Hunting Dogs Part 6

Hunters differ as to the kind of dog to use for c.o.o.n hunting. The best c.o.o.n dog I ever had (and I've had a good many) was a half Scotch terrier and I don't know what the other half was. He was black and white spotted with curly hair and weighed but thirty-two pounds.

Some hunters prefer the shepherd dog and again some would hunt with nothing else but a hound. I don't know as it makes much difference what kind of a dog one uses, just so it is one of the hunting kind, a good trailer and thoroughly well trained. Of course, not every dog, even of the hunting kind, will make a good c.o.o.n dog; about the only way to tell is to try.

As to picking a pup for a c.o.o.n hound, it is very hard to do, but I want a full bloodhound, one that tongues on trail and a free barker at tree. I want the old style hound, as the modern fox hounds are too nervous for good c.o.o.n hounds, although you may get one once in a while that will work a cold trail very well.

A cross between the old style, long eared hound and the fast trailing hound with large, heavy shoulders, deep chest, a large fore leg, large broad head, long ears, rather short coupled back, slightly roached back, with a good square nose, rather large neck, set well down in the shoulders. While this is my kind of hound for c.o.o.n, do not understand me to say that I want an extra slow trailer, for I do not, but I want him to be steady, and when he has a trail he can work it fast. This is my kind of a dog for c.o.o.n, but he would not be in it with an up to date fox hound on a fox chase, but running fox and c.o.o.n are different, and I want a different kind of a hound.

We have made a success in raising bear hounds, and find the only way to get a good pup with the hunting habit, is to have it bred in them first, says a California Brother. One has to have good parent hounds, and while the mother dog is carrying the pups she must be worked on whatever you want your pups to run. For instance, we have a black and tan long eared b.i.t.c.h, bred her to a good hound, one quarter stag.

Before she had these puppies we caught three bears with others, letting her get in and fight hard.

These puppies when a month old would crawl on a bear hide rug, chew and shake at it, and when three months old, would track, bark and fight. Now they are five months old and know considerable about it.

We treed an old bear, and these pups kept right on and treed two cubs, and barked up and stayed until we found them after we had the old one skinned and cut up. They have the instinct in them, and are beauties with just enough stag in them to have a good crop of whiskers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Embryo Trailers.]

CHAPTER XII.

CARE AND BREEDING.

As we must raise the dog before concerning ourselves with his culture, let us begin with the pup.

I commence to care for the pups by giving the b.i.t.c.h plenty of exercise before they are born. Then as soon as they are born, put them in a clean, dry place, where they will be comfortable,--if in winter, where cold winds cannot reach them; if in summer, in a cool place out of the hot sun. Feed the b.i.t.c.h well on good food of different varieties; do not chain her, but rather shut her up in a park of something of the kind, where she can exercise but not get out to run, for if she should run she gets hot and you may loose some if not all of your puppies.

By the time the pups are three weeks old, you will need to commence feeding some milk twice each day, gradually increasing the amount as the b.i.t.c.h becomes dry, and when she weans them, feed three times a day, until about six months old; after which I only feed twice a day.

In this connection we quote from an article in a current magazine, the truth of the contentions being borne out to a greater or less extent by our own observations:

After her puppies are about five weeks of age a b.i.t.c.h will begin to vomit the contents of her stomach for the puppies. I have known many breeders of experience argue that but few b.i.t.c.hes do so. Over and over again have I been able to convince persons who, having immediate care of the b.i.t.c.h and her litter, deny that the b.i.t.c.h ever vomits to her puppies, that they are wrong. Many b.i.t.c.hes never vomit when the attendant is about, and only appear to do so at night; hence the belief that they do not do so at all. It is the natural manner in which the b.i.t.c.h feeds her whelp with partially digested food, after her milk supply ceases to suffice for their requirements. If the b.i.t.c.h is of good const.i.tution and in good health, the puppies flourish remarkably on the diet thus provided, and in such cases my experience leads me to believe that puppies left with their dams do better than when separated from them and, strange to say, b.i.t.c.hes who are in the habit of picking up all sorts of apparently undesirable odds and ends do not seem to do their puppies less well under these circ.u.mstances than cleaner feeders do.

Many b.i.t.c.hes eat the young soon as they come if not closely watched, especially the first time. There should be an attendant at time of whelping. Whelps must be removed to a basket of warm cloths and kept away till all have come and then place to matron for nursing. There is no danger of her devouring them thereafter.

To resume: This is what I feed pups: grind rye without bolting and sometimes oats ground very fine; then run through a coa.r.s.e sieve, and bake into bread without soda or baking powder, or make into a thick mush and feed it with plenty of milk if convenient. As they grow older add cornmeal and sc.r.a.ps from the butcher shop to the feed, and give them enough to keep them nice and sleek, but do not overfeed.

By the time they are three weeks old they will be running everywhere, and let them have plenty of room to run and play. Change their beds as often as needed, which is a good way to prevent fleas. Should fleas get on them as they are sure to do, put a tablespoonful of oil of tar in a quart of warm water, take a fine tooth comb, dip in tar water, and comb them until the hair is thoroughly saturated; repeating as often as needed.

For bedding, the best is leaves from the woods; straw will answer, but I prefer the leaves to anything I have ever tried, but whatever is used it should be changed often and kept dry. For the dog with a damp place to sleep, will soon have the mange, and it is far easier to keep a dog healthy than to cure him after he has become diseased.

In warm weather I use no bedding as it is only a harbor for vermin.

The best place by far, to keep your dogs, is in a park, where there is shade in summer, with running water, and slope enough to the land, to allow it to be well washed whenever it rains. Then provide dry, comfortable quarters to sleep, and you have an ideal home for dogs.

In case you cannot have a place of this kind nor even a small park, and must keep your dog chained, attach a good heavy wire to the dog house and the other end to a tree, where your dog can get to a shade if possible; then attach a chain to the wire so your dog can travel along the wire; but be sure that he cannot get tangled up and have to lay out some wet night.

Some are situated far better than others for taking care of dogs and I am sorry to say there is an occasional sportsman (or at least he owns a dog or two), who is inclined to let his dogs shift for themselves. I pity the dog that is unfortunate enough to have such an owner.

My experience is that too much meat is not good for the foxhound, and if they get a mess of old stale meat just before you want to run them, the chances are that they can't make the race. I have seen good dogs that couldn't run an hour, simply because they were filled up with old dead hog or horse. If you want to make a good race with your dog, keep him tied two or three days before you intend to run him, feed him corn bread (well baked) and sweet milk. If you run at night, give your dog a good feed at noon and very little at night when you start, and if your hound has the "stuff" in him he is good for all night.

I think rotten meat will affect the smelling of a dog as well as heat them up, so they can't make a good race. To let your dog run loose until you are ready for a chase, where he can find slop and such stuff to be filled up on, and have your friend meet you with his hounds in fine shape and lead your hound all the time, well you know how you would feel.

Some say you must have it bred in a hound to run. That is all true enough, but a well bred hound with all grit can't make a good race if he isn't in shape to do it.

The foregoing is borne out and added detail given in the following contribution from New York State:

I find that fox hounds which I feed on old stinking pork or stinking meat of any kind are quite stupid and very careless about hunting.

They cannot keep on the trail, neither do they wish to run fast or continue running long. Old stinking pork seems to be the worst I could feed to a fox hound, and corn bread and some milk on it seems to be the best.

When my dogs are fed on cornbread and milk they display the most activity, and can follow a fox or rabbit more accurately and accordingly run faster. When I want to make my hound run slow I feed him some meat, and the more it stinks the less he can smell anything but the fumes of this in his stomach. I can easily tell by the smell of my dog's breath whether he has eaten fresh mutton or rotten horse recently, and I think any healthy person can easily.

Here are another hunter's views on this same subject:

In rearing hounds, to have them hardy and intelligent you must feed them right and provide them with a lot of good fresh water as well as to give them daily exercise. When I feed beef, I have a small axe with which I chop all the bones into fine pieces. They also get sc.r.a.ps from the table with some vegetables mixed with cooked rolled oats. I feed the old ones once a day with raw meat and once with porridge. I see that they get just enough to keep them always in good running condition, that is neither fat nor thin. I like a dog with a good rolling skin. I never take a skeleton dog in the woods as I have often seen hunters going deer hunting with dogs which you could read a newspaper through.

Now of what use are such animals as these? Some say that a thin dog will run better than a fat one. Yes, if the fat one is hog fat; but a dog with about one-half inch of hard fat on the ribs will out-do a dozen of these starved dogs of which you can count the bones at one hundred yards from them. No, a dog with just the skin and bones cannot stand any work for the reason that he has no bottom.

Young pups should be fed at the very least three times daily, four times is still better. Never give them more than what they can eat, and in the meantime see that they just get enough so as to clean the dish well at every meal and in no case should the pan containing the food be left in the intervals with the puppies if they have not cleaned it out as they will become disgusted with it and next time refuse to feed. Keep everything clean and dry and always feed at the same hour daily. It is much easier to rear a pair of pups than a single one.

Before weaning the dew-claw should always be removed. These are of no use but only serve to bother the dogs and hounds should always have them cut off.

Worm medicine should always be given to all young dogs and kennels should be lime washed at least three times a year and never allow your dogs to sleep near the stove and then turn them out in the cold.

If you desire a lazy hound allow him to burn himself at the stove, but if on the contrary you wish a lively dog, provide him with a good dry kennel and if you keep several dogs see that each one has his own stall. This has the advantage of preventing them from fighting and from the risk of taking cold by lying out of the kennel.

When your dogs return from the hunt always examine their feet and legs and if you find any sore spots attend to them at once. If the dogs return wet to camp always allow them to dry near a stove before turning them to their kennel which should be a good dry one.

If you desire your dogs to stand hard work day after day you must look after them with as much care as a jockey attends to his horse.

The very moment you notice your dog is looking dull ascertain at once what is the cause, and if you are of the opinion that it is a cold or distemper, don't wait until you see his eyes and nose running, to doctor him, but attend to him immediately.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Versatile Ontario, Canada, Dog Family.]

CHAPTER XIII.

BREEDING.

The main and most important question in breeding race horses as well as hounds is to get always the very best and to do this, one has to be on the move and watch the hunting and staying quality as well as the style of looking for trails, etc.; and a breeder should always be ready to pay the price for a good sire or dam. And he should always bear in mind that there is no more trouble or bother and that it does not cost more to raise a pair of dogs from well known hunting stock than from unknown stock but where it tells is when the dogs are of age for training. It is here where the great difference exists and where a sportsman is willing to look at the right side of the matter finds his mistake and where he regrets not having paid a few dollars more for the right stock.

Some say that if pedigreed dogs were trained they would beat the other dogs. The question is to train them. Hounds which come from untrained or from partly or badly trained stock will always be poor hunters. They will never be the dogs that they would have been had they come from highly trained stock, that is that their sire and dam and grand sire and grand dam were all trained by persons who thoroughly understood the way of breeding and rearing as well as the age and proper way of training. A hound coming from such selected stock will learn and pick up in a day what will take others months and probably a whole season to learn. I never kept a hound which after having shown him the game and also blooded him once or twice would not at once start to hunt because I consider that the sooner a sportsman will shoot such dogs the better.

There are plenty of fox dogs that are good c.o.o.n dogs, and a great many c.o.o.n dogs will run a fox to a finish, but the fox and c.o.o.n dogs are two very different dogs. There is also a greater difference in the opinions of hunters, in regard to the c.o.o.n dog than in any other dogs.

Some want the full blooded hound, and some a cross with a foxhound; here they differ again as to what dog to cross with; others want no hound blood at all, but a shepherd; one wants a collie and another just a dog. Then here is a hunter who insists on a silent dog; and the next one says the silent trailer doesn't camp with him.

Now as I am not looking for trouble, I will agree with all of you.

Where c.o.o.ns are plentiful and you are likely to strike a c.o.o.n track in every cornfield, the half hound or even a cur dog, will get c.o.o.ns; but where they are scarce and you may tramp until near morning, and then strike a trail five or six hours old, if you get that c.o.o.n, you will need a dog with a good nose and one that tongues on a trail. But there is one point on which you will all agree--if your dog does not stay at a tree and bark good and plenty, he isn't much of a c.o.o.n dog.