# Advice on training a Coon Dog



## blakefallin (Nov 1, 2016)

Hey guys I have never coon hunted but have always been interested.  With that said, any advice on the subject would be much appreciated. My wife just got me a Blue Tick puppy.  It won't be ready for another couple of weeks. I've been reading up on how to go about training them and came across a Coon Friday afternoon that had been hit on the highway.  The fur still looked to be in good shape so I was going to skin it to use as a drag for training the pup.  Honestly, though I couldn't stomach the smell long enough to skin it out, and I thought that the roadkill smell might teach the dog the wrong scent.  So, I just cut off the tail and have been salting it.  At first it didn't have that rotting smell but now it is starting to.  My question is, that is it still ok to use this for the pup to play with to get used to smell of a coon or should I toss it out? Thanks in advance for any advice you guys have.


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## NCMTNHunter (Nov 3, 2016)

The first paragraph of this post is a copy and paste from a post I made on a similar thread a while back.   

The first thing to consider is the the fact that hunting with dogs and more so hunting with hounds is not a hobby that can be picked up and put down when you feel like spending time on it. It is a lifestyle. When you take ownership of a hound you owe it to the dog to put it in woods. I always felt like a minimum of three nights a week year round is what it took to do your dog and you justice.  My grandfather had two sayings about coon hunting that he would use a lot. The first wasn't really advice but more an honest truth. He would always say that coon hunting is the most work and least pay of anything a man can do with his life. His other saying could possibly be the best advice I've ever heard about raising coon dogs. All you need to make make a good coon dog is a good pup and a ton of boot leather.  What this means is that you don't train a dog to hunt.  It is in them.  They will do it on there own.  What you have to do is give them plenty of practice.  You can't leave a hound in the kennel all year and try to hunt a few Saturday nights in the fall.

What you can train a coon dog to do (and most don't) is be obedient.  Spend 10 or 15 minutes a day with your pup teaching them to lead, come, load up, and staying in the box until told.  Really working on this the first year will make the next 10 years a whole lot better.  

I have never really seen that using drags with pups helped to turn them into a better dog down the road.  I think it just give the owner something to do until the pup gets big enough to hunt.  Letting them see a caged coon (if it's legal in Georgia) can help to get them turn on.  I am a fan of starting pups on feeder buckets.  Notice I said STARTING pups in buckets.  After they nail a coon or two off of feeders never let them see a feeder again.  Just put the dog in the woods every night you can and watch the dog get better with age.  There is nothing like it.  Good luck with your pup.


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## blakefallin (Nov 3, 2016)

Thanks!


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## Hogwild80 (Nov 3, 2016)

Buy a couple pairs of boots cause your going to need them,it is definitely a lifestyle not a hobby,more people get frustrated and give up than not.but with that being said good luck and if ya ever want to go just pm me.


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## NCHillbilly (Nov 4, 2016)

The best thing you can possibly do is get that pup in the woods with some good, straight, trained hounds.


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## blakefallin (Nov 4, 2016)

I appreciate it!


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## Jeremiah Glaze (Nov 4, 2016)

Don't be dead set on the pup being around forever, they're like women you wanna find the right one, a good one, an they're few n far between. But you gotta try hard with all of em but learn when to realize it ain't gonna work, n cut em loose. They'll keep you out all hours of the night, going to work on 2 hours of sleep, coming home an doing it again. It's an addiction. It's miles n miles of walking at times. When either get or go with a really good dog, it's all worth it. I've hunted everything there is an none of it compares to coon hunting.


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## Jeremiah Glaze (Nov 4, 2016)

Get rid of the rotten hide. You've got a while before you do any training on the pup. Might get you tail to start out with, then graduate to catch a coon in a live trap n get the pup to bark at it. Pull the trap up a tree n get him to tree on it. Start catching s few n turn em loose n put the dog right behind him( don't let him see it) make him go find it w his nose. Training pups is the hardest part might wanna go w some people that have dogs to get s good understanding first


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## NCHillbilly (Nov 6, 2016)

Jeremiah Glaze said:


> Don't be dead set on the pup being around forever, they're like women you wanna find the right one, a good one, an they're few n far between. But you gotta try hard with all of em but learn when to realize it ain't gonna work, n cut em loose. They'll keep you out all hours of the night, going to work on 2 hours of sleep, coming home an doing it again. It's an addiction. It's miles n miles of walking at times. When either get or go with a really good dog, it's all worth it. I've hunted everything there is an none of it compares to coon hunting.



Yep. There are only a very small percentage of hounds that will make what I call a coon dog, no matter what their blood line is.


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## jigman29 (Nov 6, 2016)

We usually start by fooling with them all the time. They are like children and the more you intereact with them the better they do. John wick has a couple of books and they have a lot of good info in them. We don't do a lot with drags but will catch coons in a live trap once the pups are old enough and let them bark at them in the cage. After a while we put the cage in a tree to get them used to barking on the tree.After a while we start turning the coons loose and let the dogs run them up a tree and shoot them out. walk them in the woods every chance you get and let them explore. But during all this be sure to train them to handle. I hate a dog that hunts good but still doesn't handle well.


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## bearhunter39 (Nov 8, 2016)

One thing that that I don't think has been mentioned by anyone else,make sure if you hunt it with other dogs make sure you don't hunt hunt with ill tempered dog they can ruin a young dog quick if they get jumped on at the tree.


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## Hogwild80 (Nov 9, 2016)

Bearhunter you are absolutely correct,hunting a pup with broke dogs is good but you also want to hunt the dog by itself once it starts catching on,me personally I like the fun of hunting with friends and listening to them hounds.


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## blakefallin (Nov 9, 2016)

Thanks for all the advice guys!  In your opinion, at what age can I introduce the pup to a live coon in a cage?


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## NCMTNHunter (Nov 9, 2016)

It depends on the pup. You might let him see one around 5 months. If he doesn't show any interest wait another month or so. What ever you do don't a coon get a hold of a pup that young.


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## Mtn Hunter (Nov 11, 2016)

Everything in moderation! A little bit of caged coon or drags goes a long way. Get you a copy of "Walk With Wick" a book written by John Wick. Heaps of good info on starting hounds


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## hobbs27 (Nov 11, 2016)

Mtn Hunter said:


> Everything in moderation! A little bit of caged coon or drags goes a long way. Get you a copy of "Walk With Wick" a book written by John Wick. Heaps of good info on starting hounds



Yep.
http://www.gundogsupply.com/walk-with-wick-volume-one.html


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