what to look for in a hound?

nightwatchman

nightwatchman

New member
ok, maybe this is the place to ask maybe not but im asking anyway... i am an avid rabbit hunter and have been for about 10-12 years now.. i have had a few descent dogs and two GREAT dogs which i have now... my two that i have now are going on 5 years old.. granted i still have a few good years left to hunt with them(god willing) i am in the market to get another one or two pups.. the two i have now i raised from pups, trained them my way and worked them the way i wanted.. they have turned out great.. the problem is i did not pick these two myself.. they were given to me as a gift so i just lucked out to get two descent dogs i guess. i have never had the choice of a litter when it come to hounds so i dont know what to look for or if there is anything to look for in temperment/ or the way a dog acts within the litter that would be a sign of a good mannered dog to be..
my stepfather has raised coonhounds/beagles most of his life and he has his way of looking at it and tends to fill my ears... he says to look for a dog that doesnt have to have affection or be at your feet, one that is curious and will venture off. one that has his nose to the ground at an early age
he also says to pick them up by the back of the neck and see if they cry or not.. if they dont cry he says thats a good sign...

i know these all might just be oldtimers tells.. but is there any truth to it.. i know all dogs are different so you can never tell for sure..

i am breeding one of my beagles to a buddies female this month and will have a choice of the litter if all goes well.. im just curious what i should look for in making my pick.. hopefully some of you guys that have dealt with hounds your whole life can give me some pointers or hints as to what to look for.. i would appreciate all advice.. thanks shawn..
 
Most of the time it's a crap shoot with some of the guess work taken care of by selecting pups with good breeding.

If you have a chance to spend time with the litter, I'd select a playfull pup that is very curious. Even that is not foolproof. One of the best dogs I've had was a complete dud at the breeders but was the only male left. He was hell on wheels when I got him home but was just very tired when I visited.

Another example would be when I had a litter of redbone pups from a female of mine. When they were 8 weeks old I took a farm cat and tossed it out by where the pups were playing. The pup I kept was the one in the lead of the pack in the chase and was barking. She was a good dog and started easily.

The one thing I would say is don't get caught up in looks and try not to give a hoot about sex. Out of that litter I had the owner of the sire wanted a dark red male from the litter. There was only 2 males in the litter. One was light red with short ears and the other a nice deep red with long, almost black ears. He took the pretty pup. Any guesses with dog made Nite Champion and which dog was a bust? BTW, the pretty male pup didn't even chase the cat.

Best advice I have, see both parents hunt!!!

CB
 
i have the fortune of having the male dog (bluetick) and the female(coppernose) belongs to a very close friend i hunt with and live close to so the female is staying at my house anyway so i figure i will get to keep her while she has the pups since i have the barn to keep them in and the welping pen...so ill be able to keep a close eye on the pups and watch them on the farm..
 
Pick the parents,the rest is easy.I find a stud and bicth cross that I like,and just grab a pup.I've tried many of the olds wives tales,what works for me is parents that hunt.
By the way both of my Catahoullas would scream! If you picked them up when they were little.
 
A good friend of mine picked his by placing all the pups out on the lawn at the same time - the one with their nose to the ground first was the winner.

I would agree about the sex issue - doesn't matter.
 
Quote:
ok, maybe this is the place to ask maybe not but im asking anyway... i am an avid rabbit hunter and have been for about 10-12 years now.. i have had a few descent dogs and two GREAT dogs which i have now... my two that i have now are going on 5 years old.. granted i still have a few good years left to hunt with them(god willing) i am in the market to get another one or two pups.. the two i have now i raised from pups, trained them my way and worked them the way i wanted.. they have turned out great.. the problem is i did not pick these two myself.. they were given to me as a gift so i just lucked out to get two descent dogs i guess. i have never had the choice of a litter when it come to hounds so i dont know what to look for or if there is anything to look for in temperment/ or the way a dog acts within the litter that would be a sign of a good mannered dog to be..
my stepfather has raised coonhounds/beagles most of his life and he has his way of looking at it and tends to fill my ears... he says to look for a dog that doesnt have to have affection or be at your feet, one that is curious and will venture off. one that has his nose to the ground at an early age
he also says to pick them up by the back of the neck and see if they cry or not.. if they dont cry he says thats a good sign...

i know these all might just be oldtimers tells.. but is there any truth to it.. i know all dogs are different so you can never tell for sure..

i am breeding one of my beagles to a buddies female this month and will have a choice of the litter if all goes well.. im just curious what i should look for in making my pick.. hopefully some of you guys that have dealt with hounds your whole life can give me some pointers or hints as to what to look for.. i would appreciate all advice.. thanks shawn..


Most important thing is don't pick the shy one.Some(very few) do pan out but you have alot harder job ahead of you training it.I always picked the most active one that is smelling around the most. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 


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