that doesn have BD in them.

i hear you hoghunter i didnt mean to leave you hanging, my four year old son demands a lot of attention and i got side track. Of course he has "some" in him all our dogs do hints the name Gritty. Thats where the bite comes from. We dont breed for looks or for puppies to sale we breed what works for us. Most would call our breed mutts but its ours. I guess I'm old fashion but best to the best is all we stick to. We will cross just about anything with true working ability and if your not selling pups who cares. Now I'm not gonna say all our pups make good dogs but enough of them do that i am concerned when at 10 months he has not found his own yet. Doesnt mean the switch wont turn on but it does mean he has not earned the right to breed.(yet)

Thanks again for all the replies, regardless of what i think it always good to hear other thoughts.

No problem. I didn't take it that way.

Here's what I expect and just my opinion, be baying good at 6 months, start taking hunting at around ten months and dumped into some races not pushed to hard just let them do what they want to do as long as their trying to figure it out, by a year old need to be striking good, by 18 months striking real good but still makes mistakes....I think way to many folks try to push to much on young dogs way to early, need to remember that at a yr old a dog is only mature as a 7 yr old human...