SELECTING THE DOG. 113 



for coon hunting. The best coon dog I ever had 

 (and I've had a good many) was a half Scotch 

 terrier and I don't know what the other half 

 was. He was black and white spotted with curly 

 hair and weighed bnt thirty-two pounds. 



Some hunters j)refer the shepherd dog and 

 again some would hunt Avith nothing else but a 

 hound. I don't know as it makes much differ- 

 ence what kind of a dog one uses, just so it is 

 one of the hunting kind, a good trailer and thor- 

 oughly well trained. Of course, not every dog, 

 even of the hunting kind, will make a good coon 



dog; about the only way to tell is to try. 



* * * 



As to picking a pup for a coon hound, it is 

 very hard to do, but I want a full bloodhound, 

 one that tongues on trail and a free barker at 

 tree. I want the old style hound, as the modern 

 fox hounds are too nervous for good coon hounds, 

 although you may get one once in a while that 

 will work a cold trail very well. 



A cross between the old style, long eared 

 hound and the fast trailing hound with large, 

 heavy shoulders, deep chest, a large fore leg, 

 large broad head, long ears, rather short coupled 

 back, slightly roached back, with a good square 

 nose, rather large neck, set well down in the 

 shoulders. While this is my kind of hound for 

 coon, do not understand me to say that I want 



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