Guy's this is good stuff. I've got mixed feelings on this. The bad : the dog gets hard to catch. They could possibly team up with another loose dog and develop bad habits, such as chasing cows, sheep, etc. Get hit by a car. Ur not there to correct them when their wrong.
The good: they learn to run a track and not to be afraid to go deep and get it done.
I personally let my dogs run loose periodically, by themselves until they learn to get it done, then I will quit that mainly because I'm afraid of them getting hit by a car.

Join the forum today and remove this ad!

according to john wick letting them run loose is great they get familiar with fences water there noses and everything else that they encounter when you start hunting them but when you notice them starting to tree house cats or just hunting anything tie or pen them so they don't develop bad habits. this is not word for word from wick but I think this is pretty much what he says about. and think wick has great advice.

EVERY dog is different. Training techniques vary person to person. What it takes is LOTS of time spent with your dog to learn his ways and show him what you expect him to do and not to do. I've taken my dogs mushroom huntin and fishing with me just to get them out in daylight where I can watch them and get some additional training time in. Be in control at all times. Never let a situation come up you can't correct.

Have any of you tried what wick says in his book about letting young pups run loose 24/7 until the start treeing anytbing with fur?
I would never let any dog run loose 24/7, unless it was already trained. It could get hit by a car, picked up by dog pound, eat something it shouldn't and get sick and die, or anything that they can get into to get hurt or killed.

Where I live I can't do that. The dog would get hit by a car or at least picked up by the pound. I did have a dog we did that to when I was a kid. Ruined it. Dog ran whatever it wanted because no one was there to stop it the rest of the time. Putting them in a Kennel or on a run tells them you're in charge.

_________________
Modern Gear for Modern Hunters!
http://www.huntingtactical.com/

It sounds like Wick's advice on letting pups run free isn't excepted. What else does he say in his books is crap?