EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

How gentle are your dogs or how gentle do you let them be? Do you pet them when not hunting and let them out around your house? Or when you go hunting do you open the gate let em roll then open the door and stand back til they load up? I've heard a few guys say don't mess with them much and they will hunt better I realize not all dogs are the same so let's just consider answers for your average tempermented dog. Thanks

I give all my dogs lots of attention but I don't let them run around at home. When I get ready to hunt I drop my tailgate let em out an they jump in the truck.

i love my dogs just like they show it back . i let my pups run around when feeding or in the garden planting or just fill they need bonding time with big dogs.  . so if u want them to come to u when your calling them off a hog then spend time with them.  kids can play with them an pups can play with main strike dog for bonding. but i will not touch them in the woods . posion ivy sucks . i pay a kid to wash them after hunting .

I let all of my dogs out of the kennels almost daily to run the 3 acre fenced in area on my place. This is also where my house is so they interact with my kids and anybody that comes over. It doesn't affect their drive to hunt whatsoever. On that note dogs that show any aggression or scared/skittish dogs don't stay on my yard.

Gentle?...no, but do they have a handle?...yes. Most of mine will let you pet them but don't really want you to however they will roll out when told come in when called get out when told and get in here when told and walk behind my horse like a cow dog. I like to leave pups running loose at the house to get a little bond tell them and let them learn there name. I feed in my trailer so they learn to load up when told and crack a whip at them when barking during the night or getting out of line they get to understand that the crack means uh oh and this is how I call my old dogs out of the woods.

X2 on everything but the horse, but I'm about to buy one of those too.

Pet mine when I feed. I don't cut them loose till we go hunting. They are fine with people and kids but are a lil rough for my 2 year old. When we catch a hog I can put a lead on my RCD and the rest will follow me out without a lead. I figure a dog wants to please u. The more he likes u the more he is willing to please. I know my labs are surely that way. They will do whatever I tell them. My RCD don't like coming home or being on a lead or stuck in a box so when he gets loose he won't let u catch him till he's tired but he hunts the way he is suppose to.

They will all come when called...but are not pets in any way.

Dont mind a dog being a lil standoffish or cautious ....but the wild eyed coyotes are all handled the same.   >:D

I will turn them loose in the yard let them run a few minutes. I try not to be pet them to often whine hunting cause that means they are too close!!!!LOL

My two main dogs don't like to be touched or petted....however they tolerate me touching them but a stranger will never lay a hand on them! I never touch them in the woods they load up on command!

The Original Setxhogdogs

All of my dogs are babies outside the pen even my bulldog and will act on command... They love kids don't bother horses... But when you drop em in a cow pasture or in the woods and ride out on a horse they get gone some kinda nasty... My bulldog is strictly lead in catchdog that's house broke lol .... But my cur dogs go both ways cows or hogs.

Since I can remember my dad has raised BMC... I have no idea why but we only raised puppy's out of red BM gyps and every gyp we had you could pet in the pen but was not gonna touch em once the gait opened but their puppies would be nothing like that .

i show my dogs attention and pet them when i feed them, when i am suiting them up to go to war, love on them after a caught hog, when i am taking everything off after hunt, and thats it the cur dogs do not get to get out of there pen unless we are going hunting unless its a pup, the bulldogs on the other hand they get let out to only go run jump in the tank and then throw em the ball a few times and put them right back up. the reason for not letting cur dogs out cause i make them hunt there a$$ off when i dump them out of the box lol so its resting time for them in kennel lol

I pet mine around the house ...i don't let them run till i hunt ..however i do not pet them at all in the woods and if they do good on a hunt i give them a pat or two when they get loaded and tell them good job..they know to if they did good or not.lol

X2 those dogs hate to be petted lol never saw the like. Around the house I show them attention and pet them, in the woods I don't touch them they need to be hunting! Showing them attention at home hasn't affected them in the woods wanting to play or be petted ect.. I think it helps them come to you when you want to catch them up while hunting. I've saw some dogs that get loose from the box and couldn't catch them the whole hunt and waste time trying to catch them. I know its a good thing they want to hunt but when its not where you want em...

I never turn mine loose at the house.  I don't pet them at the house either.  I pet them after a hunt.  When i pull up to hunt i take them from the box on a lead and don't turn them loose till I'm ready for them to get ahead.  I like skidish but not scared to death.  Mine will come when called and load up when told. 

Now, since one of my older ones has proven himself time and time again he gets loved on a little at the house!  I've gotten softer with him in his old age, he even gets to ride inside my mega cab from time to time and it hasn't effected his drive.

Good info. I don't touch mine much cause I guess they don't like it they wag tails when they see me and come in when I call but they won't lick your hand and pee on your boot at the same time. I let them out one at a time to clean kennels and when they here a feed sack shaking they haul butt back to eat. Catch dog he does whatever he wants lay on porch, run around house, guard wife, etc but still stays in pen.

One thing I have figured out is, if a dog has the "hunt" in them it really doesnt matter what you do their gonna go hunt when dropped in the woods. They either have it or they don't.

X2 I agree

x3...

agree. The dogs that have it {hunt} peting the dogs dont make a #2. yall just have yall own 2 cent for caring for your pets ..  remember there not live stock !! thats a thing some of yall have stuck in yalls head.owell only my 2 cents..lolol 

Well I go out and mess with my dogs everyday.  May not be but a pat on the head and how ya doing then some times.   Then sometimes I will just go out and sit with them a hour are two they sure like those days . My dogs dont come out of the pens are off the chains unless we are going hunting .  Only the pups get to run the yard .  I want them to know its all business when they come out of the pens are off the chains .

X4.......I pet my dogs when I'm feeding them.....I LIKE my dogs and I want them to like me,.....I get more out of them that way seems like. One dog of mine will let anyone catch her in the woods.....the other not so easy to catch....it's taken years for her to let some of the folks I hunt with catch her when they need to. I want mine to be easy to catch by the people I hunt with. If they're running a hog and one of my bunch kills it, I don't want to have to go all the way over there to get my dogs, I want them to let my buddies bring them back to me.  As for the whip idea.....mine would come running and looking for the hog that you just shot at and be a bit chapped at you for missing it. :D

About that whip, when you have a trashy dog on your hands. Get you a little rat shot and when you catch them in the act bust em!(from a distance of corse) usually they will come to you for releaf like what the heck was that and they will remember that loud bang. after that when you pop your whip they will usually stop whatever they are doing and find you. If you tried baying and shooting over anything from my house you better make it count because they will scatter I'm sure!

As far as the other goes I agree with chad if a dog has the desire to hunt it don't make a difference what you do with them at home. However I was taught young that a dog is a tool no diff than a horse. It has a job and does it there are no free meals. Just as a tool I use them when I need them and put them away when I don't. You won't catch me in the pasture or in my barn just loving on a horse and you won't find me watching my dogs chase butterflys in my yard. It's just not how I'm made and I don't have the time.

1.  I make a habit of patting my dogs once when they get let out and not much after that.  I believe that being overexcited makes them silly and they can be hard to get rid of.  I hate dogs hanging around the table if we are outside, they are allowed to come for one pat then get told "go away".  Same thing in hunting camp, young dogs are tied up and older dogs must stay away from the kitchen area.

2.  I don't talk to my dogs much, except when giving a command.  I think it makes them listen more. 

T

I try to spend individual time with each dog.  Walk em out to the pond pet em an play with them.

I dont believe my dogs are tools. The ones that make dogs and earn it, are part of the family. When i get to the bay i want the dog to be relieved to see me, to be able to trust me and i trust him/her. Also the only one i want handling my dogs are me. I'm pretty picky, I dont want just anybody handling them.

Seen too many "tools" neglected, thrown around, and such. Thats why you hear guys say, "Dont expect your hog dogs to live very long" or "ol hog dogs are a dime a dozen"  I politley disagree, I do expect them to live long lives and I dont believe they are dime a dozen. Too each his own, I just feel like the dog peforms better when they are happy and enjoy what they do.....

Well said. I agree

My dogs see me once a day, for about 10 minutes while I feed. If they come out of their kennel, it is because I am cleaning the kennel (so they go on a chain) or because we are loading up to hunt.

My young dogs are hard to catch in the woods (if I spent more time with them they probably wouldnt be this way); my older dogs, well depending on the dog, will either jump in the truck when called (they like to hood) or will come to me when I call them. When I drop my ground dogs, they run and run and run until I tell them to come back so we can go....I dont call my dogs off of hogs, just never had to, and frankly dont know that I will be able to or will ever want to....if we are away from the truck and need to get the dogs back to where we are supposed to be, then I will put a lead on them. My dogs might follow me without a lead, but only until they smell a hog, then another race is on. So I lead them if I dont want them hunting.

It is very interesting all the different responses to this question. I had always heard "yard dogs" or "kid dogs" wont get out and hunt, but this thread proved me wrong!!!!

My dogs are tools I have 2 house dogs that are pets but the problem I have seen with people treating there hog dogs like pets is they seem to overlook the dogs faults because they care about the dog.

when I drive up from work or turn on the lights at 4am to go to work I can hear my bulldog barking at me , { dad lets go hunting} I luv my dogs , I give all nine a good petting when I feed , the bulldogs I run on the river a few miles a week to keep them fit , they luv this time , all the dogs have been in the house on the couch healing up at one time or another, I have a horse walker to walk the bay dogs on the summer to help keep them fit , I cant turn them loose because they are geared to hunt and will leave out ,they are very gentle and part of the family , for some reason ever since a little boy dogs have become very close to me ,the two i had growing up would follow me to school , lay by my bike all day and then follow me home ,my american bulldog in the house flips out every day to see me walk in the door , she dosent do this to the rest of the family , Ive herd guys say  that dog is just a slave , thats the exact oppisite of the way I feel about mine , there my friends , my family , my hunting dogs , I can go talk to them for hrs , theyll just sit and listen no matter what you say there happy , you just cant get that anywhere LOL

almost every afternoon i let mine out of there kennels. they run around play with the kids and what have ya. give them attention every day. But when we're hunting i'll only give a pat on the head After caught hog then they know time to roll back out. i used to not give a dog anything more then a pat on the head when i feed but idk guess i got soft once married and two kids later lol cause everyone plays and what not with em (unless trashed on a skunk lol)

There like any other working species . The work for you and if they do a good job pet them and praise them

I play fetch with them... roll in the flowers... they ride in my lap when we hunt... :) They either want to hunt hog or not.

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My dogs are all ad gentle as can be. This is my main dog. He will hunt his tail off. When he checks in, I pet him up and off he goes.

That would depend on what you call gentle. If you ask me then my dogs are gentle. If you ask me wife then my dogs are not gentle. My kids can go outside and may get pushed by a dog but if I have to worry about my kids getting hurt then the dog is gone.

x 2 my lead dog gets let out everyonce in awhile but i put her on a run everyother day. i pet her everytime i go out there and if she comes back to me in the woods ill pet her she will wag her tail then is back to hunting, but she has proven that she hunts and she hunts damn hard at that she is a proven dog no amount of petting will ruin her of hunting hard. although my 8 month old pup does not get let out only put on a run everyonce in awhile. i never pet him in the woods becouse he hasnt proven crap to me yet. not saying he doesnt do anything but he does not produce hogs like a proven dog. the catch dog gets let out all the time. take him with me just about everywhere i go.