By the time he is four months old, he will likely begin to run rabbits, but some do not commence until older. Let him run them as it will teach him to trail and harden his muscles, and, should you have more than one, it will teach them to depend on each other, and they will soon learn to go to other dogs when they start a trail or pick up a loss. If you have a fox or coon hide to drag or a pet to lead, it will not do any harm, though I do not think it of much value as they soon learn to associate your tracks with those of the fox or coon, and I greatly prefer letting them run rabbits as a mode of training them.
By the time they are eight months old, take them out with a slow dog that runs and barks a great deal, both trailing and running, and as soon as the fox is running, let your pup go, but do not let him go until the old dog has passed with the fox. Should you let him go meeting the old dog he may take the back track, but if you wait until the old dog has passed your pup, he will come in behind, and, if he is bred right, will go in and stay as long as he can find a trail to follow.
If he should come out after a short run, keep him until the fox is tired; then let him go again, and if he still continues to come out after a few times, don't fool with him, but try him for something else. If your pup has been in good trim, and has come out three times on fair trials, there is very little chance of making a fox dog out of him.
I have had pups of this kind which I kept until they were two years old; have bought pet foxes, and let them catch and kill them, but never yet made a runner out of a dog that it was not born in.
Should your pup go in and stay, don't run him too often unless he is near a year old. Never take him out unless he is well fed, and in good shape to run. After a race or two let him go as soon as the trail is struck, and after a few races, catch the old dog, after the fox is going, and see what the pup will do alone. Then take them out on a good day, let the old dog pick up the trail, and after the pups have started, catch the old dog and let the pups go alone, and if they trail, start and run that fox to a finish, that is all the pedigree they will ever need.
When you turn your dog loose, don't run and yell and get him so excited that he doesn't know what to do, just unbuckle his collar and let him go. If he does not understand going into a race, it will not help matters to excite him, just walk to where the fox has passed and he will likely take the trail, and will know better what to do the next time.
When your dogs are running and happen to lose the trail near you, do not run and call, trying to help them get started, for if let alone they are far more apt to pick it up and go on in good shape; by getting them excited and running wild the chase would likely end right there.
My rule is this: Whenever I pull a dog's collar, he must look out for No. 1 without my going to show him.
Should you not have an old dog to help train your pup, you can train him alone, but it is more trouble.
If you have snow, lead your dog until you find a fox trail, then follow it, still leading your dog; if there happens to be considerable scent in the trail, he may want to follow it, if so turn him loose, but follow him up and help him to start his fox. If there is no scent in the trail, lead your dog until you start the fox, then let him go and let him work for himself.
Should you have neither snow nor trained dog, you will have more trouble, but I have made No. 1 dogs without either.
If you know where foxes stay, go there, turn your dog loose, and he will start to running rabbits; this will scare the fox up and your dog will likely cross its track; if he is a born fox dog, he will leave the rabbit for the fox every time. You may have to make several trips, but after you get one race, your dog will be looking for a fox chase, and will soon take a cold fox trail in preference to a rabbit.
After you have trained your dog to running foxes or coon, you will wish to break him of running rabbits; this is generally an easy matter, for a genuine dog prefers the fox or coon and some will quit it of their own accord. If not, try scolding him when he starts a rabbit. If that fails, whip him, but where foxes are plentiful, you will seldom have to do this.
My pups are accustomed to the crack of a 22 rifle, as I shoot near them while young, so never have any gun-shy dogs.
There is just as much in feeding a running dog, as a running horse. Some say a light feed just before starting and I have heard some say, don't feed at all. Now for a grey fox, it does not make so much difference, as the chase will only last an hour or two, and sometimes not ten minutes, but where it comes to an old red fox, — one that you start Saturday night and return just in time to accompany your wife to church next morning, it is quite different.
A dog to do his best should be used to running. He should have a few days' rest, and if his feet are sore, grease once each day with salty grease. At least three days before the race, drop all sloppy food and give rye or corn-bread with scraps from the butcher shop mixed in before baking. Feed liberally twice each day and if your race promises to be a hard one, feed extra before starting, some food that will give the greatest amount of strength, with the least possible bulk. Then arrange to give your dog a good heavy feed as soon as he returns home, and he will be ready for the next race sooner than if compelled to go to rest hungry.
Before closing, I will say something more with regard to breeding: — We often see where someone has pure bred Walker, Williams, Redbone or Buckfield Blues. Now to my understanding, these are strains of dogs, bred by southern fox hunters, 50 or 75 years ago, and to keep them pure, there must have been a lot of inbreeding, a thing I do not approve of. Now why would it not have been better for Mr. Walker to have selected one of his very best bitches and bred her to one of Mr. Williams' best dogs, then called the pups the "American Fox Hounds" — as grand a dog as ever put his nose to a trail?
In training, we have been told to drag a 'coon hide, lead a pet 'coon, etc., but your pup soon learns to associate your tracks with the trail of the drag, and when you carry the 'coon hide he simply follows your track to where you start the drag again. Should you have a 'coon so tame that it will follow you, start out and tramp through the woods, along streams and just such places as 'coons frequent. Your 'coon will run logs, go up on the side of trees, in and out of the water, in fact will do just about as a wild 'coon would. After you have been gone for some time, have someone turn your pup on the trail and if he runs it, keep him a little later each time, and you will soon have a trailer out of him anyway. Should you have neither 'coon nor old dog, you can train your pup without.
In nearly all places where there are 'coons, squirrels and woodchucks (groundhogs) may be found also. Teach your dog to lead and when he is about eight months old, attach a light cord to his collar; then some good morning for squirrels, take him to the woods. Keep him until he gets sight of a squirrel, then drop the cord and let him go; he will likely see it run up a tree, and perhaps he will bark, but if not, do not urge him, but give him plenty of time; then take him to find another and if he does not get to barking, get one in small timber, where you can make it jump from tree to tree; if he does not bark then, he will never be much of a 'coon dog.
If he barks after he has learned to tree squirrels, take him to a woodchuck country. He will soon get to working after woodchucks and while they won't all tree, some of them will. Should he get one in a hole, hollow log or tree, get it for him if possible and let him kill it, and see that he doesn't get hurt much. If he trees one, shoot it out for him, and after he has gotten a few, and trees another, go to where you can see him, but do not let him see you, and watch until he starts to leave; then go to him and by so doing, he will learn to stay and wait for you.
After you have a good dog for woodchucks, you may rest assured that he will tree a 'coon if he finds a trail. If it happens to be summer time, take him where 'coons abide and turn him loose. He will likely run rabbits, but when he strikes a 'coon trail, he will take it. As soon as you know he is after a 'coon, keep after him as near as possible, but let him have his own way. If he trees it and barks, get to him as soon as you can, but do not urge him, for he will get to lying as soon as you want him to without any help from you.
After he has barked awhile, encircle the tree with him; then if the 'coon has been up and gone on again, he will strike his trail, and, after a few times, he will learn to circle before barking. If the 'coon is up and it is summer time or early fall, when 'coon hides are not prime, take your dog back from the tree, keep still, and unless it is a den tree, you won't have long to wait, for another 'coon chase, and by keeping your dog longer each time, you will soon have a cold trailer out of him.
This may seem considerable work for some, but it takes work and time to make even a fair 'coon dog. Should you have a good dog to train with, it saves lots of work, but even then it is a good plan to work early in the season, and tree your 'coon several times in one night, as you do not have far to go after the first tree.
In breeding 'coon dogs, the same rule applies as in fox dogs — if your dog is bred from a line of 'cooners, he will take to it naturally. Some one will say, I will take a house cat to teach my dog to tree. Well I have done that myself, but after cutting several good trees, only to get a house cat, I learned better. It is just as easy to break a dog from running cats, as rabbits, and more so. I do not consider a dog that will run and tree every house cat he strikes the trail of, a No. 1 'coon dog, no matter what his other good qualities may be.
Years ago, when timber was more plentiful than now, I always trained my dog to take care of himself, when a tree was cut for 'coons, and I never had a dog get hurt, nor had many 'coons to get very far from the tree.
They are easily taught by cutting small trees in the day time and making them keep back until the tree is down; but now, timber is getting rather scarce and valuable to cut for 'coons.
When a dog is trained for 'coon so that he is first class, he is valuable in dollars and cents as well as satisfaction. One of our good friends sets the value in this way, and we agree with him, except that where one is training a dog for his own use, love of the pursuit and woods repays him in a measure for his trouble:
"A man ought not to expect to get a first class 'coon dog for five or ten dollars. In fact, one can't be trained for that price, not saying anything about his feed. In the first place stop and consider how many nights one has to be taken out to get him to understand running them, and to learn their tricks and to tree and stay treed. They may do this in a reasonably short time with another older, well trained dog to show them how to find the tree and keep them out there, but then take him out by himself and when Mr. 'Coon goes in the creek or around an old pond or bog your young dog lacks experience and a year's work or more.
Then there is the rabbit which he must be broken not to run, and a dog can always find their tracks before he can a 'coon. Now here is where the right kind of judgment must be used, as all dogs cannot be handled alike, and one may spoil a pup in trying to break him from rabbits. So taking everything into consideration, it is worth far more to train a dog for a first class 'coon dog than most people consider, — what it requires to train a dog, and what he should be worth when properly broken.
Of course, it is not so much work to train a dog to run fox, as there is generally a lot of fox dogs one can turn in with, and that way get a young dog started and he will take to running them naturally."
I think a good dog, either a fox hound, or one that has never run foxes, makes the best dog, altho curs or 'coon dogs are not to be kicked out, that is if they are good, true hunters. I wouldn't advise trying to train a hound with a cur unless he is an old 'coon dog. Try and get your dog on a 'coon right in the start, and do not let him fight too much the first time, unless he is an extra fighter. Do not let your dog stay out hunting when the other dogs have treed a 'coon; make him come in and bark up the tree. Always climb the tree for your dog and get what he has, no matter if it takes until daylight.
When I own young dogs, I always train them myself. I never permit a stranger to handle them. It is all right for strangers to handle the old dogs once they are trained but the hunter who wishes to have good dogs should train them himself or have a man who thoroughly understands the proper way to use young dogs. It is a very easy matter to spoil a dog when you do not know exactly how to proceed.
On the question of the proper age at which to begin training a hound, a successful Minnesota trainer takes issue with those who advise taking the pup to field at eight or ten months of age. He writes in part: "I disagree with those who advise the early initiation of the pup. Any kind of fairly well bred pup will run, not only at 10 months, but at 5, 6 or 7 months, but the point to consider is, will a dog put at hard work at such age, become a hardy one? Will he develop himself as well as if he had been given a chance to grow some bones? I say no; put a colt at hard work at 2 or 3 years old, will he ever be the horse which he would have been, if he had only been broken at 4 or 5 years old? Every horse breeder knows that if he wants a good roadster, he must give him a chance to grow, then he will not be afraid to cover 60 or more miles in a day with that horse; not only this but he will get many times the price for that horse as for his brother which was put to work two years earlier. I have bred horses and know of what I speak.
There are many reasons why a sportsman should not start to train his dog to hunt before he is full grown, that is at least not until he is 12 to 15 months old. Before that age, a pup may have the will but he has not the strength to cover the ground of an old dog. A man who has a valuable pup should wait until he is capable to stand hardships, and until he has also a good knowledge box. In allowing a pup of 6, 7, 8 or 10 months to hunt, he will learn more bad tricks than good ones, such as to remain in the bush longer than necessary, and soon become a long record dog. The risk is great that he will get lost, or if not, will return with swollen feet and legs if he ran at all, also be chilled and be rewarded with a fine dose of distemper. This is often the cause why so many young dogs die with distemper or of some other lingering death, but if a man gives time to his dog to develop and get strong, the chance is, should he ever get distemper, it would be but a slight attack from which he will soon recover."
We take it, however, that our well informed friend does not mean to imply that a pup should not be taken afield and given a kindergarten course earlier than a year old. His contention is, no doubt, that the pup should not be permitted to over exert himself or to be thrown too much on his own resources.
All the foregoing has more or less application to the present topic. We are still dealing with the nocturnal wanderers. Occasionally any of the above may be discovered abroad in the full glare of day. Some hunters successfully locate them, by the aid of dogs, in their dens or burrows and capture them in the day-time. This is a cut and dried operation that requires none of the resourceful tactics of man and dog in the chase, and is, therefore, dismissed from the discussion. Now, what are the dog's duties? The matter of still hunters vs. tonguers, being of such variance of opinion, it will be discussed in a subsequent and separate chapter.
Having impressed your dog with the fact that you want him to look out for skunk, possum and mink, as well as 'coon, the next point of importance is to insist on the dog staying with the quarry and barking until you arrive; also not to take hold until the word is given as the hide is apt to be all chewed up and full of holes if the dog is too long and too vigorous in the task. Many hunters pick up many of the skunk on the field, without even being touched by the dogs.
In this connection a contributor writes: "We walk right up to the skunks and pick them up by the tails; then hit them on the head with a club and kill them or put them in the bag and take them home alive, as the occasion may suit."
"Now I won't tell that I can catch skunks without getting scented, but will say this, we have caught hundreds by the tail, and after lifting them clear off the ground, never have been scented by them. As I said before, I go for the business end of it, and am not afraid to get some scent on me as long as I don't get it in my eyes. If you get it in your eyes, it feels about as if you had horse-radish or hot water in them for the next ten minutes, which is not altogether pleasant."
The skunk is a foolish, unresourceful animal and were it not for its natural, unique means of defense, would be utterly at the mercy of dogs and hunters. Many dogs object to the scent and will trail and bring to bay a skunk only with reluctance. Only those who hunt for profit, care to take the skunk, and he must needs learn the finer points by experience.
The Scotch Terrier and Beagle should be mink dog. The steel trap is more generally relied upon to bag the sly mink and his capture with dog and gun is oft-times very unproductive.
A Pennsylvania hunter contributes the following to the general fund: a good cross for mink as well as rabbit. This combination gives the requisite agility needed in coping with mink. Some even advise a strain of water Spaniel with the above breed for ideal.
"Before taking him out you can teach the young dog when 8 or 10 months old, what to do by catching an animal that you wish to train your dog on and leading it around. If it is a 'coon or opossum, then put up a tree or on a fence. Loose your dog and let him trail until he finds it. Teach the dog to bark by hissing him on and clapping, whooping to him and such like.
If for skunk, kill one and drag it around, place it out of pup's reach, and teach him to bark when he comes upon his game. You can teach the habit of tongueing after night or silence on the trail as you prefer. Let your young dog shake and chew at the game you are training him to hunt for. After he has found it and he fails to bark by hissing him, tie a rope three feet long to it and keep throwing it toward him and pulling it quickly away to teach him to grab at it and hold on, and also bark. A live skunk generally gives a young dog such a lesson the first time that he is always afraid of one afterwards, unless he is an Irish terrier or bull dog or beagle crossed. These two breeds are good ones for any kind of night hunting.
Take a live animal, a 'coon or something, and lead it past your young dog's box where he is tied and let him see it and take notice how he will want it, but all you want is to teach him the scent and how to tongue when he comes up on the game. I believe what I have told will generally break any dog.
A good dog, well broken to hunt 'coon, skunk or opossum is worth scores of traps. Don't be afraid to switch a young dog some, to make him learn good from bad, like tonguing track and rabbit. Always pet him and be friendly after chastising him, and a good scolding with a couple of light smacks with open hand will take the place of a whipping. Don't use a stick unless necessary. Use judgment, the same as you would want some one to use you, and in a few nights' training your dog will be catching game. It is easy sailing after a few are caught, and your dog is your greatest friend you have. He will make you from $5.00 to $15.00 a night, where if you were trapping for the same game, you would be lucky if you got a dollar's worth of fur, and besides what is finer sport than a day's gunning, to hear your old dog up on yonder hill or in some woods talking to you to come his way?"
In training a dog to run wolves, it is unsafe to allow a young dog to go alone, as some wolves prefer fighting to running, and if a young dog is whipped back a few times, he will become afraid, or will be perhaps, spoiled altogether. Training a dog to hunt young wolves is a harder task, and unless your dog is born for it, you will fail to make anything like a first class dog out of him. Almost any good fox dog will hunt old wolves, but very few will hunt pups, and my experience has been that a bitch will hunt quicker than a dog. There are a great many dogs that will trail and hunt a wolf to a finish, but will pay no attention to the pups whatever; but if you succeed in finding one that is inclined to hunt them, remember that practice makes perfect.
Speaking of brush wolves: The kind of dog needed is a good ranger, extra good cold trailer and an everlasting stayer. Then if he will only run a short distance after starting the wolf and come back and hunt the pups, and then bark at them when found, you have a good, valuable dog. There are plenty of dogs that will hunt and trail wolves all right, but very few that will hunt the pups.
Sometimes when your dog trails in near the pups you will get a fight, and sometimes they will jump out and run for it. Sometimes if the pups are quite young you will find the mother in with them and for the first few days she will be found near them, but as they grow older she will be found farther away.
A Minnesota wolfer who averages 35 wolves a year pins his faith in the long eared variety of hounds, with features of strength, endurance, good tonguers and stayers.
From another source we are advised that the best dogs ever for coyotes, are part English blue and Russian stag. English blue are very fast and the stag are long winded and have the grit to make a good fight.
Another admired and capable dog is the one-half Scotch stag hound and one-half grey hound.
A Wisconsin hunter writes that the best breed to catch and kill coyotes are one-half shepherd and one-half hound. They are faster than a hound and trail just as well on a hot trail.
Another fast breed for coyotes is a one-fourth English bull, one-fourth blood hound and one-half fox hound.
A Kansas hunter contributes some first hand discussion of wolf hunting as follows: I have been hunting wolves with dogs for eight or nine years and have caught my share. I only hunt in spring and late in fall, but any time is good when you can find them. But don't take your dogs out in summer, as it will be sure to be the time when you will find a hard race, and there is where you will hurt some of your best dogs. I use a pack of from three to five, but the more the better.
I have tried most all kinds of dogs and have found a cross with stag hound and English greyhound suits me the best. I don't have any use for a full blood English greyhound — they cannot stand the cold weather and are too easily hurt in a fight.
I want a dog that will weigh 75 pounds, with long legs and short back so he can gather himself up quickly. I don't think foxhounds are any good for wolves. I have seen thirty-five of them start after the same wolf, in good weather and four hours afterward there were only two, the smallest of the pack, still in the race. I have no doubt but that they could have taken the wolf several times in the race, but all they could do was to bark.
I will not say a full blood stag hound is not all right, in a level, unobstructed country, but in many parts of the country many large dogs would not be able to get thru the fences or over the rough ground with the ease that the smaller ones do.
I have never seen the big dog that could catch and kill a wolf by himself. I have killed them with two, but would rather have four or five.
I always hunt on a horse, and they should be the best of horses, well broken and not afraid of wire. I never carry a gun of any kind, but always have a hammer, and if I want to succor the dogs in the race, I will ride up to the dogs and kill the wolf for them.
THE IRISH WOLFHOUND.
The Irish wolfhound of history is no more, the breed having become extinct years ago. There has been a determined effort, however, to approximate him with a present day breed. The modern Irish wolfhound is a cross between the Scottish deerhound and the Great Dane. Other combinations have also been tried, with more or less good effect.
According to the idea of the American-Irish Wolfhound Club, the Irish wolfhound should be "not quite so heavy or massive as the Great Dane, but more so than the deerhound, which in general type be should resemble. Of great size and commanding appearance, very muscular, strongly though gracefully built; movements easy and active, head and neck carried high; the tail carried with an upward sweep, with a slight curve toward the extremity.
The minimum height and weight of dogs should be 31 inches and 120 pounds; bitches 28 inches and 90 pounds. Anything below this should be debarred from competition. Great size, including height and shoulder and proportionate length of body is the desideratum to be aimed at, and it is desired to firmly establish a race that shall average from 32 to 34 inches in dogs, showing the requisite power, activity, courage and symmetry."
"The coat should be rough and hard on body, legs and head; especially wiry and long over the eyes and under the jaws. The recognized colors are gray, brindle, red, black, pure white, fawn or any color that appears in the deerhound."
THE RUSSIAN WOLFHOUND.
The Russian wolfhound has a reputation for being a most capable wolf-catcher in his native country, but so far the pure bred hound of that family has not held his own with the American wolf. He has the speed and capacity for catching the wolf, but is unable to cope with him or detain him long enough for the hunter to arrive. Admirers of the dog say he lacks training and adaption and that he will with a generation or two of careful training and practice become the most available dog for the purpose.
Others get good results by crossing in some fiercer and stronger blood.
The Russian Wolfer has somewhat the clean cut appearance of the greyhound, though more stockily built, and has a long, silky coat of wavy or curly hair.
"In general appearance" says an authority, "he is an elegant, graceful aristocrat among dogs, possessing courage and combining great muscular power with extreme speed, weighing from 75 to 105 pounds."
Here is my way for training squirrel and coon hounds, which I think is best, writes a Texas Hunter. First, select good healthy pups, raise them up friendly and don't whip or cow them in any way until about ten or twelve months old, for if pups get cowed when young they will never get over it. When about ten months old, take them out hunting with one or two squirrel dogs and then when the old dogs tree in small trees or any place where you can make them jump out, jump the squirrel out and get your pups after them.
Then if the squirrel gets up another tree your pups will bark up the tree at him. Then when they bark well up the tree at the squirrel, pet, sick and yell to let the pups know that you are trying to help them catch the squirrel. Keep jumping the squirrel out until they catch him, and if they don't catch him and it gets away up a big tree where you can't jump him, then shoot him and they will wool him when he falls out.
Clean the squirrel and give the pups some of it to eat, and you won't be but a few times out hunting squirrels and jumping them out for the pups and trying to help them catch the squirrel until they will start out hunting and treeing squirrels as good as any old dog. If the dogs won't bark up the tree when you get through all of this and they see the squirrel run back up the tree, you might as well kill them or take them and run deer, for they will never make tree dogs.
The following directions for perfecting the rabbit dog, are from the pen of an experienced and successful Ohio hunter.
Get your pup some day while young, if possible, keep him by you, and when you see a sparrow or something alive, shoot it, pick it up and show him what you shot at; do this at home. Shoot all you please while he is young, so when you go hunting with him and shoot at game he won't be afraid and make a bee line for home.
Most dogs will soon take a liking to guns. Now to training a beagle dog to be a good one on rabbits, I warn you never to take another dog along, but for a common hound you may use your own way.
I have seen good beagle dogs spoiled by other dogs. Now, some frosty morning take your pup to where you most think there are rabbits; scare one out, and then if he is not near, give three good sharp whistles which you ought to keep as your signal for him to come. If you train your pup to a regular code of whistles, he will know what you want. So here is a good code, which if kept in rule, will become very handy. When you have scared up game let three sharp whistles be the calling; if you only want him to come to go another way, give three long ones. Motion your hand in what direction you want to go and he will soon learn to understand.
I have often let the dog decide the way to go. Now to go back to the old subject, when he comes you must be all excited and showing him that you are greatly in need of him. Then show him three of four places where the rabbit hopped; when he gets a start you go and stand where you most think he will come around, but again I warn you never to jump and run away while your pup is near enough to see or even hear you, for if you do, he will leave the track and follow you. Also, you will do a fine piece of work to shoot the first rabbit he brings around.
Now when you shoot the game, pick it up and wait until your dog comes, then show it to him, but never let him eat one, for if you only cripple one he will catch and eat it. Teach him in the start to hold game until you come to him. Now to get him to start to hunt another rabbit may be your trouble. He may want to stay with you and try to steal your rabbit. The best way to start him out is to start walking through the brush and stamping on brush piles, at the same time telling him to "hunt 'em up." Keep a piece away from him and he will soon start to hunt again. Now if he runs one into a den, what should you do? Dig 'im out and be a "Johnny-dig-'em-out" or let him go.
Better examine the first den, and if not over 2 or 3 feet deep and only a small hole, you may dig it out, if it is one of your dog's first hunts, but don't dig very big dens, for by the time you dig one out, you may get a shot at another. The way to get your pup away from a den is to look the situation over and then give up, telling him to give it up; we can't get it; he will soon come away.
There are other things to be careful of; first you should never hurry your dog; walk slow and when he gets used to hunting let him scare up the most of the game or he will get lazy and want you to be the dog. Never whip your dog for a mistake, or you may spoil him. Then when you come home you may give him the rabbit heads. Let him in the house, and when you eat your rabbit, give him all the bones. This will teach him why and for what you take your game home. One great thing is, if your dog scares up game and is following on the trail, don't change your standing place too often; judge the point where the game will come around and stay there until it does come.
Some fellows will run, jump and halloo after his dog while running a rabbit; there is where you spoil him, for you must be cool in mind. Then when your dog is running a rabbit and night is coming on, don't go home until your dog comes to you, or right there is where your dog will be discouraged. So when the day's hunt is over you can go home with your dog by your side.
While you are showing him what good he did for you, if he is wet and cold call him near the stove and dry him. For if a dog must lay outside all wet, he will soon become stiff in his limbs, and rheumatism will be seen at an early age. Always after the day's hunt, give him all he wants to eat. Don't have him too fat in hunting season, because he will tire out too easily.
On all things there is a main point, also certain rules which should never be forgotten in training hounds, especially the age and the way to train them. My experience has taught me that it is a big mistake to allow a young deer hound to go in the woods before he is 12 to 15 months old, says a Canadian hunter.
At a year old a hound should know how to lead well, that is not to pull on the chain for all he is worth ahead of his master but to follow behind him through every place he passes, if between, under or over logs as well as fences, to follow exactly the same trail as his master. A dog or a pair coupled together, so trained, can be easily led in any bush without any bother whatever. It is not at all necessary that a dog should lead in front of his master to find a trail. A dog with a keen nose can pick a trail from the air several yards before reaching it. He will then pull you in the direction of the same and if the scent is fresh, he will be anxious to follow it, then if the hunter is a man who understands his business, he will examine the track by following it 100 yards or so and if suitable and going (if it is a deer) in the right direction and if the wind is also right, will then allow his hound to go.
A dog which knows his business will not open the minute he gets the scent but will cover the ground fast and save his steam until he has jumped the deer or fox, then open his value and if he is a flyer he will water more deer in five hours than another which gives tongue as soon as he takes the scent in five days for the reason that a dog which opens the very instant he finds a trail will have to cover 20 times more ground to bring his deer to water, than the one which does not.
A hound should not be gun or water shy but should be shy of strangers, traps and of poisoned baits. He should know how to swim across a river or lake and where to land. He should have but one master and obey him to the word and this without the use of the whip. He should know how to ride in a canoe. All this can be taught to him in about 3 months and he should know all these things before he is broken to hunt.
The next thing is to accustom your dog to the gun. This is easily done. All you have to do is to take your gun and dog into a field and once there to tie your dog say five or six feet from you, then to shoot the gun and after every shot to speak kindly to your dog and make him smell the gun. In a day or so repeat as before and the moment you see that your dog is not afraid let him loose and shoot again and always pet him. He will then know what a gun is. So when your young hound knows the gun, the canoe and water, he may be taught to be shy of strangers, traps and of poisoned baits.
To break a dog to hunt, you must not allow him to go in the bush whenever he likes. A dog that hunts without being in the company of his master will never be a well trained dog. Therefore, you must lead him in the bush and if you have a well trained dog, you may couple him with the young one and walk until you find a good trail then follow it with the dogs till you see that the young one has caught scent right, then let go the young hound first and the "old timer" last. If the hound comes from hunting stock, he will hang to the trail with the other dog and he will only turn up with him but for some reason or another, should the young hound come back to you, "don't get mad and kick or beat him." No, this is a great error and many are the dogs which have been spoiled that way. Instead of beating, speak kindly to him and pet him a few seconds and keep moving towards where the chase is going.
Don't excite your dog, pay no attention to him. If he wants to follow you at your heels, let him do so and once you reach a place where likely the other dog is going to pass, stay there and when the old dog comes along, the young one will again join and may stay this time with him, as the scent will be hot and the chances are ten to one that the young hound will take a hand in the music. But if after ten, or twenty minutes, he should again return, treat him as before. Be always kind to him. If you have no old dog to train your young one, go with your dog and show him the game you want him to hunt, lead him until you kill one, then blood him. The blooding is the "A, B, C" of training. Allow him to smell the game all he likes, speak kindly to him even if he bites the game, don't kick him off or use a stick on him, as I have often seen done by some fellows who pretend that to teach a hound you must abuse him. If you want a foolish dog, that is the way to use him but if you desire an intelligent one, you must encourage him.
After a dog has been well blooded (the blooding is done by rubbing the hot blood of the game on the front legs, as well as on the sides of the dog), you may turn him loose or you may lead him until you find another trail. He will at once be anxious to follow. Let him lead for a hundred yards and once you are sure that he has the scent in the right direction, let him go and if that hound comes from trained stock, he will run that scent immediately and should he only be away for five, ten or more minutes and come back to you, speak kindly to him and tell him to hunt. Always mention his name and keep moving in the direction where you suppose the game is.
It is a good thing that a young dog backs his own tracks at first, as it teaches him that he can find you when he likes and a hound that does this after each chase will never get lost no matter where you may go. In deer hunting, it has many advantages in so far, that when you are several miles from camp, after your dog has a start you keep moving and if you find where a deer has just passed, you can just sit there and wait for the return of the dog and as soon as he returns, you just tie him and allow him to rest for fifteen or twenty minutes and then you start him again. I have often had two and sometimes four chases in one forenoon and this without bother. Hounds thus trained, will always return to camp every night for their feed and will be ready for the next day.
Some hunters say that their dogs are so good that when they turn them loose, they always stay away for three or four days and they even go so far as to say, that they hunt night and day during the whole time they are away. Well, this is not the case at all. The reason is that they will chase a deer or fox for three or four hours or more and when they have watered the deer or holed their fox, will then start to ramble around and start after another and after watering their second deer, they will be so far away that they are unable to find their way back, and they will walk until they can go no more. They will then lie down for a long time and walk around and howl until they find somebody's trail, which they will follow to the end or until they land at a settler's house or at some shanty and will remain there.
Now how many dogs like these will a party of ten or twelve men require to hunt, during ten or fifteen days in a strange country? When a hound has been away three or four days, is he in condition to run the next day after his return? No, it will take him as many days to recover and often he will be of no use for the remainder of the hunt.
Dogs like these may suit men living in the country where there is game. Their dogs after having been lost several times will, through time, know the lay of the country and be fairly good dogs at home, but take these hounds in a strange country, of what use and how many will a hunting party require to hunt every day of their outing? Well, they will require a car-load and besides several men to hunt the dogs. Such dogs as these don't stay with me, as I consider them a nuisance, especially for city sportsmen, who are so busy during the whole year that they can only take a few weeks holiday every year, they require a strain of hounds on which they can depend every day of their hunt. I want a dog to be a flyer and to back track after every chase and to find me in the bush and not make for camp after his chase or wait at the shore until some "Johnny Sneakum" comes along with his canoe and says, "Get in Jack," and that Jack is only too glad to jump in and the next thing is that you don't see Jack for the balance of the season, but you will learn later on that Jack has been half starved that it will cost you $5.00 to $10.00 for the board if you desire to get Jack.
I will say here that I owe my life to two of my hounds. I was lost once in the woods in a blinding snow storm. This was in Western Ontario amongst a range of sappy pine hills. I was about five miles from camp. In the morning when I left the weather was very fine but it soon started to snow and the storm lasted until about 9 P. M. I was soaking wet and I had left my compass at camp, my matches were all wet and I slept in the bush. At 10 A. M. I had started my two hounds and about 11 A. M. they came back to me. It was just commencing to snow heavily but thinking it would not last long, I made for another hill where I was aware, if any deer started from there it was a sure run for our men, so I arrived there in due time and got a start. It was still snowing very heavily. I then pointed for home. I had about five miles more to reach our camp when I came to a place where a deer had just left his nest, so I thought that I could get a shot at him but after having followed him for about an hour, I gave him up and I tried to make for camp.
Well, instead of making for camp, I made a circle and came back to the same place where I had left the deer's track. It was 4 P. M., when my dogs came back to me. I knew then that I was completely turned so I decided to spend the night right there. I looked for a sheltered place and after removing all the snow I could I lay down with my back against a big flat stone and with my two dogs lying near me. We were quite comfortable and early in the morning, I pointed for camp. Now if these dogs had not returned to me, I really believe that I would not be able to write this, as their heat preserved me from freezing to death.