EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I developed this opinion years ago on how to tell if I have a good dog...first...I feel the excitement of the hunt because I know what my dog can do...because when I take this dog hunting and I know if there is a hog in the woods he will strike and run a track, and then he brings the hog to bay and I walk in and shoot the hog...

If I don't feel the excitement I know he is on the replacement list...

you guys that are new to hunting dogs and the sport make sure to analyze you dog/dogs honestly and only breed the ones that make the grade...no excuses...no rose colored glasses...the terminology is called kennel blindness...this even happens to breeders that have been around a while...

How do you know you have a good strike dog??? And how do you know it is just one dog making the whole pack shine??? that one dog gets killed and what will you have...just good questions to ask yourself...

Good post!   
 I'm afraid that you should have put on the dog trade, to get many young guys to read it.    Lol

i would think if the dog could do the job by him self , he might make a good one. striking and baying it . he or she shouldnt need any other dog to help

When your hunting buddies want you to bring your dog everytime LOL  ;D

Reuben, I agree with you. It's that rush you feel. When you just know your gonna get on pork. I can only get that feeling when I'm behind a really good dog. Takin pups to the woods is like.... Well, maybe we'll get lucky, but when you have a proven dog in front of you, whether it's yours or someone else's, you just get that feeling, the anticipation. That's what is so addicting about this sport, once you've experienced that feeling, it's done! Lol

Exactly

I would say when you can take that dog by him or herself with a cd or gun whatever you prefer and constanty and consistently catch hogs.

x2...I didn't make it clear when I started this thread...but I was actually talking about taking that one dog by himself...

When I hunt a dog, I look for the bad things he does not the good things because the good things is what he's bred for. Thats what he's supposed to do. When the time comes that I have to look hard for the bad things, then I call them a good dog. Some people only see the good things a dog does and lets one good thing wipe out the ten bad things he did. The old kennel blind trick.

exactly!!!

      I'd say the best way to know when you have a good strike dog would be when after hunting with the dogs in numerous different area's and properties he is still producing hogs constantly. In my honest opinion that is the real test. For instance, I had a lease between nome and sour lake for 19yrs.....we hunted it 2-4 times weekly for quite a while, (thick woods and pine rows) myself and my good friend could bring our dogs out there and consistantly catch at least 1 hog every hunt.......having a place like that will spoil a person bad if they aren't used to hunting other areas. We do not have that lease anymore, I now hunt a few small properties around the china area where the hogs run and run and then they run some more..........

        My entire reason for posting all of the above was an attempt to make this point.....A truely good strike dog will produce pork no matter where he is hunting or how bad the hogs run but in order to know what you really have I believe that you need to hunt multiple different properties to get a true straightforward assessment of your dogs.

I like the statement about getting invited back. My dogs use to get me that. Opened a lot more hunting opportunitties for me.
A good strike dog has an uncanny ability to know there is game around (I say game because this goes for other dogs to like coon dogs) and where to go find it. Not sure but would assume the brain to nose factor plays in (duh) but what I mean is read maybe airflow or something. Another thing I have noticed in good strike dogs is a certain intelligence that controls their drive.
Some dogs just act like crack heads until they find that hot track. Good strike dogs are real deliberate in their moving through the woods.
A real strike dog is something special. A lot of dogs can strike game but a "strike dog" once you've owned one sure raises the bar. 

I see some very good logic in these posts...I will also add that some great strike dogs are laid back and calm but in the woods they know how and where to find the pork...laid back until the tailgate drops... :)

  When you make sure someone gets their hand on the dogs collar at the bay, cause your tired of catching hogs and ready to go home.

Agree

I say this because to be honest in one way or another evrysingle person that owns a strike dog is biased toward their dog so when its other people with dogs telling you to bring him/her so we make sure we catch hogs i think that is the sign that your dog is the real deal.
I also agree that you need to test them in other places and terrain. For instance my hogs run and run and run i catch hogs but not the numbers like other if you catch one a hunt you are doing awesome. People have to told me on this site get new dogs or you need this if they cant stop them and i went to a place with a guy on here to prove a point and same dogs 50 miles way from where i hunt produced 4 hogs for us in 3 hrs time. so until you test your dogs in the worst of the worst place you cant say they are truly JAM UP!!!

When your buddies are griping at you to catch your dog before you catch the hog cause you've been hunting all night cause the dog ain't go no quit. Or when they call and ask you to go hunting and they ask if your bringing your good dog.

Could not have said it any better!!!!

When their bark means they are looking at a hog, and when they load up when I tell em, and for sure when they doo doo in one area of a kennel!!! To be honest it doesnt take much to make me happy I am in this sport to have a good time, and If I like a dog I breed it (young or old) but no one ever knows because I dont give puppies to public!!! I just want a hog dog to find a hog and have as good of a time doing it as me!!!

A good strike dog finds hogs when the other dogs can't they will have a lot of hunt as in you don't see them and it don't matter if the pig runs one mile or 20 it will bring it to bay as far as silent I don't care if it barks every step of the way as long as it don't quit is what I call a good dog

The reason I started this thread is because I have seen folks that are high on a dog that I wouldn't feed much less breed...That is why I said a good dog is one that can be taken to the woods "ALONE" and run a hog until it comes to bay whether it is done in 5 minutes or 5 hours...then we have the choice to walk in with a bull dog or 2 or a gun to shoot over the dog...if you have a hog dog like that then you have a real hog dog...

I reckon one of the main reasons why some hunters think they have a good dog is that the dog stays busy and is hunting but never really finds a hog but when another dog strikes this dog will follow the strike dog until the hog is bayed...another reason is that the dog will follow the strike dog to hell and back but will not hunt without a good dog to follow around...

The dogs I described are good me too dogs...I always have said that there are good me to dogs that can add something to the pack but it is much better to have a good strike dog that is an all around hog dog...especially if it has good breeding behind it...because this dog is a good hog dog and can also be bred and this dog can produce hog dogs when bred to the right gyp...instead of having one or 2 dogs that are of breeding quality with 3 or 4 me to dogs that make up our pack of hog dogs we can have 5 or 6 good to great hog dogs that are worthy of breeding...it is better to have more options and flexibility when it comes to breeding...as we all know...it costs the same to feed a me too dog as it does a top quality hog dog so we should be evolving towards excellence...

quite a bit of what I have learned about working dogs and hunting dogs has been through trial and error and spending lots of money on magazines and books...but this forom right here just about has all the info we need for just about any question we have that pertains to dogs or most anything else we need information on....and the best part is that it doen't cost a dime...   8)

everyone...thanks for posting what you believe is a real hog dog when you are out in the woods with a good pack of dogs...

Good topic
When do we get to hear more of the progress of your pups?

ok...but not much to report...