I was at a field trial last fall when a guy walked up and asked me to watch his young dog work. Ten minutes in, I knew exactly what had happened. The dog was running hard, really hard, but she wasn’t hunting. She was just covering ground.
“She’s got drive,” he said. “Just needs more time to figure it out.”
I’ve heard that line a hundred times. And I’ve watched it wreck more good dogs than I can count.
Here’s the truth: letting a young squirrel dog run wild without structure doesn’t build independence. It builds guesswork. And once a dog learns to guess, you’re starting over, except now you’ve got bad habits to undo first.
What “Running Wild” Actually Means
When I say “running wild,” I’m not talking about a dog with range. Range is fine. Good dogs need to cover ground. I’m talking about something different.
A young squirrel dog that runs wild:
- Covers ground fast but doesn’t slow down to work scent
- Barks at trees because other dogs are barking, not because they found the squirrel
- Quits when the track gets hard, or the scent goes cold
- Looks excited but has no idea what they’re actually doing
It feels like progress because the dog is moving and seems eager. But that’s the trap. Movement without purpose isn’t hunting; it’s just exercise with extra steps.
Why Hunters Let This Happen
Most guys don’t set out to ruin their dogs. They fall into it because the advice sounds good on the surface.
“Let them figure it out.”
“Dogs learn by doing.”
“Don’t interfere with their natural instincts.”
All of that is half-true, which makes it dangerous. Yes, dogs need experience. Yes, they have instincts. But instincts don’t teach a dog how to hunt; they teach a dog what to hunt. The mechanics? That’s on you.
Here’s what really happens when you let a young squirrel dog run loose without any structure:
Week 1-2: The dog is excited. Runs everywhere. You think, “Man, this dog’s got motor.”
Week 3-4: The dog starts barking at random trees. You think, “They’re learning.”
Week 5-8: The dog only hunts when they’re with an older, finished dog. Alone, they just run.
Week 12+: The dog ranges too wide, won’t slow down to work a track, and has zero confidence when the scent gets tough.
Now you’ve got a dog that looks like a hunter but doesn’t know how to actually hunt.
What You’re Actually Teaching
When you turn a young dog loose with no guidance, here’s what they learn:
1. Speed Matters More Than Scent
The dog figures out that running feels good. The wind in their face, the terrain flying by, it’s fun. But they never learn to slow down and read what their nose is telling them.
I’ve seen young squirrel dogs that would blow right past a fresh track because slowing down didn’t feel natural anymore. That’s not a lack of nose. That’s a dog that was never taught that scent work matters more than footspeed.
2. Other Dogs Are the Real Compass
Here’s a pattern I see constantly: a young squirrel dog only hunts with other dogs, and when those dogs tree, the young one barks too. Pull that young dog out solo, and they’ve got nothing.
They didn’t learn to hunt. They learned to follow.
Chuck Gaietto talks about this all the time, dogs that are “group dependent.” They look great in a pack, but they can’t think for themselves. That’s what happens when you skip the foundation.
3. Guessing Beats Knowing
When a young dog doesn’t know what to do, they start guessing. They’ll bark at a tree because it seems right. Or because they barked there last time. Or because another dog is nearby.
Once a dog learns that guessing works, even some of the time, you’re fighting uphill. They stop trusting their nose and start trusting their memory, their excitement, or just dumb luck.
And when the scent gets hard? When it’s cold, or the squirrel ran the limbs? The dog quits. Because guessing doesn’t work when the easy stuff is gone.
The “But My Dog Seems Fine” Problem
Here’s the thing: squirrel dog hunting problems don’t show up right away. They show up later, when it counts.
You’ll see it when:
- The dog won’t hunt alone
- The dog can’t work a tough track
- The dog barks at every tree in the woods because they don’t know which one actually has a squirrel
- The dog quits after 20 minutes because they’ve been burning energy, not hunting
By then, you’ve spent months building the wrong foundation. And now you’re not training a young dog, you’re fixing a young squirrel dog that runs but won’t hunt.
What You Should Be Doing Instead
So what’s the alternative? How do you build a dog that’s independent and knows how to hunt?
Start With Short, Structured Hunts
Take your young dog out for 20-30 minutes. Not two hours. Not all day. Just enough time to find a squirrel, let the dog work it, and end on a good note.
The goal isn’t to tire them out. The goal is to teach them that hunting has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And that the end comes when they do the job right.
Teach Them to Slow Down and Work
When your dog hits scent, let them work it. Don’t let them blast past it. Don’t let them guess at trees while the track is still running.
If they start ranging too wide, bring them back in. You’re not crushing their drive; you’re teaching them that drive without focus is just noise.
Ron Smith used to say, “A dog that can’t slow down can’t think.” And if your dog can’t think, they can’t hunt.
If your dog runs wild because it gets too fired up and quits too soon, check out our piece on when a young squirrel dog quits the tree too fast, it digs deeper into managing that exact behavior.
Build Confidence on Real Tracks
Don’t just turn your dog loose and hope they figure it out. Set them up to succeed. Hunt areas where you know there are squirrels. Let them find scent, work it, and tree.
Every time they do it right, slow down, work the track, tree the squirrel, they’re building a pattern. That’s what confidence looks like. Not guessing. Not luck. Repetition of the right behavior.
Don’t Rely on Other Dogs Too Early
Hunting with finished dogs can teach a young dog a lot. But if that’s all they do, they’ll never learn to hunt on their own.
I’ve seen too many young squirrel dogs that look like superstars when they’re running with a veteran and look lost when they’re solo. That’s not a young dog learning, that’s a young dog spectating.
How to Fix a Squirrel Dog That Runs Wild
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Damn, I already made this mistake,” don’t panic. It’s fixable. It’s just harder than doing it right the first time.
Here’s what I’d do:
- Scale Everything Back
Stop the long hunts. Stop running them with other dogs. Go back to basics. Short, solo sessions where the only goal is to get them to slow down and work scent.
Understanding the right timing for corrections in squirrel dog training helps prevent a young dog from running wild out of impatience or confusion.
- Rebuilding Focus in a Squirrel Dog
You need to retrain their brain. That means rewarding the right behavior, slowing down, working scent, treeing correctly, and ignoring everything else.
If they range too wide, call them back. If they bark at a tree without working the track first, walk away. Don’t make a big deal out of it. Just reset.
Running wild can lead to missed tree checks, if you’ve seen your pup skip the tree, here’s how to address it: how to fix a squirrel dog that skips proper tree checks.
- Build Their Confidence on Easy Wins
Find squirrels. Let them work real tracks. Let them succeed. Do that 20 times in a row, and they’ll start trusting their nose again instead of guessing.
- Be Patient
This takes time. Weeks, maybe months. But if you stay consistent, most dogs will come around. The ones that won’t? They probably didn’t have the foundation to begin with.
Final Thoughts
Here’s what I want you to take away from this:
Starting a young squirrel dog without structure isn’t giving them freedom. It’s setting them up to fail. And the fix isn’t more time or more miles, it’s better training from the start.
Every dog is different. Some need more structure. Some need less. But every young dog needs to learn that hunting means slowing down, working scent, and thinking. Not just running.
If you build that foundation early, you’ll have a dog that can hunt solo, handle tough tracks, and think for themselves when it counts.
If you skip it? You’ll have a dog that looks good, sounds good, and can’t actually do the job when the easy stuff runs out.
The choice is yours. But I’ve seen this play out too many times to sugarcoat it. Do it right the first time, or spend twice as long fixing it later.
Now get out there and hunt.
If you want the full foundation that applies to all tree dogs, start here: How to Train a Tree Dog