this last season my shock collar has not been working, so before deer hunting I sent it in and got a new one. Do you think that dog knows when that collar doesn't work?? I havn't got a chance to take him out since begining of DEC. my dad hunted him with the new collar, but nothing changed. I can't figure this out . Although... ... he does freak out during rain, thunder, or lightning storms. I know this stresses his heart, when I put him in the shed, his eyes are BULGING out of his head and bloodshot. the dog is nuts! like coonhunter22 said, i think he doesn't have much confidence as he used to. because almost every night, the first drop we would make was good, but anything after that he blew it away! nothing. normally in a hollow or loosing them in the creek. our season in closed now so I'll have to see what happens next year.!! everyone cross your fingers!!!!!

you need to work with him on staying at that tree and keep it treed.

Cnhntr

Shooting coon out to him isn't the answer. Any good dog worth the feed you pour to him doesn't need to see a coon a night. You mention shocking collars. If he's 8 years old and you need a shocking collar, you probably need another dog as well. I would say hunt him even more. Once a week isn't much for a hound and practice makes perfect. Try this.
If he quits when your walking to him, and he's still a ways off, just shut off your lght and wait him out. If he doesn't know your there, he should start treeing again. When he starts again, walk to him. Once your close enough to see what tree he's on, walk in tie him up and shine the tree, whether he's barking or not. Don't pet him, don't even speak to him until you shine the tree. If you see the coon, praise him and shoot it out if you want. If you see a hole, you have to use your judgement on that. If you think he's got the coon, praise him. If you don't see the coon, lead him to another spot ( no praise maybe even just a tad of scolding) and turn him out. If he goes back to the same tree, shock him and tell him to come on.

Two more things that might be variables to consider: The closer to january& Feb. you get, the more den trees you'll tree because the boars start checking them for the sows.
You're a little farther north, so I assume it starts even earlier there.

Second: If you dog is treeing a bobcat ( I suppose you all have those too) you probably won't ever make it to the tree. A cat will jump out 9 out of 10 times as soon as he sees your light. If this is the case, you should hear your dog barking like he's running a sight-chase over to another tree, cause that's exactly what he's doing.

Hope this helps.


GH

even with the season is over, keep running you dog, just make sure u have ur licence. we cant run dogs here unless we have our furbearing licence bought for that year.

I agree with the others, hunt him more thru the week. Don't run him just during season. I know here, we can run our dogs all year. You don't have to shoot out a coon every time your dog trees. If he isn't confident, he is going to 2nd guess himself. Make sure that you aren't being too loose with the shock collar. Some people use it more than they really need it and it can cause your dog to stop doing what it is supposed to be doing. Make sure he is really running trash be fore you juice him. Sometimes hunting him with another good hound can help to boost his hunt.

i agree with coonhunter22,and if you have another dog that will tree good let them hunt together,good luck