Welcome Boone! Puppy training has begun.
In one of my very early posts, I said that I didn't intend to go over puppy training because a lot of good information has already been written. However, I now have a new puppy, so I have decided to walk followers through his training progression.
Boone made his way from Georgia to Texas 2 weeks ago, then made the last leg of his journey back to Missouri yesterday. Those that follow this blog know that Boone is a Hanoverian hound, and he tested very well in his initial puppy testing. He is a high drive dog, which is exactly what I was looking for.
He has a wonderful personality, and kept my wife and me laughing much of the 10 hour trip home. Besides being a bit of a clown, he is very people oriented. He couldn't get enough love and attention during our trip, and bonded to my wife and me immediately. Within a few hours of hanging out, he was attached to my side like a baby goose.
Once we arrived home, he got a quick introduction to the "big dogs." Both Caliber and Layla behaved well with the little guy, showing no aggression. There was lots of sniffing, and sorting things out. All contact will be supervised for the first few weeks until Boone is well established as a part of the pack. A divider has been added to the kennel so that the dogs can see each other daily, but also maintain some safe boundaries. This may be overkill, but with dogs capable of dispatching a puppy in a matter of seconds, I don't take any chances. This approach has always resulted in a good outcome for me in the past, so I stick with it.
After the introductions were all done, we wasted no time in getting to work. Within an hour of arriving home, I put down the first of 4 liver drags. Each drag was very short, covering from 30-60 feet, and run shortly after it was laid. On the first 2 tracks, Boone appeared lackadaisical, and I assumed he was tired from the car trip and exposure to his new surroundings. There was a lot to check out in his new surroundings, after all. He was helped along on each track; however, so that he could get to the reward of liver or hotdog chunks. By the 3rd track, he was a bit more determined, and by the fourth, he was frantic about getting to the end. I started to video the tracks, but frankly the first 2 were so boring, and labor intensive, that I gave up. His quick progression, though, gave me some hope.
It was back to work for me today, so Boone spent his day in the kennel adjacent to the bigger dogs. By the time I arrived home, he was extremely excited to see me. We spent some time playing and hanging out before we got back to tracking work. Our play taught me some important things about the dog. First, he loves attention and praise. Second, he has a natural aggressive tug drive. And third, that he has a solid prey/chase drive. These are all the things that I hope for in a tracking dog because all of these can be used to stimulate tracking desire.
I was excited to see if he remember's yesterday's game, so tonight I laid a simple 50 foot liver drag with a single right turn. I put down a bit too much scent at the start of the line, so Boone spent a good bit of time licking the ground, and eating the grass where the line began. After he moved down the line a bit, though, he made quick work of the remainder of the drag, and found the hotdog chunks at the end. This is the imprinting that I am looking to build upon. Slow and steady wins the race! Here is tonight's track.