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Training chronicle and project.
http://coondawgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=29993
Page 13 of 17

Author:  LCK [ Sat May 05, 2007 5:15 pm ]
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Catch him at the tree and love on him for a few seconds and pull him off of the tree while he is at his peak. Pull him off and put him up wanting more. I am willing to bet he is getting loose at the tree because he is treeing too long with no hard reward. It works wonders with young dogs.

Author:  LCK [ Sat May 05, 2007 11:59 pm ]
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Stinger had a very good showing tonight. I took her out alone. It was 38 degree's with about a 15 mile per hour wind. She is showing a pretty good desire to hunt out until she strikes and is moving a track with decent speed. Confidence in the woods at night for a young hound comes from a lot of time being out in the woods and being allowed to explore and gain independance. Working a pup around and in shallow water when young pays off big time when it comes to them swimming rivers and canals etc. She did this several times tonight on her own. We did not get a tree but did work on a few cold or poor tracks. She came in every time when called and was loved up a bit and let go right back out. This helps em learn that it is ok to come in for a bit and they get to go out again. It developes good handling habits. We worked on lead back to the truck for a good two miles with a lot of stop and stand and heel. Plenty of praise with a few well placed leash jerks and small swats with a switch helps em remember to stay behind while on lead. We worked on standing still for collering and while in the box with the door open. A slight two finger slap on the snout usually gets em to standing at the threshold pretty good without charging out of the box like a maniac. This little dog is showing that she is retaining a lot of the lessons learned with the pre hunt training and it is now paying off while hunting. It should not take too much longer and she will have "folded" these lesons into her hunting regimen and should turn out to be a pretty nice handling young hound. She is quickly coming of the age for harder or longer outings. I have mentioned in other posts and in this project that by working on these skills without adding in the extra pressures of actual hunting makes for a nice time. Here's a photo I took of Stinger with her best buddy Austin and My wife Tina at the end of the hunt.



Image

Author:  mel m [ Sat May 12, 2007 2:24 pm ]
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that sounds pretty good LCK
how much time did you spend on getting her ready to come out of the box....when i open my box i have to either move outa the way or grab them right quick
mel

Author:  LCK [ Sun May 13, 2007 8:07 pm ]
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mel m wrote:
that sounds pretty good LCK
how much time did you spend on getting her ready to come out of the box....when i open my box i have to either move outa the way or grab them right quick
mel


I start with them being alone in the box. I usually use a ball cap, glove or just two or three fingers and "swat" them on the forhead accompanied with a BACK command. It does not take but two or three of these and they are staying back when they see your hand raised. Always give the BACK command when the hand goes up as well. Once they will stand in the box with the door open then add one more dog and repeat. Dogs will forget the first lesson with another dog trying to get out. Just repeat the lesson. Once the dog is standing in the box nicely, reach in and pull the other dog out by the collar. Be ready because the dog will break and try to rush out. Give the correction and command BACK. If the dog has been worked with a good bit prior to this lesson they catch on pretty quick. Before long you can have a box plumb full of dogs and they will ALL just stand patiently waiting to be pulled from the box. It makes for a less frustrating hunt.

Author:  mel m [ Tue May 15, 2007 4:52 pm ]
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thanks for the tip gonna work on that this week

Author:  Spokerider [ Fri May 18, 2007 5:12 pm ]
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LCK,

It sounds as if Stinger is doing very well, of course, it's got nothing to do with the trainer :wink:

I have a question about the length of time you'd keep her on the tree, as I understand the importance of pulling the dog off with it still wanting more and while their interest is still high. Are you talking 5 mins, 10 mins or longer?

I cage-caught a coon and showed it to my 6 month old english pup today. This was the first coon she's seen. I kept my other dog in the house while the pup had her introduction. Right off the bat, she got down wind of it and started barking, but she was a little apprehensive and stayed 10 feet back of the cage on the ground. I let her see it for about 4 minutes. When I started to drag the coon, she really turned it up a notch, and moved right in only inches from the cage, barking and growling. I dragged the cage about 150 ft then tied it 6 ft up in a tree, where she again stayed 8 ft away and barked. Lots of praise all along by me.... Then I let my airedale out of the house and he half-trailed / followed the pups barking to the coon. This was his second caged-coon for him and he was right under it jumping, barking and trying to climb the tree. I let them both go at it for another 5 minutes or so, then let the cage down and released the coon. The 'dale was tied but Libby was not, and she rushed in and grabbed tail fur just as the coon escaped from the trap up the first tree, and that was the end of her first coon session. She was definitly wanting more! LCK would you consider this an adequate exercise, or, would you have done it differently? If so how?

Her next coon will be released with a 5 min head start out of sight and she'll need to use the nose to locate it, as she now knows the scent of coon.


Thanks, and I do look forward to more on Stinger's progression.

Author:  LCK [ Fri May 18, 2007 7:05 pm ]
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It is difficult to put a specific time on it as all pups are different. Having said that, I generally don't let them bark treed for more than 45 to 50 seconds right at first. I know this sounds crazy but it is true. You have to really look for when the pup is at it's peak of focus on the tree. I mean really settling in and hammering. That is the very moment I give em some lovin and pull or better yet drag them away and put them up. It has to happen when they are at their peak of excitement in order to be the most effective. Then you just put them up. Isolate them from as much outside interference as possible for at least two or three hours. I usually leave them in the dog box for a couple of hours and then put them back on the chain or in the kennel. I always have water in the box for them as well. We have all seen the pup who starts treeing good and then very soon it gets off the tree and sniff's around and we get them back on the tree etc. If you let the pup tree long enough for it to get off the tree and re adjust or sniff around you have gone too long. You want to drag them off before they do that. That's the big secret. ( don't tell anyone I told you that one :wink: ) Sounds like your on the right track with your pup. RESIST at all cost the temptation to "just do it a little longer" or "try one more". It will NOT do any good at all and can cause a set back and generally does. I think your on the right track with this pups training. The very most important thing is you have a plan. Just stick to it. Thanks for your questions and comments. Good luck!

Author:  LCK [ Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:53 am ]
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Well Stinger is coming along nicely. I had her at bear camp and she thinks she's a big dog now LOL. She is right at ten months old as is handling very nicely without being clingy. She goes out and hunts until called or beeped in with the e-collar. She is loading up without problem in the small Suzuki and trying to load in the big truck but can't jump that high just yet. She is standing in the box patiently with the door open with the other dogs and is starting to like ridding on the rig box. Little Stinger actually rigged two bear during the hunt. The very most important thing I am seeing in her at this point is her overall confidence in all of the different settings that she is exposed to. This comes from, in my opinion two things. The first thing is sound breeding and good genetic background joined with patient and planned handling. Most folks call it socialization. With solid and thoughtfull socialization most dogs tend to overcome mistakes and set backs way better than dogs who are just thrust into confusing situations. These next two months are going to be very critical in her coon hunting career. I plan on hunting her alone at least two nights a week for about two hours per drop with emphasis on trash. I plan on putting her on every imaginable off game critter I can find. It would be tempting with her at this age to really hunt the hair off of her on coon but remember she is just now ten months old. When she hits one year in age she should have a very clear understanding of what is good game and what is off limits. At one year old she will be hunted hard in area's where she should run into coon, coon and more coon. I am looking forward to this stage of training with her. I think within the next four months we should know what kind of dog she will turn out to be.

Author:  jhoffman [ Thu Jun 28, 2007 6:33 am ]
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Anything new happening with Stinger? Just wondering. I have followed these posts closely and they have helped immensely in the trainning process of my two young hounds.

Author:  LCK [ Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:30 am ]
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Not much new to report with Stinger. She is continuing to be placed in area's where the deer and skunks and porcupine are thick and is learning they just are not worth the effort LOL. Stinger is continuing to mature and develope physically. She is becoming a very nice little rig dog and seems to enjoy striking scent off the box or out the window. She tends to get a bit too wound up when she strikes a critter from the box and is having trouble hushing up once out of the scent but she is making improvement. This little dog goes hunting when cut loose. This is a critical time in her young life. This is when a person can get into trouble with a young hound pup. She will go and hunt hard all night if allowed to do so. I am not allowing this as of yet. She is still very much a puppy even though she is starting to hunt like a big dog. These next few months are the crossroads. I plan on taking it easy on her and continuing to lay a strong foundation for her as far as hunt time goes. This actually means less is more right now. Once or twice a week and only about two hours if that is more than enough for her at this age.

Author:  coyote20 [ Wed Jul 04, 2007 1:02 pm ]
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I have read all the treads. I think what you are doing is great and very useful. Thanks!!! I do have a question about e-collars. What is the difference between trainers and the trashbreakers? Thanks alot!!!

S. Baker

Author:  Josh Kunde [ Fri Jul 06, 2007 5:11 pm ]
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just now read all of this thread and WOW!!! I cant belive I missed it I could have used this advise a long time ago lol but anyways I havent read an update on stinger for a while any good news latley?

Author:  LCK [ Sun Jul 08, 2007 5:54 pm ]
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coyote20 wrote:
I have read all the treads. I think what you are doing is great and very useful. Thanks!!! I do have a question about e-collars. What is the difference between trainers and the trashbreakers? Thanks alot!!!

S. Baker


Just the name the comany gives that particular model. The Tri Tronics Trashbreaker is a very good model.

Author:  LCK [ Sun Jul 08, 2007 5:59 pm ]
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Josh Kunde wrote:
just now read all of this thread and WOW!!! I cant belive I missed it I could have used this advise a long time ago lol but anyways I havent read an update on stinger for a while any good news latley?


She is doing very well. I am taking her out tonight to run with one of my better dogs. She has shown good independance and hunt by herself for several weeks now and I am getting past the point where I am concernd about her developing a me too style. She is young and her little legs are not up to full power yet LOL, but she thinks she is really burning it up! She is treeing good and more importantly hunting hard. Just time and a bit more patience will tell the tale.

Author:  houndcrazy [ Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:52 pm ]
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I wanted to thank LCK for this thread. I have learned a lot reading it so far and look forward to learning much more as this thread continues!

Thanks LCK!