How To Train Your Hound?

How to train your hound?

“Before training a dog, you have to train the master! » Here we explain our vision of training for hounds.

“It takes time and more outings. On average, two years of diligent work allows you to have a dog that turns. For big game, whether you intend your dog to walk or approach, the training is identical. The most important thing is learning to recall: bringing your dog back on command. Some use kibble to achieve this but caresses are enough. If he does not come back, catch him but do not hit him, you risk pointing him without him having assimilated the order.

To declare a dog (awaken its hunting instinct), the best school is the training park (enclosure where game is raised in captivity). The young dog must then be accompanied by a more experienced dog. Once he is hunting, the youngster will follow him and in turn give voice to the game.

 To trust him, that is to say to make him hunt only one type of game, the hare or the boar in principle, you have to be patient and tenacious. Some use electric collars. For us, it is the first smell of game that the dog picks up and memorizes. Indeed, its flair, unlike its size, is not scalable. The dog has all its olfactory capacities from the outset and it is over the course of the outings that it will be able to sharpen this sense and thus, distinguish a smell of wild boar, of a deer.

To work on bringing it closer (going up the track found by the hound to go to the game), the key to success is to multiply the outings alone, ideally every 15 days. During the hunting season, there is more animal trafficking. Start by looking with the help of an experienced dog for the track of the coveted animal, the wild boar for example. Once found, put the young dog on the track and let him go up the track. If your dog takes the change (track of another animal), pull on the tether and put it back on the track, or even return to the starting point, to the initial track. “To trust a dog, the master must be able to recognize the track of the animal he wishes to hunt. If he is not good, the dog will not be. Sometimes the smell of game is so strong that the dog makes a mistake and takes the track in the wrong direction, the master must be attentive to put the dog back on the right track. The handler must also be familiar with the behavior of the game being sought: “Unlike the roe deer, which is more of a homebody, the wild boar has no rules. He's a wanderer. He goes where there is food. It can also be confined in a light wood, under a pile of leaves or on the side of rocks. »

Reach dogs are real athletes. They are able to capture the most fleeting odors. To work on their concentration, we recommend looking for the passage of game alone in the morning and then redoing the outing in the afternoon with the dog learning. In the afternoon, the smells fade. This refines the dog's sense of smell and forces him to be more diligent.

Some dogs are born to be followers, others to cuddle or get closer. In general, a good foot dog is a good closer. The only nuance is that the trailing dog works on the lead and remains silent while the retriever dog barks when he takes the trail. The follower waits for the other dogs to give voice. This is called “the pack effect”.

Some hunters use the same dog for footing and hunting. The dog has clearly discerned his work: when he wears the harness, it is the foot; when he has the bell, the hunt is on! The hunter admits to being particularly complicit with him: “When we walk around, he does not bark but his expression changes when he detects game. He widens his eyes and pulls hard on the tether. I caress it and we go to equip ourselves. »

If after all these tips, you don't feel like a trainer and you can't find anyone to accompany you, you can turn to a professional.