Hello Kyle, thanks for the question..
Your question was " whats a way to train a new pup if u have no older dog to run with him" Well, that’s a mighty good question and believe me when I tell you, There's a lot of folks out there that want to know an answer to it, because they are in the same boat. The best and formost advice I can think of to give you is get you a well bred dog. One whos ancestors on both sides were hunting dogs. If they have the genes for it, your chances are a lot higher for the dog to make a hog dog. Now, I know there are a lot of hog hunters out there that can give you 10 different ways to get a dog started without the use of another dog that will be better than my ideas, But, the use of another dog is what I feel is the easiest way. A puppy trainer dog is worth their weight in gold. Ive been lucky enough over the years to have some dandys. One gyp I had in particular I called Sally. She wasn’t the best hunting dog in the world, but for me, she was the best puppy trainer I ever owned. It was like she had a job to do and she liked her job. If a young dog wouldn’t go out with her, she would actually come back and get the pup/dog. It was amazing to watch. Problem was, she wouldn’t hunt for anyone but me.. Heck, when she was up in age, I sold her twice and got her back both times. The second time I sold her, I sold her to a fella that had been with me hunting and seen her find and bay up hogs on about 10 different occasions. But, evidently, she just wouldn’t hunt for other people. But, to answer your question, without the use of a puppy trainer dog, you are going to have to be inventive. And above all, your going to have to find you a Hog to pen up or have access to someone trapping hogs etc.... This is where a bay pen might come in handy. I have about 25 dogs at this time. Some are older the others are pups. Every single older dog I have cept maybe the catch dogs will find their own hog and bay it up. But, even tho they will do that, I don’t have a one at this time that would be worth a flip in a baying contest. The reason? Because none were trained in a pen. They were all trained in the woods. In the past, Ive had a lot that I got started in a pen, because I had one, but I don’t now. My suggestion to you is at least try and get your dog introduced to a hog in a round pen on a not so bad hog. You don’t want a hog to make it un pleasant for a new dog prospect. If the dog gets scared and looses his heart and his brain tells him its not fun----the games over, you might as well change dogs. Let the dog try and bay the hog in the pen, keep the hog moving if the dog gets a bit bored. I would suggest not letting him bay but a brief few minutes. Do this a few days until hes showing interest. From there, I would suggest having a hog in the woods tied out... We've done this many times... Take a hog and will barrow or pull him into a wooded area say, 20-30 yards off a clearing. Do this when the dog cant see whats happening, or not even know a hog was in the area. Start walking the dog or having him run infront of your vehicle and hunt a bit, or you can simply have him on a lead and walk him where you have more control. When you get to the area, where the hog was dragged, the dog SHOULD start smelling and try to walk the track in. sometimes you will have to help them with running a track. Remember, they don’t know how to run a track yet. I usually have the hog tied by a leg to a tree where he can move around. The dog should follow the track in there and go to the hog. Let him/or try to get him to baying the hog. Next, you might want to turn the hog loose and let him get a bit of a start and turn the dog on him. He should go in there and try to bay him up again. Some times you can do kinda the same thing by letting a hog out of a trap or cage. But just remember, not all dogs will bark at a hog that’s in a trailer, or a pen. This past week, one of my students got himself a small hog and put him in a hog trap by his barn. He took a young dog (10 months) over to the trap and the dog did nothing but look at the hog, and that was with us grabbing the hog and making him squeal.... I went home and got one of my sure nuff strike dogs to let bark at the hog to help get the puppy to barking. Heck, I got to the place and my dog threw up his head and basically pulled me to the trap. And I'll be dang, he just looked at the hog too...hahaha I told the student that he should tie the hog out to one of his trees and try again with his pup alone. Next day, that’s what he did. It only took a few seconds and his dog was barking at the pig and then caught the hog. So don’t get discouraged if your dog doesn’t bark at a hog in a trap, a trailer or even a pen. Best strike dog my nephew ever owned would not bark a lick at a hog in a pen. My best dog at this time would embarrass me if I took him to a bay contest. Its just not his thing. Basically my answer is, your going to have to be inventive and find you a wild hog to mess with. The better your dog is bred, the more chance you will have of him turning out. Just remember, it has to be a fun game to a beginning dog----not work---not something that will hurt him. I hope in some way this has answered your question.
Good luck with your dog..
Jim