Any dog trained to hunt raccoons can be called a coon dog. A well-trained coon dog can track the trail of a raccoon from pretty far away and your hunt will go much faster with a trained coon dog alongside of you. It's important to start training your coon dog when it's about five or six weeks old [source: Coby]. The time taken to train a coon dog is time well spent, as you will have a well-trained dog to accompany you on your hunting trips. You might even want to enter your coon hound into hunting competitions [source: Coon Hunters]. So let's head off to the woods and start training that coon dog.
- Train your dog to be obedient. Your dog must first learn basic commands such as sit, stand, run etc. Use positive reinforcement when training your dog. Don't be overly forceful, but when your dog does something wrong it must be punished [source: Coby].
- Take your dog for long walks in wooded areas, so that it gets used to the outdoors. Let your dog run freely in the woods and explore the new surroundings.
- Teach your dog to recognize the scent of a raccoon. Place a raccoon carcass in your backyard and let the dog go near it. Hang the carcass from a tree, because you want to train your dog to spot raccoons in trees.
- Teach your dog to find a raccoon. Hide a cage with a raccoon in it and let the dog find it. Remember to reward the dog every time it finds the raccoon. Slowly start hiding the cage in more difficult places in the woods.
- Take your dog on its first hunt. Don't expect it to be successful the first time. Remember, this is the start of a long-lasting hunting relationship.
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