I'll bet there's as many ways to train a pup as there are houndsmen, and there have been numerous books written on the subject (which I'm going to try not to do here), but I'll tell you a few of the things I do for what they're worth. From the time the pup's little I try to spend as much time with it as possible. If I'm going out to hunt sheds, scout, pull last year's tree stands (that's been the latest project) or whatever, I bring them along and let them romp around. I don't think doing this adds much to their hunting ability, but I do think it makes the dog a lot easier to handle as it grows older. It sure is nice to have an easy-to-handle hound that comes when you call and doesn't have to be leashed every second that it's not hunting.
As long as I have a reliable older dog I rely heavily on letting it train the younger dog just by hunting them together. But I also livetrap coons and wild cats and tease the dog with them and then hoist them up into a tree and encourage the dog to tree. I'll do some drags for the pup with bedding from the trapped animal and hang the cage with the critter in the tree at the end of the drag. When he seems to be getting the hang of that I'll release the coon/cat and give the pup a chance to trail it. At first I may need to eventually turn out an older dog to help him out, but if he's worth anything he'll figure it out pretty quickly. Of course you gotta do a little anti-trash training as well, which I do by sternly telling him "NO" and giving him a little whack when he shows too much interest in a deer track when we're out in the woods together, and I also use a shock collar later if it's necessary.
Good luck with your pup. Let me know how it goes. I'm in the same boat, I've got a 6 month old black and tan I'm getting started now.
