Hello Cody,
Thanks so much for taking the time out to write me a question. Your question basically is " what would be the best way to start my pups out and at what age?" Well Cody, this is an awfully good question but a question that is asked a lot of hog hunters by new people quite regularly. I think I have probably answered something similar to this before, but here goes...
Lets start with age first, then combine that with my personal best way I like to start one. I still to this day, say the best started pups I ever raised/started were when I was single and lived out in the country. Not to say being single had anything to do with it, but living out in the country having "my set up" made all the difference in the world. What took place was this. I was on about 2 acres. I had my regular kennels over to one side of the property like most anyone. I was fortunate enough to have a 48' round bay pen on the other side of the property. But, the key was I had a fenced in back yard where I raised the pups INBETWEEN.
Here's the scenario. I raised the pups in the back yard. In the evening I would go out, sit in a chair and pet/play with the pups most every day to relax after work for a few minutes. This got the pups real friendly and coming to me real well. The momma of the pups was also in the back yard. A time or two during the week I would take young dogs over to the bay pen to work/exercise etc... The momma dog being a hog dog also would come to the back yard fence and bark wanting to come to the bay pen. The little pups would follow the momma to the back fence and bark and bark not even having a clue what they were barking at. They were just doing it because momma was. If you don't have a momma dog, put the pup in a pen with a dog who does what you want where your pup can "pal up" with a new buddy.
When they got about 8-9 weeks old, or where they had good coordination, I would simply let momma dog out of the back yard to come over to the bay pen. Sometimes letting her in, but most to the time simply letting her run around the outside of the ROUND pen. The little pups would follow and low and behold, they would finally see what momma dog was all excited about and 99.9% of the time the little pups would start running around the pen barking at the hog also. Key to it is not letting them bark or run around to long and have a good wire fence where they can't get even their heads thru the fence. A puppy's attention span is like a child's, they can only have their attention held for a little while before they get bored. You want to pull them away before that takes place.
The main thing to remember is it has to be a FUN GAME to the pup and don't over work them. I would say do this once a week. After a while the pups will be wanting to go to the pen so much they will be digging out of the back yard fence. Many-Many times I came home from work only to discover the pups were at the pen. I ended up having to put a electric wire around the bottom of the back yard fence just to keep them in the pen.
The way I mentioned was the method that I liked the best and worked the best for me. Now days, I don't live at the same place and there is an ordnance for having hogs in town, so I don't have access to a bay pen like I did. I do it in the woods, Usually a small size hog tied out with a aggressive dog or two to help get the pup fired up will do it with a little coaxing and time. But the difference is, I wait till the pup is 7-10 months old before I do it. It also depends on the pup him/herself. Some dogs are early starters, some are late starters. And that's where having patience comes in to play before culling.
Best suggestions I could give you for a young pup would be:
1. Make it a fun game for him/her
2. Have a helper dog or two that gets fired up for the pup to watch
3. Don't work over 2 pups at a time in a pen. If one goofs off, most likely the other will goof off also. Same rule for hunting in the woods.
4. Don't push the pup, let him/her develop at their own pace. It's kinda like teaching a group of kids to weld. Not every one will progress in their ability at the same time. Some students will pick up and understand how to run welding beads and do a T weld pretty quickly, where as some of the other students will struggle and struggle just learning how to strike an arc. But once they do figure out how to run a bead, sometimes the slow starters end up being the best welders when it's all said and done. Hope that makes sense.
5. Don't let your pup get scared by the hog; they could possibly loose interest for ever if you do
6. Don't get caught up in believing that if your pup/dog doesn't bay in a pen that they won't be any good in the woods. Some of the best woods dogs I've ever owned wouldn't bark a lick in a pen, or if they did, it wasn't much to see.
7. Don't get caught up in believing that if your pup/dog DOES bay good in a pen that you have a good woods dog. A lot of dogs that bay good in a pen, aren't worth a hoot in being able to find his/her own hog. The bottom line is, it's all up to the dog. YOUR BEST DOG, IS THE ONE THAT CAN GO OUT BY HIM/HERSELF AND FIND A HOG WITH NO HELP FROM ANY OTHER DOG. Any thing else, and the dog is just average.
Hope this helped and good luck with your pups.
Jim