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Holding A Dog Back


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I have a 1/2 Border Collie, 1/4 Catahoula, and 1/4 Pharaoh Hound lurcher named Carl. His father was hunted on hogs, and his mother was just a border collie without any significant hunting ability. I also hunt with a mink, and he has been incorporated into that. I originally only planned on using him for rats and rabbits with my mink, as well as a bay dog to work with a terrier. Since I got him at 5 months old last June, he has displayed a surprising amount of drive for his cross. He went on a good number of rabbit hunts when he was younger, but only once caught anything for himself due to his young age and the thick brush we were hunting in. At right around 10 months, we took him ratting in a friends chicken coop. We got 11 rats between him and the 2 mink, 3 of which he caught without our help. He did get one specific bite that was particularly painful, and not expecting him to have any real grit, I didn't expect him to continue on the rats with the same vigor. He continued on just fine. After that, he caught a couple feral cats that had been killing our chickens and rabbits while we were away. Now, as he is approaching 11 months, we went out for a walk and found a large raccoon underneath a bridge. He stopped it before it could escape from under the bridge, and tried to find an opening as the coon lunged at him. I distracted the coon, and he went in for it. He held it by the throat and didn't let go until it was finished. The only wounds he suffered were a small hole in his cheek from a bite, and a tiny hole above his eye from it's claw.

Seeing as he is still so young, I am very concerned about starting him too early and making him reluctant on game later on. I figured I will hold off on any game tougher than rats until he is a year old, unless I am working him with other dogs, and proceed carefully from there. What are your opinions on whether or not I should hold him back, and if so, how long should it be until he sees another raccoon without other dogs working with him?

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