Starting Problems - Problem solving
Okay guys - you've seen some of my posts before. I have my first Basset - 19 months old, who I am trying to start. I have picked up bits and pieces by reading the boards, but let me lay out details about where his training stands, where I think the problems are, and hopefully some of you can help me. 1) Searching behavior is pretty good. He will thoroughly check brush piles, and seems to be more interested in some piles than in others. I believe this is a good sign - areas with fresher scent get more attention. 2) Packing or joining behavior is intermittent. I have another dog, Annie (used to belong to Jim Rogers) who gets on scent almost every time we go out. However, Copper (my dog) sometimes gets excited and joins her, sometimes starts to join her but comes back to me, and sometimes doesn't give a damn what that noisy dog is doing over there! When Annie is close, he is more likely to go to her. If I go to Annie, he will usually go to her. He rarely follows the trail with her under any circumstances. 3) Voicing is non-existent. He will bark his head off at stuff around the neighborhood, but I have not heard him so much as whimper in the field. What are some strategies I can use to encourage the behaviors I need? I have rabbit scent, one live tame rabbit (with access to more if needed) and Annie to help. Thanks.

Try putting the tame rabbit in a ferret ball. Let Annie bark at it, this should also encourage the Copper to bark. We then hide the ball outside and run a scent track to the ball with the rabbit. You can do this with the Copper and Annie a few times, then just with Copper. Sounds like the Copper is training-don't get discouraged-with Bassets the light bulb is off one day then on the next-the more opportunities to train the better. Good Luck

Copper will bark at the rabbit in the ball. Unfortunately, the ball is not sturdy enough to contain the rabbit while Copper barks and pushes at it with his nose! So I have to rescue the rabbit to prevent a bloody mess in the yard. Copper easily follows scent trails in the yard that I have put down with a drag. I couldn't hunt yesterday, so I did that a few times. He used his nose to follow the trail every time. Finally, I know what you mean about the light bulb. That is how his house training finally clicked. One day when he was about 6 months old, he asked to go outside.

If you have an area that doesn't get much traffic, you can find a rabbit on the road. I have a dirt road through the national forest. Spring, Summer and Fall I can usually drive the road close to dawn or dusk and often find rabbits sitting on the road. When you find one let Copper loose. If the rabbit stays you have a sight chase, if it moves take him to the place it was sitting. You can also use this method a to break -off deer with a shock collar once he is running rabbits good.

I would live trap a wild rabbit and turn it out in front of both your dogs. If your young dog is that excited you'll get a sight chase for him and he'll also be able to draw a conclusion as to what your older hound as been doing all this time, as they'll both be sight chasing and perhaps he'll join the other dog tracking the rabbit after the fact. Repeat as many times as necessary.

I (sam) got melvin to join Leo by running to leo myself every time Leo opens. and Melvin was dutifully following a track lately but we haven't been out in a while. (Melvin isNT a hunting basset)

Things took a turn for the better today! Took the dogs out - left the gun at home. I had already started to go to Annie every time she opened, and that was having a positive effect on Copper's interest. So today I am going after Annie, Copper ranging along with me when he flushes a rabbit and gets a good long look at it. He chases it, and when he lost sight - he went to his nose and kept going on the circle! He ran that track for about 20 minutes, circling back to pick up the scent. He jumps another one about 10 minutes later. It might have even been the same rabbit. Only this time, Annie is in the area, finds the track and sounds off. They keep it going together for about 10 minutes. Copper still not voicing though. Finally, I am off after Annie again, Copper ranging along behind me. Another rabbit flushes from about 30 yards away. Copper gives chase and runs the line for a while. So - we had a good day. Copper did some good things, and still needs to voice. I have plan for that...I left my live trap out in our hunting area. I have tomorrow off and hope to have one to get him barking at before I let it go. So thanks for the help and I will keep you posted! Keep the ideas and help coming!

If a hound doesn't open on a sight chase they usually are a tough nut to crack....If you have luck catching rabbits then you may make out...As you said let one out in front of him.If he doesn't open on the sight chase the next time let him see it and hold him until he opens,then turn him loose!!Hopfully with all your hard work the switch may go off.. if it doesn't and he trails rabbits well and you want to keep him run him with a bell.....!!!

Funny thing about voicing for him - he will voice on a sight chase for squirrels and cats in our yard...so I think it is just a matter of time on the bunnies.

I have the same problem with my Sadie Mae, a female about 9 Months old. She can follow a trail, has jumped several rabbits, but refuses to open her mouth in any way what so ever. She does not bark at a rabbit in a cage, anything..... She does snort though on the trail. Sounds like an old man who is snoring away. I have been told that some Tracking Dogs do this same thing, never voice but snort as though they were getting the scent into their nose to varify it or something along that line. I have tried everything, I can think of. Sadie is extreemely intellegent, loves to track the rabbit down, stays on line, but just refuses to open her mouth. Some say she may be too young still.. Any Ideas???????

Bigeagle, she is probably too young. Keep in mind many bassets dont start until well after a year old. I have a male that did exactly the same thing as your dog until he was about 2 years old, then he opened and circled his own rabbit.

My pup is about 9 months old now. He's running the hare pretty well, and has already circled a few, but he also doesn't make much noise on them. He'll whimper & whine. Occasionally there will be a yelp or two. The baying on track will come. I'm just as pleased as can be that he wants to get out and search/hunt and run them.

We had a scare last night. I hadn't seen Copper in a while - like 20 minutes. Since he doesn't voice, I figured he got off on one and would be back. Well, after an hour I decided it was time to find him. While looking for him, I thought I heard him voicing off in the distance - in fact I'm pretty sure it was him. We were the only ones out, and I had Annie, quiet, with me. About an hour later Copper turned up, right about the last place I saw him.

I have had that happen to me a couple of times and saw it at hunts several others. Most of the time the dogs will come back to the area they started from, but it may take a few hours. To help keep track of my dogs I sometimes run with bells. I always run with tracking collar. The 2 times I have used it to find my dog he was headed back to me when I found him. Are you going to the world hunt or our or hunt in May?

No - the World Hunt is too far. Your hunt in May conflicts with work - I work at a power plant and we are in spring outage then. Only one day off a week for about 6 weeks. Tracking collars are sounding pretty good about now...