Dear Old Dog/New Tricks,
Thanks Mr. Richard for writing. Can you teach and old dog new
tricks?
Well, let me answer you by asking you a question instead. You say your
dog is 10 yrs old, lets say you have been feeding him in a pan for all
10 years, but now you have someone give you a self feeder and a self
waterer that the dog has to learn to push the door open to eat and to
lick the bar down to water his self. My question is, do you think he
could learn to eat out of the box and to learn to drink from the
faucet? The answer is of course he can learn.
So to answer your question, yes you can break him from running deer.
It might not be as easy as it would on a pup or a young dog, but it can
be done. There is a book that tells you word for word and step by step
how to break or train dogs not to run off game. From pups of 6 weeks
age up to dogs older like yours. Its a book called "Walk with
Wick"
authored by John Wick of Wick outdoors. Its outstanding if you
can
lay your hands on one. They are now out of production, so you will have
to find one. I found one by advertising on the net on hunting dog
message boards and meeting some kind folks.
Sounds to me like your dog is just a dog who loves to hunt. If his
favorites of hogs or bears aren't there to be found, he's gonna run
something....
Good luck with your dog. Hope you have raised some pups out of him over
the years.
Jim