Anyone have success starting older male?

[Joeyman]

I've always been pretty firm on my training beliefs. and that is the sooner the better. My rule of thumb is males 5.5 and females 4 months old barking on scent line.

We'll how bout a 9 month old male that aint never seen a rabbit or smelled rabbit scent? You think it'll be hard to get him going or fairly easy?

My thoughts and these are just what I got in my head is that its going to be harder for me to get him going. I'm going to do a small experiment to see how many trips to the field will it take to get him to bark on rabbit scent.

So far 2 trips out and NOTHING!!

so what say you??????? how many trips will it take.

I am letting him follow two other hounds. for example I ran my 7month old male pup thunder and leah last night. Let him follow them around for a bit. Also been showing him my tame rabbit.

this is just for fun. What do you guys think. I am giving him 3wks to start. i run a average of 4 days a week for an hour to 1.5hr at a time.

[Ky. Hunter]

Joey,
I know a man that said he never worries about starting a male dog before they get 9--10 months and he said some will pick it right up and some will take longer. I know a lot of the starting pens around here will take a female at 6 months but won't take males until they are 8--9 months old.

[BCBeagles]

Joey,

I say you will have him running in 2wks if he has it in him to do so. Expose him to a rabbit or two for a sight chase and see what happens.
Good luck, he should be fine. One of my best running dogs did not take off until almost 9 months and he is a nice all around dog with a good deal
of track power.

[Grapevine_Kennels]

Same as KY hunter I dont even touch a male until he is 8 months and sometimes a year. I once had some one give me a dog that was 2 years old and never hunted he started just fairly quick and made a real clean hound. nO worries he'll start .

[mjd]

i got a couple 4-5 year olds from the pound once and started them both,got a older house pet once and started it to,they were all pretty good rabbit dogs ,i got a couple 2 year olds im going to start on in a few months,time will tell

[Joeyman]

well its a first for me I can tell ya that. I'm all about training them at a very young age. I've started a total of 3 males and had all 3 of them barking on scent at 5.5months old. this will be the first time i'm gonna start a older male. The rest of the dogs i've started were females and it don't take nothing to start them.

It'll be interesting i'm going to keep track of how many trips to the field it will take. I really don't know anyone with a starting pen around these parts or i'd just drop him off. But at the same time its fun to start them yourself. I start all my dogs in the wild. so...little bit more tricky but doable.

[Joeyman]

i'm one of those people that say start them early as possible. basically i want to brain wash the dog to do one thing and one thing only and thats hunt for rabbits. I don't need them to know anything else but that. from a very small age by showing them the rabbit and getting them started barking on scent line. the earlier the better. why wait. this older dog here i had no choice he's been sitting for a while now not been messed with so his train of thought is elsewhere not focused on a rabbit like if he was taught to do at a very young age. hope that makes sense and understand what i'm trying to get at. but if he is smart and has it in him he should pick it up quickly thats the theory anyway. I still say its going to be harder. won't know till we try.......right I fully knew before i got him. I'm up for the challenge, I was just wondering who on here has started older males. sounds like a few of you had great success. i've never started one this late so thats why I asked.

thanks Joey

[BEAGLEBLUES]

I BOUGHT A 5 YEAR OLD MALE THAT WAS A HOUSE DOG UNTIL HE WAS TWO. THE PEOPLE THAT HAD HIM NEVER LET HIM OUTSIDE WITHOUT A LEASH. THEY REACHED A TIME IN THEIR LIFE WHERE THEY COULD NOT TAKE CARE OF IT. A FRIEND OF MINE WAS A RABBIT HUNTER AND TOOK THE DOG AND STARTED HIM WITH LITTLE TROUBLE. I PURCHASED THE MALE FROM HIM AND THEN SOLD HIM TO MY FATHER-IN-LAW WHO STILL OWNS HIM ( A MISTAKE TO SELL HIM, HE IS THE NICEST HOUND THAT THE TWO OF US OWN). I DON'T THINK THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE MUCH TROUBLE WITH YOUR PUP. JUST DON'T GIVE UP ON HIM.
JAMEY

P.S. I LOVE YOUR SIGNATURE QUOTE

[JPRITCH]

I started my male at a year old. Sight chased the first rabbit, second rabbit he sight chased and then scented it for 75 yards and the third rabbit circled it. It wasn't the prettiest circle but he did it by himself. He had only been carried to the field on two other occasions at the beginning of last rabbit season. Once he did this I sent him to a 20 acre starting pen for solo time. I was called in 8 days and the man said he didn't need anymore work in the pen it was time for him to move on. The dog has been running by himself ever since. Just started to pack hunt him recently and he is really independent almost to a fault. He doesn't honor any dog unless he is sure the track is there. Easiest dog I've started!!

[RunninHard]

Good thread and good info
I was just going to make a similar thread about my 5 month old male, he site chased 4 rabbits but never opened but scent trailed some, his litter mate brother exploded on site but didnt try to scent trail

[wvduece]

the best dog i own is a 15in bluetick he never started till he was over 9 months more like 10 months he would go with other dogs then one day i heard a strange bark a big ole howl it was my blue pup he never has looked back he is off logan elm blue rocky real nice dog he wont be 3 till august and has no price tag jb

[John-PA]

I don't start my pups until they are 6 to 8 months old, and a few I've waited until 10 months. Never had any trouble starting any of them once I tried, I just like to let them be puppies for a while before I start fooling with them.

[High Rock Beagles]

If they have it in them age doesn't matter!! The only problem I have ever seen was the people that own them exspects everything to be on their terms. Most dogs if given the proper time will do what they are bred to do. It is human nature to want it now!!! If you had a place to just let them run loose, you will learn right quick they didn't need your help to begin with!!!! Food for thought!!! LOL!!!

[bluerunner43]

i had a 2 1/2 year old male given to me that was a house pet, he had never been hunted. i shot a rabbit and drug it around trying to get him to follow the scent he didnt want anything to do with it. i took him hunting a few different times and all he would do was follow me around until about the fourth or fifth time i took him out, i kicked a brush pile and three rabbits came out right under his nose after that he was a hunting dog. he ran one of those rabbits for probably 10 or 15 minutes until it went down a hole. he was a slow dog but had great line control. was one of the best pheasant dogs i ever had he was slow and you could keep up with him when he was running a bird. (i let him run birds because he was better at it than my lab) he was a good dog until he was 6 or 7 when for some reason he developed a deer problem which i couldnt figure out but after i had to shock him off 3 deer in one day he found a new home as a house pet again