# walk with wick at winter classic



## struttinsouthern (Feb 2, 2009)

i went down to the winter classic in albany this past weekend with the intentions of getting some more knowledge of how to train my puppies....i bought a dvd on hardwood elvis and it shows the guy working with the dogs at very young ages...this is contradictory of john wicks book!!!!!!! he says not to work them with coon until 8 months of age or older...so i dont understand that.. secondly john wick says when the puppies are 6 months( my dogs age) too let them  run free on a farm for two months or so...how is this practical by any means .. i live in bulloch county this is not practical at all my pups will be hit within a week or ill lose them !!! im kinda confused on what i am to do to properly train these pups..or should i send them off to be trained ? i dont really agree with that because i want to train them myself !! it will mean more .. any advice knowledgeable veterans??


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## carabrook (Feb 2, 2009)

like anything else take pieces of info from all the sources you can get and apply them to your circumstances. John Wick is a long time, very respected coondog trainer with a success rate that speaks for himself. Letting a dog run loose as you state is not practical in most cases so just dont do it. However within the many letters he answers you will find tons of good information that you can use. The reason and I asked him this face to face once that he does not start them early is that you run the risk of a young dog being injured and then not wanting to tackle or chase a coon that they think could hurt them. The most important thing he says in his book is the amount of time in the woods, to many dogs get sold, thrown out or worse yet shot because the people that have them don't do their homework and spend the time. Not all dogs start at early ages and some breeds are different then others. My advice is

- start out at the right age, that is on live coons but prior to that you can do drags, use hides or road kills and tons of encouragement
- then when they are old enough let them see a coon in a roll cage, make sure the mesh is fine enough they cannot get bit, don't force them just let nature takes its own, if they are interested and act good then tons of encouragement
- then when they have shown good interest on drags and a caged coon or two let one go so they see it run off, let them go and if they track and tree lots of encouragement
- only do a few released coons and then if you can find someone with a good straight dog work them with it, if they do good tons of encouragement
- after they show they are getting the idea then start to hunt them on their own so they arent depending on another to do the work for them
- all the time through all the steps take your time and personally I believe a shock collar should never be used on a tree, and only when you have the perfect set up or in some cases if you see them take off to run off game. You want to encourage the good and discourage the bad, if your dog trees a possum then no praise, snap the leash on give them a verbal no trash in a harsh voice and walk away and start over
- before praise or correction on a tree be sure of what is up the tree, if its a tree you cant see through the leaves and arent sure whats up there then no praise
- most of all don't expect it to happen over night, I believe what Wick says when he tells you to not judge a dog till you have 75 nights in the woods

Dogs are smart, they know when we are happy with them and they sure enough know when we are not. The hardest thing to learn with corrections is timing, it has to be swift and correct and it has to be when the dog understands why it is being corrected, otherwise its wasted

all of this is just my opinion and you know what opinions are like and worth so take from it what you will.


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## GA DAWG (Feb 2, 2009)

I think 8 months or older is a good age to start them..You have to let them be a puppy first! They all mature at different levels..I love a pup that acts like an adult dog..Running loose on a farm speeds this process up..I just show mine a coon..If they hate it..I'll start messing with them..If they show no intrest.I'll put em back up for a while..If they have it in them..All you need to do is take them to the woods and hunt them..Takes lots and lots of hunting for pups.LOTS!!!


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## Chase Simmemon (Feb 2, 2009)

Carabrook pretty much hit the nail on the head. I don't really start working with pups until they are about 4-6 months old and at that age they only see coon hides and scent drags. I don't show them a coon until they are about 8 months old, sometimes older depending on how mature I think they are. Once they can run and tree a caged coon that was turned loose, I don't show them anymore caged coons. At about 6-8 months is when I start taking into the woods at night with other dogs, but when their younger I like to walk them around in the woods in the daylight, letting them run free. When they start running and treeing with other dogs, I seperate them and hunt them hard by theirselves. Also, I like to start young dogs on feeders because they get hotter tracks, but once they can run and tree them good on feeders, I start hunting them on wild coons. But like Carabrook stated, different dogs mature at different rates and some start young and some start a little later. To make a good dog it takes a lot of work and a lot of shoe leather. The main thing is to keep them in the woods, you can't make a coon dog if they stay in the pen every night. Hope this helps and good luck with your pups.


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## big A 235 (Feb 2, 2009)

We start walking or pups at night when they can keep with us and only walk them with out the older dogs.  If it is in them it will come out on its own.  I would not work a pup on a coon until he is at least 8mo. old.


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