QUOTE (Sctn4Elk @ Jul 24 2008, 03:20 AM)
Sure you might get one or two that do well...but these guys have a nose and they are gonna use it.
Just trying to give weetie a heads up on the NOSE that never stops...
To train hounds takes a completely different training method to training a domestic dog. In an enclosed environment hounds will listen if they have a reason to. You need to establish what their very favourite thing is. Clicker training doesn't work, love wont work, bribery does. If it's tastier that what they would chase (and smellier) then they will work for it. The recipe for smelly tasty treats is:
1 lambs liver
Boil in enough water to cover
Add 1/2 cloves of crushed garlic
1 beef stock cube
Boil for half an hour (or until cooked through)
Slice into strips then cubes
Place on a baking sheet and bake in a medium oven until dried
This gets my hound nose going in the right direction
For distance work I use an electric collar. Don't jump on me for this as I do not use it to shock but as Sctn4Elk stated if they chase a scent the will not come back (think gone 4 hours +). It is not disobedience and should never be treated as such (Sctn4Elk was very wrong in calling it disobedience). They are not being disobedient they are simple deaf to your commands as they are very focused. My electric collar allows me to bypass the aural comand and alert my dog to the fact that I am giving him a command. I initially did the training in the garden and every time he went off and did his own thing I buzzed him, called him back and gave him a treat. Eventually we progressed to with distractions, out in an enclosed are and eventually to running free.
The trick is to always be anticipating what your dog is going to do. You will soon learn when he goes into "the zone". As soon as he does you need to immediately snap him out of it or all control will be lost. This is why teaching loose heeling is so effective with hounds. As soon as you see them start, recall him to heel and treat with the smelly stuff!
If a hound runs the only way to get around this is to praise praise praise when they do return (no matter how long it takes). As soon as you get into the mindframe that it is disobedience then you will never get a dog that will recall. The respond very well in the opposite direction to punishment
The biggest thing you are doing right Weetie is establishing your dominance. When training working hounds they get paired with an older, trained hound and learn from them. The are attached together for a period and learn the correct behaviour through example. As long as he sees you as boss lady you will have a good grounding.
I am not saying it will be an easy ride as it wont - hound types
are the hardest type of dog to train but it can be done. As long as you dont think of them like a domestic dog (because they don't act like one).
I have one more piece of advice for you. Let your dog off the lead as soon as possible. With hounds you need to teach recall while they are still young and frightened of the big bad world. As soon as they get that independent streak it will become a hundred times harder.
)
YIkes!
Who ate all the cookies?
Ouch! Geez Daniel, I was just kidding! 
at home now too! 
)
to the grand re-opening of Weeties Lounge!
