I have two 1 year old male redbone puppies and I would like to know how to get them to toughen up. They both are pretty good in the woods, but the one just wants to play all the time until they find sent. My dad says I just have to wait until they catch a coon on the ground, but I feel like that could really hurt them because they are only a year old. These are my first coonhounds and I'm very new to the sport. Any suggestions?

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Once it's legal to do so, shoot one out with plenty of life still in him. When he hits the ground he'll put up a good fight which should make them that much more eager to get after the next one. Couple of these and you should be fine.

Thanks

I agree shoot one down but be careful it doesn't have too much fight in it. Or I'll take a caged coon and that is acting timid and put a round or two in it then let it out of the cage for the pup to chase. I try not to just let them at an aggressive coon. That's how they get torn up. You have to ease them into it. Once they actually start killing the coon not just playing with it that's when I let them fight it out. I praise them when they go for the head and neck and just ignore them when they are playing with it. They tend to get the idea. Then again I like hounds that come on a little slower. Personally I think they make better dogs in the end.

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Modern Gear for Modern Hunters!
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Letting a young dog get torn up by a coon can actually make the dog go backward in its training. Shoot the coon out DEAD. I used to train dogs by making the coon come out alive, but I got tired of having dogs being layed up for as couple weeks because of ears and tongues that would bleed for weeks. Some young dogs will get scared and it may take them months to get over it. Its not worth it. Those dogs of yours are pretty young still, and they will have a lot of play in them for a while. My advice is to hunt them separate, either with an older trained hound one at a time, or by themselves. That will keep them from playing while they should be hunting. Good luck!!

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Dave Miller... and Rock River Redbones! 563.499.4055

They're all different, even litter mates can progress at different levels. You don't have to have an aggressive dog to hunt & tree coon. I introduce mine at different ages depending on how "I feel if they're ready"
I have 2 almost 2 yrs old now that are doing good but their momma was treeing her own at 6 months by her self.
I never showed these 2 a cage coon until 10 months because they didn't seem as gamey or interested.
One pup will fight like crazy but only goes hunting if another dog is there. She'll go her own direction sometimes but doesn't leave my sight alone. The other hunts deeper & alone but will not grab a live coon.
I have a 3 year old male that is so laid back and is never aggressive to anyone or any dog, I thought he would never fight a coon.
At 5-6 months old he showed no interest in a caged coon. At 9 months old I turned one loose without him knowing. When I cut him on the track I realized the coon never climbed. I could see him sitting 100 yards in front of me.
I didn't intentionally want him to fight but was surprised how hard he fought that coon. The coon got on his head 3 times & he shook him off and went in for more.
I have 4 coonhounds here & 3 are hard fighting dogs and one won't get more than a couple feet away & booger bark at a coon.
Just keep yours in the woods & see how they progress. It doesn't take a hard fighting aggressive dog to tree lots of coon. I'm just as happy with my booger barker as the rest.

Thanks for the advice

A young inexperienced hunter comedown here for advice, and the 'experienced ' good hunters tell him to unethical things. Illegal even , atleast in some states ! lots of help.KEEP THE SPORT GROWING!!

One of the best coondogs I ever hunted with was one of the biggest chickens when come to facing a live coon. Had an extremely cold nose and very fast on track. Could get treed fast.