EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

How many hogs struck does it take you to consider a dog finished? I know some say a dogs never finished but what I mean is when do you consider your dog a hog dog? I personally consider a dog finished when its got a good handle, don't trash, sticks with a runner, can work out a track and run it, and has found 50+ hogs, keep in mind before you cut me up too bad there prolly aint 50 hogs with in 20 miles of where I hunt .

x2...about the only thing you said that I disagree on is that you put a number on hogs caught...just a number but of course one must catch hogs with said dog before it can be a finished dog...

I call a dog finished if it meets a certain standard and if it does not meet it it is a cull...

   yep except for the numbers game I agree .  a dog that has struck , found and finished a race of 5 hogs in one area may have had 100's +  in another .  same dog just different locations .

take your dog to a place with little hog sign and see how hard it hunts

Ya I agree with that. I say cast em on no sign and see what happens.

A finished dog can be road hunted, taught to rig, and cast hunted and if he comes back we should feel confident there are no hogs in the vicinity...if the dog does not come back it is working out a track, running a hog, or has one bayed somewhere...I like to see a young dog do this by 14 to 18 months on a consistant basis...and at 2 to 3 years of age be on top of his game...in my book that is a finished strike dog that deserves to be considered for breeding purposes as well..

sometimes we have to keep dogs that are never going to be finished because they will never get past being "me too" dogs...but sometimes we keep them because they bring something to the pack like putting the breaks on a runner...but those dogs can eventually be replaced when a young dog that can do it all steps up...

there are quite a few folks who believe a dog is never finished...

A dog is a dog every dog has his day but I believe one is once you can honestly whole heartedly depend on it when going to a spot to produce a hog doesn't matter on the numbers everyone's style,  terrain, and game population are different.

I don't look at numbers of caught hogs because like said people hunt different than others some have great places to hunt and some have to hunt what they can. One mans great dog is another many cull and so on... But I think a dog is finished when you don't want to leave it at the house anymore because you depend on it to produce hogs. One that you look at first on the garmin and just really in your mind you can put that dog down on a average day and he will produce a hog over the other dogs. I think a dog learns even after it gets some age on it but it's usually going to be set in it's ways around the 4 or 5 mark.

To me it's a dog that doesn't trash, doesn't quit, doesn't leave a bay, when it leaves out its on a hog and when it returns u can honestly say there are no hogs here. I believe there are far less true "finished" dogs out there than the people that own them think. I don't have one that fits that bill. Maybe one day.


Shotgun
Arkansas

I honestly can't say I have one now as well...I need to hunt my dogs more to find out...I do believe my dogs have potential...

I got one thats what I think is finished she has found me alot of hogs and shes almost 5 I dont think she will be any better than she already is and she may be a cull to some I guess. My next in line is almost as good as her at 2 1/2 when hes 5 I think I may really have something my third dog is coming along good also. After 10 years and many dogs and $$$$$$ I am getting close to haveing a solid pack. I never had any buddies to learn from or a great gene pool of dog to work with its been a long hard road and caused a many fight between me and the wife  :-X . This last time home those 3 dogs struck a good Barr and crossed one of the worst swamps you would want to go through over 2 miles I lost them and had to drive about 7 miles around this swamp to intercept them they had been on a walking bay for two hours man I was full of pride in those two younger dogs I have always had a hard time saying my dogs are finished when I think theres room for improvement I think I have 3 good dogs not superstars but solid dogs and it feels good to go hunt behind dogs you believe in.

http://magis.to/ITckX1UHHEMlfDsPYnZLAXg

Maybe this will work if not sorry.

Well they dam sure finished that hog! Great video man.
-
In my opinion, you nailed it when you said " as good as she will ever be." From my perspective a dog is finished when they consistently perform in a particular manner under the circumstances in which they are regularly required to perform. From my experience this tends to occur between the ages of 4 and 7 years of age.

This is all we can ask for as long as who ever is feeding them is happy. Don't matter what anybody else thinks

    lol    Jason there are a couple of metal [ aluminum ]  piro's for sale just south of canton , be easy enough to throw one on top the dog box  !! .

To me a finished dog is a DEAD dog. He'll I've hunted behind finished top of the line this and that and my dogs r still the one striking and catching. So what should I call my dog. Super finished. If I had to go with plan b it's just a hog that has meet it's full potential at hog hunting and is probably not gonna get any better at what it does now. Jmo

To much bravado....what's the old saying? "A mans pride is a hard thing for a dog to live up to." Something like that.

Lots of hot air blown on this subject.

Jason Dunn...your on the right track brother.

If I can take a dog and drop it....hunt the area, come up without a strike but feel real comfortable saying no hogs were in the area....that's a dog I trust and believe in. If that same dog strikes and stays hooked long enough to bring the hog to bay...2-3 miles later....that's a dog I'm happy with. If that same dog strikes and holds the bay without the pig breaking and running....that's a dog I'm proud to own.

Finished? Whatever.....give me a dog I don't mind feeding and I'm a happy man.

I see your point...but for me a finished dog is one that meets certain requirements...more and that is great...less and it is a cull or will be used until a better one comes along...

Like it Reuben

Every one has there idea of what a dog is and should be so that is for each person to decide. I might think yours ain't nothing fancy and you might say the same of mine we are always striving to improve our dogs and the way we use them finished is just a label guys use to say they are good no dog is perfect

True there judge peel the word finished is just a label. Many people ask me if mine r finished I just reply with my dogs hate pigs they hunt find them and catch em.  I guess I just expect more out of a dog than other folks.

When you can take that 1 dog by himself to the fields and he can track, find bay and hold a hog you have a solid dog.


I have seen other guys post ^ in the past when referring to what it takes for a dog to be considered a solid or "finished" hogdog and i agree with it 100%.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A dead dog is a finished dog.

I never ask if a dog is finished. ..I ask if there lose, gritty, trashy, ect. ...everyone I hunt with will never say there dogs are finished. ..and I hunt around dam good dogs..

Finished dogs get stolen. Worthless mutts get brought home. :)


Shotgun
Arkansas

   such a politically correct world you young folk's live in these days . no wonder the state of the union   lol 

       finished =  all jammed up brotha !!!!!

To me the term finished implies that the dog will always strike never trash never give up or never lose his pray I just don't think that standard can hold up on a dog. Jam up dog is a better statement to me my dogs do good but I wouldn't say mine are ether

To me the term finished has nothing to do with how good a dog or how sorry a dog is. To me it's a solid, consistant dog, usually a 4 year old, that has been hunted hard and you pretty well know what they will do in any given situation. I have seen lots of dogs that should never have made it long enough to get a label but they were the same every time out.
  When a dog gets old and starts going down hill and unable to perform at the same level as when they were 5, does that mean they are unfinished? Someone that knows very much, at all, about dogs can still tell you what they can do in a given situation.

Hell to me they're just dogs. I got a pair of dogs that if I put them down together I can feel "confident" there wasn't a hog in the area. Some days!!! lol Some days I'd be damn proud to call em "finished" dogs... Then I'll talk good about them and we start over hahaha. I got a jammed up old dog. I like the number 2 outta him, some people prolly would cull him. He's is about as "finished" as I can see one being. He's steady, not fast, he will hold the same lope from the time you drop him till the time you pick him up no matter how long that is. He stays busy the whole time his feet are on the ground. You keep moving he will stay in the general area, you stop he will hunt out on his own. I can rig him, half ass cast him, road him. It doesn't matter how I hunt him he will always hunt. I guess some would call him finished, I just reckon he's a decent ol dog. I guess steady and consistent is what "finished" is to me.