Training a Catahoula Puppy for tracking and retrieving. Puppy is only 12 weeks old and is a purebred from Louisiana. If you like this video, check out the part 2 when he is 16 weeks old, • Training a Catahoula L...
I have had my rescue catahoula for 6 years now and when I can't get outside to walk her I run her on a treadmill. She's so smart it only took a couple of tries to get her going on it.
This is awesome. I've been surrounded by Catahoulas my whole life (My aunt currently has 8 of them and has had many more in the past)and have been to a few Catahoula shows in Louisiana. These dogs are so overlooked and not well known, it blows my mind. As smart, protective, intelligent, and friendly as they are they should be more known! Finally got my own Catahoula puppy this year, shes a handful but a sweetheart. Won't leave my side. They are very friendly however, mess with their owner and family they can get very aggressive and nasty to anyone who is a danger and will attack. They may not be normally aggressive dogs but don't let that fool you, they will do some serious damage if they need to.
I got all three of mine as rescued adults, no training what so ever. Never been in a house etc. I have been able to teach them a few things but your little fellow puts all mine to shame. Incredible
Thanks Irene! I love the Catahoula breed they are great dogs. If you are interested I made a video of him at 16 weeks ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PPM9rxHzeRY.html as well, not sure if I am making a 20 week video or not.
What tools did you use to train your dog. My family has always had catahoulas growing up, and I have recently purchased a puppy and would like to train her myself.
Nice video,good looking pup and smart. I too live in Colorado and will be picking up my catahoula beginning of january. Id like to see more vids of your pup as he progresses. This will be my first catahoula and I want him to be a good sound dog. Any advice?
Thanks Cornelius! I plan on making another video when he turns 16 weeks, that should be the end of October. I will reply to your contact I got on the blog for in depth advice. But for now publicly I recommend you check out this guys website for info on catahoulas, www.abneycatahoulas.com . Also for tracking looking into the books K9 Tracking Training by Don Abney, and Search Dog training by Sandy Bryson.
Hi there I live in Ontario and there is a Catahoula for adoption. That’s six months old. I’ve been researching extensively I’m going to meet him in a few days. His name is Winston. I am a hunter at times and I’ve had many dogs in my life. Is there any great advice that you could give over and above this video? I realize they’re high energy dog. They love the water. They love to track the very independent and can be stubborn. Just wondering if you have any advice to give this puppy is six months old and he seems like a sweetheart and shouldn’t live his life in a shelter. I’ve trained other dogs like Meremma‘s in Maremma Pyrenees cross in my beautiful Loki dog, passed away this past March.
This is Awesome! I got a Catahoula pup just a few weeks ago and he is 8 wks old. I've tried training him.. But he doesn't even pay attention to me, I don't know what to do anymore. He doesn't listen..
Julisa Cervantes Hi Julisa! Just a thought, 8 weeks is a little young to start training. I wouldnt even give the dog any corrections at all at this point, even for potty in the house. Just take him outside when he does and praise him when he does outside. Just spend the next few weeks bonding with him, be his whole world. One you have a good bond the dog will want to please you as long as you are the alpha. I wait until 12 weeks to do any training at all. Even sit, stay and come. Whatever you do make the training FUN! you need to be excited and energetic and however you reward, treat, praise, or toy you need to do it right after the dog does exactly what you want, timing is everything. Enjoy the pup for now, you will have plenty of time to train the juvenile and then adult dog later. Just make sure that you run the show, not him or you are headed for alot of problems with a catahoula.
Our catahoula is very smart and energetic, what are some ways we can have her get her energy out in a smaller yard (.25 acre)? We are afraid of letting her climb trees because our fence is only 6 ft tall. Any suggestions would help.
David Brighina Hey there David. It is always nice to meet a fellow catahoula owner. I am not sure where you live, but I am lucky that I have a open spaces nearby that I can use to let Bo run and play fetch/frisbee. He loves frisbee, perhaps that would be a good easy thing to get your Cat some exercise? It requires a little brain engagement for the dog, and they get to run and jump and try to catch it, something Cats love. Other than fetch or frisbee, you can try to train her the search game. This another thing I do with Bo when we don't have time to trail. Take her favorite toy and start by playing with it and then hide it behind your back. She should try to naturally find it. When she does reward her with praise and play. You can then slowly move to where you hide the toy some where close by but slightly out of sight while she waits. Then tell her whatever command you want to use for the game to find the toy. I use, SEARCH, instead of GO FIND, as that is Bo's trialing command. Start off with very easy finds of the toy and slowly work to more difficult. The dog should enjoy this and is an great inside activity for nasty days. There are plenty of other things to do with a Catahoula, such as obedience, agility, or even show. Hopefully I have helped a little ? CR
Rescued mine as an adult and she has matured and progressed by leaps and bounds (used to eat drywall until she was crate trained). Now we no longer have the crate out. The only issue I have with her is on walks she has always done the squealing. Never in an aggressive manner or barking, but it's embarrassing. Used to take her to the dog park til people decided it was a good idea to take unspayed females and small dogs there. No idea what her backstory was, but she's now a house dog. I know for a fact she'd kill to protect me, too. Not sure if you'll see this but any advice helps.
Thanks! I would say lots and lots of patience, love, and consistent message in training. Spend 4 weeks with your pup and bond, don't do any corrections during this time, just have fun and spend a ton of time together. Start very light training at 12 weeks, get the basics in early, catahoulas are very intelligent, and when they realize they are..then they know you cant make them do what you want you have to convince they want to do it. Best to stay ahead of them in training.
I just got a female from coho catahoulas i would like to train her to do nose work. We do you start. How did you get him to know check it means to get a scent and find it means to ground trail. She is 9 weeks old and i took off 30 days of leave to work with her. We have sit and her name down already. Still working on crate training and house training. However that's coming along quickly.
Hi Tom! Congrats on your new pup! its great you are taking time off to bond with her that is very important. Try not to do any corrections until she is 12 weeks or so, (fear cycle). Make everything fun and have a great time you want to be her world. I started Bo tracking at 12 weeks. He now 6 months old and running 1/2 mile tracks with fresh scent, and 1/4 mile tracks that are 1 1/2 hours old, keep in mind we train tracking 3 -4 times a week. I plan to produce a third video soon. His 4 month video is here if you haven't seen it, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PPM9rxHzeRY.html. Getting him to check it is just part of the game, we start every single track with it. He can now track off a scent article, or scent off a track on the ground that I show him. I train directly out of this book and if you want to train tracking training with your girl I would encourage you to get it a copy, it is a simple great book. www.amazon.com/Canine-Tracking-Guide-Training-All-Purpose/dp/1621871029. Post up a link to your pup if you want, I love to see catahoula puppies, soo cute. CR
Christopher Robertson Sounds good. Ill purchase that book and read it before I start teaching her. I am looking forward to the 3rd video. Here is a link to a picture of Lacey on my Photobucket account. i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af160/ArcherTL/14319_868065293233235_8088770023024125142_n.jpg
+Stu Cook So Stu the answer is yes and no. I have heard of Catahoulas doing retrieve bird work but it is very rare and requires a lot of training. Catahoulas have a large prey and destroy drive. The dog will certainly go get your bird, but what condition you get the bird back in, or IF you get the bird back is the question. That being said I used one my catahoulas as a kill dog for Canada geese hunting. I would send him out after wounded downed birds, it saved me shells, and running after them myself. He would run straight into them full bore, pin them to the ground and kill or hold them there for me, never retrieve though. If you want a good retriever get a lab with hunting working blood lines, those dogs live to grab birds in icy waters. Catahoulas are excellent swimmers though...
