TRASH breaking, In memory of old Deadeye...

Many years ago I had a coonhound named "Deadeye". He got this name because he had been hit by a truck and his eye had been knocked out. A vet was able to put the eye back in its socket but Deadeye could not see out of it. The eye turned a foggy blue and it looked dead. He was out on the highway that night because he had been chasing a deer. You would think that a good knock in the head like that would have broken him off of trash.
Deadeye had the potential to be a pretty good coonhound, he had a nice trail voice, could run coon track and would tree with a pretty nice chop. Unfortunately, he chased every other type of animal in the woods too. His biggest problem turned out to be me because I didn't know much about training and breaking coondogs at that time.
I often hunted Deadeye as a pup along the Minnesota river near the town of Savage. This is pretty good coon country but it is even better deer country. During the spring and summer Deadeye would run a lot of tracks down there, sometimes he would tree and sometimes not. One fall night down on the river Deadeye started a track. He ran it away for about ten minutes and then swung back towards me. He was moving the track pretty good right in my direction & I was getting excited. My excitement turned to shock as I saw two big deer striding down a trail with Deadeye hot on their heels. I was able to intercept Deadeye, I scolded him and gave him a couple of pretty good swats.
On that night Deadeye was well over a year old and had probably been running trash for at least 4 months without my being aware of it. I had only been hunting for about 2 years at the time & I didn't know much about dogs, raccoons, deer or the outdoors. The one thing I did know is that in this part of the country, dogs that chase deer are considered a problem. So I started on a trash breaking odyssey that lasted for several years. Deadeye endured all of my "training" and continued to chase deer, fox and skunks for his entire life. I think it is safe to say that I never trained Deadeye to do anything, on the contrary he trained me.

Deer chasing is by far the most common trash problem for coonhounds in my area. This is followed by fox, skunk and coyote in that order. There have also been a few cases involving porcupine, opossum, mink, beaver, woodchuck, badger, bear, bobcat, muskrat and even house cats. There are a lot of breaking techniques out there and I tried most of them. If you have a dog with a similar problem, let me share some of the things I tried that didn't work:

Breaking scent. This one is a bottle of concentrated animal scent and it really makes me laugh. The idea is that you expose the dog to the scent & somehow he will lose interest in chasing that animal. In my opinion this is a waste of time and money. I have never seen a breaking scent stop a dog from running trash. However, there can be some entertainment value when viewing some of the breaking scent techniques. For example the "Sprinkle and scold" method of walking around the kennel spraying the scent and scolding the dog. Have your wife videotape you doing this and then watch it later. Even better is the "Barrel roll". Seal the scent, some rocks and a dog in a 55 gallon drum and then roll the barrel around the yard for a while. This is great exercise and will impress your neighbors! Moving on from the humorous to the sadistic we have "Suffocation". Put the scent in a plastic bag and then put the bag over the dogs head. Hold it tight around his neck until he passes out. Try not to give him brain damage or kill him! This one really goes over big with the humane society!

Dog trainers: Dog trainers have their place in the world & some of them do certain things with young dogs very well. Unfortunately breaking dogs from running trash is not one of them. I'm sure you will hear people dispute this and tell you what good luck they had with "so and so", but I have never seen it. I am convinced that the only reason that dog trainers can claim they have broken dogs for the public is that most dog owners don't know when their dogs run trash anyway. I and my friends have sent several dogs to various trainers for breaking and not once did it work.

There is hope though. Let me share some of the things that have worked for me.

Laying a good foundation is at the top of my list. Learning how to tell what a dog is really chasing is critical. Don't think that just because your dog is a coonhound that all he will chase is a raccoon. I found some trainers in my area with experience and good straight dogs to compare notes with. Nowadays, I get my pups well started on raccoons before I ever expose them to situations where they are likely to start running trash. I'll hunt the same familiar areas every night with pups. In these areas, I know the habits of the raccoons and the fox, and the deer and the skunks and the opossums. Knowing where all the paths, roads and game trails are is a big advantage when starting a pup. I have make a few drops my "designated training spots" and rarely shoot the raccoons in these areas. I don't hunt young dogs in strange country with strange dogs, even if a good friend of mine calls & invites me over. A dog running deer, fox or coyote can move fast so I stay prepared to move quickly. I try to keep up with, or ahead of my pups when I have them in the woods. I try to hunt my pups like this at least two nights a week for a year. A well started dog is a lot easier to break off of trash.

Shock collars: This can be the greatest tool a dog trainer owns. It can also ruin a dog if mishandled. Learn how to use a shock collar before you start to train dogs! If you use your head you can hunt the dogs every night with a live shock collar and hardly ever have to use it. I listen closely to a dog running a track. When I can determine that they are chasing something other than raccoons, I shock them, then I move to a new area and continue to hunt as if nothing happened.

Head 'em off at the pass: Here, instead of shocking a dog, you have to be able to get in front of the dog running trash and discipline him. This can be a lot easier that it sounds. If you are hunting in familiar territory you should have a pretty good idea where these trash runners are going. Start jogging, running or driving, whatever it takes to get there first. Wait quietly for them to come through and then jump out and give them a good scolding. A good surprise followed by swift punishment can go a long way towards breaking a dog.