Post by midnightbluekennel on Jan 8, 2007 0:04:23 GMT -5
TRAINING COONHOUNDS
The first thing everyone has to know about training coonhounds, is that they all learn at different ages, and it is important that you do not try and force your hound to learn something that he is not ready to take on. When your hound gets at the age of 3 to 4 mounths, show him a freshly killed coon, and if he barks and acts interested your hound is ready to start training. Now that your dog is interested in a coon, put him on a chain or in his lot, bring the FRESH coon up to him get him barking real good, and then drag the coon off, about 50 or 75 yards, and let your pup see the tree you put the coon in, and let him see the coon in the tree, and turn him loose and let him tree it for about 2 or 3 minutes, and knock it out to him. by doing this you are leting the pup know that coons go up trees, and this will build his confidence. wait about 3 days and do the same thing except this time dont let him see the tree you put it in but make sure he can see the coon in the tree. when you turn him loose, you will notice that he will use his nose more, and when he finds the coon and trees it, give him lots of praise and knock it out to him. Again wait about 3 or 4 days, get a FRESH dead coon, show it to your hound, make sure he is excited, drag it off in front of him, dont let him see the tree you put it in, also, hide the coon in the tree so there is no way he can see it. turn him loose, when he finds the tree you put it in you will probably notice that he is trying to find it in the tree with his eyes, this is normal, and he may circle the tree and and try and find its trail again, he will probably circle the tree, or go off a few yards, but he will come back, and check the tree, so when he does, sick him on the tree, scream hollar and pat the tree, and let him know that the coon is there even though he cant see it. after about 2 minutes of heavy praise knock the coon out to him. Now wait about 2 days, get a fresh coon, but this time take the coon in the woods, drag it about 35 yards and put it in a tree so the dog cant see it. and dont let him know about what you are doing, dont even show him the coon. get him out of his lot, or chain, and start walking towards the trail, when he starts sniffing it, hsss him on it, then when he trees it, praise him, and pet him, and after about 4 or 5 minutes, knock it out to him. now you are ready to introduce your pup to a TAPED tree, a taped tree is when a coon runs and jumps on a tree and jumps back off. get a fresh coon, drag it lay a trail then rub it on a tree then, about a foot from the tree you just put the scent on, start draging it again, and put it up another tree, dont make the trail to far, also i recomend you put the coon in a tree so your hound can see the coon, that way he will understand that coons are tricky. Now when you turn your pup loose and he finds the trail, hsss him on the trail, and more than likly he will tree on the tap, let him do what he wants to do for a few seconds, DO NOT PRAISE HIM ON THE TAPED TREE, see if he finds the other trail. but if he dont, leash him and get him on the right track, and when he trees it, praise him and wait about 3 or 4 minutes and knock it out to him. Next time do the same thing except dont show it to your pup in the tree. you will need to do this about 2 times. Now your pup is ready to see a live coon, in a live trap. The pup will probably stay back about 8 inces from the trap and bark at it, DO NOT make him stick his nose in the cage so he can get bit, because if he does he will probably run off. Get him real excited and tie him up, and turn the coon loose in front of him, make sure the coon does not go far, and if you have to chace it up the tree yourself, but dont get on the coons tracks. After the coon has climbed the tree, turn your hound loose and let him tree it, wait about 10 or 15 minutes, and shoot the coon out GRAVE YARD DEAD to your pup. Now catch one more live coon, but this time dont show your pup the coon, take it to a different than the first coon, turn it loose, then get your dog, and start walking towards the trail, when he finds it, hsss him on the coon. when he trees it, praise him, and wait about 10 or 15 minutes, and shoot it out DEAD to him. now you can start taking him hunting by himself, and expect something to happen. i recomend hunting them on feeders a few times, just so they can get the feel of the whole thing. after you see him going off and hunting away from you, and youve hunted him on feeders a few times, take the feeders away. I hope reading this article has helped you and your hound, if you have any questions, email me at midnightbluekennels@yahoo.com
Also, if you see your pup loosing intrest in a coon, STOP for about 2 weeks, or how ever long he need.
The first thing everyone has to know about training coonhounds, is that they all learn at different ages, and it is important that you do not try and force your hound to learn something that he is not ready to take on. When your hound gets at the age of 3 to 4 mounths, show him a freshly killed coon, and if he barks and acts interested your hound is ready to start training. Now that your dog is interested in a coon, put him on a chain or in his lot, bring the FRESH coon up to him get him barking real good, and then drag the coon off, about 50 or 75 yards, and let your pup see the tree you put the coon in, and let him see the coon in the tree, and turn him loose and let him tree it for about 2 or 3 minutes, and knock it out to him. by doing this you are leting the pup know that coons go up trees, and this will build his confidence. wait about 3 days and do the same thing except this time dont let him see the tree you put it in but make sure he can see the coon in the tree. when you turn him loose, you will notice that he will use his nose more, and when he finds the coon and trees it, give him lots of praise and knock it out to him. Again wait about 3 or 4 days, get a FRESH dead coon, show it to your hound, make sure he is excited, drag it off in front of him, dont let him see the tree you put it in, also, hide the coon in the tree so there is no way he can see it. turn him loose, when he finds the tree you put it in you will probably notice that he is trying to find it in the tree with his eyes, this is normal, and he may circle the tree and and try and find its trail again, he will probably circle the tree, or go off a few yards, but he will come back, and check the tree, so when he does, sick him on the tree, scream hollar and pat the tree, and let him know that the coon is there even though he cant see it. after about 2 minutes of heavy praise knock the coon out to him. Now wait about 2 days, get a fresh coon, but this time take the coon in the woods, drag it about 35 yards and put it in a tree so the dog cant see it. and dont let him know about what you are doing, dont even show him the coon. get him out of his lot, or chain, and start walking towards the trail, when he starts sniffing it, hsss him on it, then when he trees it, praise him, and pet him, and after about 4 or 5 minutes, knock it out to him. now you are ready to introduce your pup to a TAPED tree, a taped tree is when a coon runs and jumps on a tree and jumps back off. get a fresh coon, drag it lay a trail then rub it on a tree then, about a foot from the tree you just put the scent on, start draging it again, and put it up another tree, dont make the trail to far, also i recomend you put the coon in a tree so your hound can see the coon, that way he will understand that coons are tricky. Now when you turn your pup loose and he finds the trail, hsss him on the trail, and more than likly he will tree on the tap, let him do what he wants to do for a few seconds, DO NOT PRAISE HIM ON THE TAPED TREE, see if he finds the other trail. but if he dont, leash him and get him on the right track, and when he trees it, praise him and wait about 3 or 4 minutes and knock it out to him. Next time do the same thing except dont show it to your pup in the tree. you will need to do this about 2 times. Now your pup is ready to see a live coon, in a live trap. The pup will probably stay back about 8 inces from the trap and bark at it, DO NOT make him stick his nose in the cage so he can get bit, because if he does he will probably run off. Get him real excited and tie him up, and turn the coon loose in front of him, make sure the coon does not go far, and if you have to chace it up the tree yourself, but dont get on the coons tracks. After the coon has climbed the tree, turn your hound loose and let him tree it, wait about 10 or 15 minutes, and shoot the coon out GRAVE YARD DEAD to your pup. Now catch one more live coon, but this time dont show your pup the coon, take it to a different than the first coon, turn it loose, then get your dog, and start walking towards the trail, when he finds it, hsss him on the coon. when he trees it, praise him, and wait about 10 or 15 minutes, and shoot it out DEAD to him. now you can start taking him hunting by himself, and expect something to happen. i recomend hunting them on feeders a few times, just so they can get the feel of the whole thing. after you see him going off and hunting away from you, and youve hunted him on feeders a few times, take the feeders away. I hope reading this article has helped you and your hound, if you have any questions, email me at midnightbluekennels@yahoo.com
Also, if you see your pup loosing intrest in a coon, STOP for about 2 weeks, or how ever long he need.