solo or not to solo??

[da ridgetop]

I think solo time is important for young dogs but old dogs as well my opinion gives them the extra confidence they need to bust out in a check without waiting for help or make a turn out of a pack when others overrun.I bought a little male one time looked great down with a pack hunted hard got some checks thought he was a pretty nice hound until i took him out by hisself and he stayed at my feet. How sure can you be that a dog can get the job done by itself if you never run them by themselves.How many ads have you seen on dogs forsale that say 7-8 hunt with a pack but 5-6 solo that tells me they never been run enough alone to have the confidence to go on and hunt without throwing that head up and look for another dog.That being said i think solo time is pretty boring as well and i like to run 3 dogs at a time and normally dont solo enough because i got a few more than i actually need but being honest ithink solo time is pretty important Donald

[Duke]

Solo Solo Solo Solo .......... my opinion is you cant do enough of it, but who has the time if they have several hounds. If your looking to build a monster from a great pup SOLO him.

The dog wil learn it has to hunt to find rabbits, run its own line and independance. A smart hound doesnt take long to figure out to pack up, just quick as it learns when you call it to a jumped rabbit. Didnt Reggie get soloed a ton? Dutch did I can tell you that!!! If you want to build a great dog Solo it!!!!!!!!

[Alabama John]

Jeremy,

Beagle dogs aren't that smart.

Easy to break when young and like I said most will break themselves as they get a little older and prefer to stay with the older dogs that don't run deer or anything else, but, are only running rabbits. If not, use the shock collar. Encourage rabbits only.

Dogs that run to catch, and I mean run, don't have to be soloed was my real point and the question put to us here.

If I had dogs that slotted up and spent most of their time tracking behind other dogs, sometimes right behind the leader and other times 4-10 or so back, they don't get to smell fresh tracks and if way back seldom get to find a check. The check is already found by those close check dogs ahead of it and so discover the loss of track scent and start searching for it in a very small circle before the slower 3-10 dog back ever gets to the point of loss. What you have then is a ME TOO dog. The only real dog you have is the front dog. All others are slotters and need soloing! Be kind to those and take them out alone.

Yes, those dogs need solo time as that is the only way they will get to smell fresh scent and discover a loss and get to learn how and the joy of picking one up.

[Joeyman]

alabama john dont take this the wrong way but what the heck is wrong with you........ .... why would you let a young dog run deer then shock them off it afterwards.......lol that's the craziest thing I've heard yet.

I also have heard people who like to walk their dogs over fresh deer tracks or drive around at night and dump them on deer tracks to see if they will run it. my question is WHY would someone purposely put their dog on deer like that. I would never do that. If you don't expose them to it and feed them nothing but rabbit tracks then deer won't be a problem.

sorry for the off topic but I'm just rambling on alabama john I'm not trying to pick on ya I like to always read what you write but this ones strange for me.

[JCM]

alabama john dont take this the wrong way but what the heck is wrong with you........ .... why would you let a young dog run deer then shock them off it afterwards.......lol that's the craziest thing I've heard yet.

alabama john I'm not trying to pick on ya I like to always read what you write but this ones strange for me.

Joey,

Don't feel bad. You are still young. If you keep running dogs, and listen instead of talk/write, you will hear of things a lot crazier than that. I would bet that Alabama John has a lot of experience and has tried a lot of different methods of training young dogs.

My dad and I started a bunch of pups on deer one time just to see what would happen. We had 12 pups that ran nothing but deer for the first 2 months that they ran. By the time they were 2 years old, none of them trashed. And those that we kept really stroked a rabbit.

There are all kinds of methods for training and I think everyone should find the method that works best for you. I think it would be real interesting though, to see how much experience those giving the advise have. It seems to me like a lot of old timers say run the dogs and let the best come to the top.

[J.C. Blair]

I've heard of some guys starting their pups on fox/deer....a lot of well known beaglers (their names will be kept confidential) lol...If I see a deer out while running and I got some young dogs with me, well I don't act like I've seen a ghost and move the dogs to a different area, I walk em right toward it. Matter of fact back in the summer, I had 3 pups smoke a big ol buck, and do it right, then they felt the wrath of TT, they did this about 3 times and they really never fooled with the deer again. I figure if they have any brains what so ever, they'll figure out the rest.

By the way Jim, how's ol Possum runnin?

[Joeyman]

I've heard of some guys starting their pups on fox/deer

I do not see the point in this but ok whatever floats their boat i'm not saying it is wrong or right but for me I wouldn't do that.


to the second part of what you wrote when i see deer I do not purposely walk them towards the tract. That is just what i've always done. Its almost like you want them to run it by bringing them to hot deer tracts. Me personally I wouldn't do that but thats me.

[Pike Ridge Beagles]

I also have heard people who like to walk their dogs over fresh deer tracks or drive around at night and dump them on deer tracks to see if they will run it. my question is WHY would someone purposely put their dog on deer like that. I would never do that. If you don't expose them to it and feed them nothing but rabbit tracks then deer won't be a problem.
.

Joey,

Many would rather control the situation. First, they want to see if the young hound will take the trash; second, they want to be on top pf the situation if the young hound does take the trash, instead of risking being out of collar range and losing a young hound on a hot deer that takes them into the next county. The young hound could be stolen, ate by yotes, hit by a car, etc. if not immediately shocked off a deer. I know of many guys who purposely put the young hound on deer to break them off, if need be, but to each his own.

[eddywilliams]

Im allfor walking them over deer tracks or seeing if they willsight chase but that is the end of it it stops there I wont allow one to run trash ,especially a dang cat I dispise a cat chase .I havent had one in a long while this upsets me ,I hate cats

[J.C. Blair]

to the second part of what you wrote when i see deer I do not purposely walk them towards the tract. That is just what i've always done. Its almost like you want them to run it by bringing them to hot deer tracts. Me personally I wouldn't do that but thats me.

As a gun hunter/trialer, I want to know if they will trash or not. Nothing would be worse than being deep in a hunt a couple rounds only to be disqualified on an off game chase. I guess if I was a gun hunter only, then I would see your point of view. I guess being a trialer as well, I don't want my dogs falling in line with others in an off game chase. This is why I purposely do this. I want to end it as fast as it starts. No need in sheltering them, JMHO.

[Joeyman]

I see your point J.C. i think here in Mo we don't have as many deer like other states. Their are deer but not a whole lot. We see deer every once and awhile just depends on where we are hunting. So its not really a big issue for me in MO. We got nothing but rabbits rabbits and more rabbits.......lol

back to topic....sorry to derail it.

I plan to solo my lightning dog here after gun season is out. She has been packed up since gun season and has led the pack several times and has gotten several checks but hardly has jumped her own rabbit. So solo time is in order.