EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I have a dogo male 3-4 yrs old. I walk hunt and run him off leash, he hunts short range and makes 500 yd circle really doesnt have much of a nose and was all catch. When I first got him around a 1 yr or so ago He used to catch everything in sight, but recently he has started wussin out on big boars over 275#. He has no problem running in and grabbing smaller hogs or even larger sows but lately every time we run into "big daddy" he turns into a giant bay dog. usually everytime we run into a big boar it is not until after we have already caught 2 or 3 smaller pigs, so the first couple of times he did it I figured that maybe he was tired from catching hogs earlier that day but I'm done making excuses for him cuz other peoples catchdogs can catch all day long. Is there anything I can to do to get him to grow a bigger set of balls? In y'alls opinion is this dog smart (for not trying to tangle with a boar he thinks he might not be able to handle) cowardly (for wussin out and not running in and doing his job) or a cull? He would probably still have a place in my pack cuz he will still catch (just not big boars) except I already have help dogs and they eat alot less than him... any advise would be appreciated.

He should catch until death.  No bark. I know what I would do with him.

A catch dog that bays..  ;D.  Well if he is hunting 500 yard circles then he is getting WAY out there and could cause a problem.

Isn't a Dogo bred to be a pack dog?  I know a lot of people use them for catch dogs, but my understanding is that they were bred to be hunting in packs, not used strictly as a catch dog. I would think the dog is doing exactly what he was bred to do, catch the smaller hogs and bay and wait for help on the larger hogs.  If I am mistaken please feel free to correct me....

Sounds more like a nice, short cur dog to me.  Not necessarily a bad thing if that's what you want...  At that age I'd seriously doubt you could change how he catches much.  I'd say learn to work with it or give him to someone that could.  Even the best catch dogs need help sometimes  ;)

Will he commit when another dog gets there? If not, cull.

Agree! If you are going for a rough style of dogs that would work out good, But if he finds a hog 500yrds out there and the other dogs go to him and he decides to catch it could get ugly for the other dogs that jump in and help. I would do like noah said get another one and you might just like it ;D

in a perfect world I would end up keeping him as a backup dog. like i said in my eyes he is now the equivalent of a gritty help dog but he eats too much for me to want to keep him if thats all he is gonna be worth. Hell if I wanted a gritty bay dog with no hunt in em, I had a catahoula that I sold which was 40#s and did exactly what this dogo does now. and i didnt say he found hogs 500 yds out by himself I just said he runs around in 500 yd circles when I let em run. usually just follows the curs around waiting for a bay.

There's your answer ;D

yeah I was hoping for a different solution... something like doggie steroids that would make him have incredible hulk rage!! you wouldnt like my dogo when hes angry!!  j/k lol >:D

Will he catch hard with a second catch dog?

Send him to me! He would fit right in with my group.
I dont use a exclusive catch dog. They all jump in and help when help arrives if the hog is to big. Can be good or bad. Have had big hogs put a whoopin on the dogs. Have had big hogs that would be sprawled out with dogs eatin him up.

Different strokes for different folks.


I think he could be smart.

>>They all jump in and help when help arrives if the hog is to big

He is supposed to be the "help" that all my other dogs are waiting for.  Yes he does catch hard with a second catch dog. which is the only thing that makes me want to keep him as my backup. unfortunately for me, my family seems to have made the horrible horrible mistake of getting attached to him so I'm not sure they are going to let me just get rid of him. plus he scares the crap out of the neighbors. ;D

yeah , he is supposed to be the help makes a little difference . A in house hog dog sounds good till he gets hurt. The family  gonna get you ;D     Good luck.

If he has the family on his side he is real smart. ;)

I dont own a dogo,my catchdogs are bulldogs but i really enjoy watching the dogo videos on youtube.If you look at any of the training videos from argentina most of the dogs are baying and looking for a good opportunity to catch,when they see their chance they catch it.I thought they were straight up catching machines but upon further research and lots of watching i have come to find out they are more of a pack dog and rely on help to catch bigger hogs.He is probably a true axample of the breed to an argentine hunter and would last a lot more years backing up on a big boar if he doesnt feel confident to take him on alone,CircleC hit the nail on the head with the pack comment and im with the other guys,send him to me if it dont work out,i could use at least one dog with a brain in my pack ;D

JMO, but it seems that he is learning from your bay dogs, and is not the lead dog in your pack. You have some options that might work. #1 stop letting him hunt on the ground with the other dogs. #2 dont hunt him for a while. With some time off he might come around. #3 hunt him with a more domonant catch dog. This will sometimes get a competition going between the two males. #4 until he stops this never let him catch a small hog. Keep him on a leash until you have seen the hog, and if its not big enough dont let him have it. I personaly never let my big dogs catch small stuff if I can stop it, and I have other dogs that I only let catch small stuff. I dont want my big dogs learning to take the easy way out. Dogo's where breed smart, and are nothing like a Pit. Next time try to pick a pup out of a litter that pushes all the other dogs around and eats first. He may be a PITA around other male dogs but will always be the dog that runs in first. If the breeder want let you have pick of the litter then it would be best to wait and find another breeder that will.

Not bad... not bad at all L3 ;D  It's amazing what oneself(namely myself ;)) may have overlooked once someone else points it out.  That's why it sure is nice to have more than one point of view!  L3 is correct in that, more development is achievable, given the right psychology. 

Thanks Noah.

I dont care what the reason is, if the dog curs out...well...he wouldnt come back to my house. As far as using him for a help dog...I dont understand how someone feeds a help dog. Either you have dogs that will find and stay with a hog until the catch dog gets there or you dont. If more people would cull dogs that dont perform instead of making excuses for them and keeping them around, they would have better dogs...just my .02.

As a catch dog... he is a cull. A catch dog will catch any size hog and never back down.

But, there are tons of people that run  packs of rough dogs and don't use true catch dogs... sounds like he would fit in well with that style. Then again, he must be 100% broke off livestock.

He is a cull as a dogo.  The videos you see on youtube of dogos baying are culls too.  They are mostly just people trying to prove their number 2-eaters, and they think te dogs did good.  Vince if he is a good pet for y'all, cut his nuts and let him just do what he is good at, lounging around the house.  He is a good companion dog.

If you are hunting him solo and he is avoiding big boars then you have to think what happens if he does go to catch a bigger one and about the time you go to leg the boar your dog decides the boar is too big and lets go.....THAT can be a HUGE safety problem....I agree with Mike 100%...He is a cull as a catch dog, but for those who run gritty packs he would fit in and perform up to standards with the others......

As a catch dog it is a cull.

There is no reason to make excuses like he isnt the lead dog and such.  A catch dogs job is simple. Run to bay, catch, hold on as long as there is breath in him.  A good catch dog doesnt back down for any reason.  Dont matter if it is the dominant dog or catches small hogs or has an issue with other dogs or the hog is 999 lbs, and has teeth as long as 1000 cheetos glued togather end to end. A catch dog catches.  A dog that you have to baby may catch for a while but he will let you down sooner or later. Just hope it doesnt cost you a good dog or get you hurt when it decides to let go.

Too many good dogs out there that will catch the first hog they see and every one after that to mess with cowardly dogs.

If your family likes him, just keep him as a pet.

My 0.02

By the consensus of this post, I think you probably get the idea of what most people think.

Dogo's were bred to do three things, and do them well.  Find, Catch & Hold.  To specialize the breed, they were also specifically bred to do all this while maintaining the disposition of a family pet.

Go to http://www.dogo.org (http://www.dogo.org) and view the requirements for their hunting test.  I don't know much about the Dogo Argentina Club of America but I have noticed that for a dog to be hunt tested and certified it must do the three things I mentioned above.  No where in the breed standard is there any mention of cornering the intended quarry and holding it at bay.

As far as breed standard, I would agree with most that yours falls short.  I don't subscribe to the theory that he's learning from the curs nor do I believe that catching any certain size of hog would negatively affect his performance.  Game bred dogs love a challenge.  Uglydog, Thomas, Longshot, and several other who use the same bloodline dogs will testify that we have seen our dogs many times run past smaller hogs to get at the nastiest, meanest hog of the bunch.

I also agree with Cody, that a catchdog you can't trust is a catchdog that can get you injured.

yeah... its pretty much the conclusion I came up with as well. just wanted to get a few more opinions before I had to make a decision. all thats left is figuring out wheather to get rid of him or chop off the nuts and let him stay my dads pet. thanks for the advice everyone and if anyone knows where I can find a relatively cheap catchdog that wont be a safety concern pm or email me and let me know.

lol yeah i was thinking the same thing, he sounds pretty smart to me

That is my understanding also. There is a guy around here who hunts a pack of dogos all on the ground. They find and catch.

Plus, the dog is a result of your hunting style. The dog had to learn to bay big hogs and wait for backup or he probably wouldn't be around any more. I have seen PittXs do the same thing when hunted like that.

You have to use him like the people who run 8 cur dogs and no catch dogs. My vote goes to SMART. ;D