UKC Forums - How much hunting does a dog need?

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Posted by Kler Kry on 09-27-2019 02:32 PM:

Re: How much hunting does a dog need?

quote:
Originally posted by Ron Ashbaugh
Once I find a dog that can tree a coon, I often find myself wondering how much hunting does this dog need to be as good as it can be? Does it really need a bunch of woods hours to maximize its ability or will it be as good with a few hunts a week? We are talking about young dogs here, say 12 to 24 months old.

Just curious what you guys have seen.

I've observed that the best dogs show a high level of ability after about 5 trips to the woods or less.

It takes about 200 hours to peak a dog of natural ability to run and tree a coon that has a low intelligence.

It takes 1000 hours to peak a dog with a very high intelligence and they continue to learn until they die. You can do the 1000 hours in 6 month or 5 years, but it still takes time to maximize their intelligence.

Highly intelligent dogs learn from one experience and do not require constantly being "tuned up", but they do require being physically fit.

Posted by johnny reb on 09-27-2019 03:33 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by novicane65
Okay if you're talking about a young and not so experienced pup, then quality over quantity. But at 18+ months and its had a decent amount of time hunting then it should be pushed pretty hard, like 5-7 nights a week for a few months. My way doesn't always work for everyone but it works for me.

I’m of the same mind except the 18 month old part. I also don’t think most people can or will hunt one hard enough and long enough to burn one out. I’m of the mindset of when there started good hunt them from dark till daylight 6 days a week for as long as you can.

Posted by Ron Ashbaugh on 09-27-2019 05:31 PM:

Re: How much hunting

quote:
Originally posted by Rocketman55
How much hunting really depends on just what exactly you are trying to prepare for.

If your trying to hunt just enough to keep your dog from getting completely bored and start chewing up their dog box, probably 1 night per week 3-4 hours per night

If you are preparing for an upcoming pleasure hunt, probably 1-2 nights per week, 3 to 4 hours per night.

If you are preparing for a local ukc hunt, probably 3-4 nights per week, 3-4 hours per night, for a minimum of 3 weeks

If you are preparing a world Qualifier, probably 3-4 nights per week, for 8 weeks, 4-6 hours per night

If you are preparing for the zones, probably 4-5 nights per week, for 8-12 weeks, 6-8 hours per night.

I bet every hound that made the top 16 of the UKC world hunt, hunted harder than the hours mentioned above.

but to own a top notch hound, you MUST prepare at a top notch pace, to expect TOP NOTCH results.

I remember Drawing Goose Creek Slugger and Mr. Mark Jones a few times and the commitment he explained to me that he was giving to that hound left me in Awe of what it actually took to compete in the Purina circuit for Purina Outstanding Coonhound of the Year.

these numbers I have mentioned above are only a drop in the bucket of what the truly successful competition hunters are committing.

I think this is a great outline, thank you for taking the time to type all of that out!! I know I could never commit that kind of time or my body could take the beating. I walk to all my dogs at all my spots, not driving or riding a gator ect......If I was walking like that 4-5 days a week for several hours, I think I may give up before the dog!!

__________________
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Ron Ashbaugh
CROOKED FOOT KENNELS

Posted by Nathan Phenix on 09-28-2019 01:24 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by Josh Michaelis
Some dogs don't take hard hunting well. Some thrive on it.

Most are not given the best opportunity to succeed because the handler can't recognize which one they actually need.

Dog I'm hunting now looks way better when hunted every other night but that's hunting him hard. Put 8+ miles on him few nights ago to give you ideal what good night average is distance covered is.

I'm bad to think hard you push better the results but definitely not true.

__________________
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Nathan Phenix
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