Message #188194

[uglydog]

This is one of those "funny" subjects to me, becuase as Kevin and many others state" Finished" is when they are done and can do no more for one reason or the other, dead or too bad shape to go anymore.
Most times I agree with this most times because two many times people call a dog that can afind a hog "Finished"
it needs to find alot of hogs to be finished in my Book, thats interpetation too, some people been hunting a year or two and think They have Caught "alot" of hogs, same difference, under 50 hogs is not alot of hogs. counting the pigs in the belly of a sow, don't count, and squealers are pigs not hogs.

You know any animal is always learning(including the human animal), but that does not always mean improving, so they don't quite learning until they are done.

So when they quit improving, maybe they are degressing? not doing as well as they did when they were in their prime? maybe because of injuries, arthritis, old age, cataracts or just got lazy? They may still be learning but not neccesarily getting any better than they were at a younger age? 

They very Best, Top Notch, finished to the top of their game, is what I would consider "Finished" dog to be, and then here is the kicker to that how will you know hat dog is at the top of their game, until it is past? It is now in their History.

Example: my husbands dog Sherry, OLD as dirt, still going sometimes, age has gotten the best of her, she is slow, she is grouchy does not want any young dogs near her while hunting, limps, got tumors, Eyes have signs of catracts, THE NOSE STILL WORKS better than it ever was, she can still find the ones the younger faster dogs dogs miss, if the hog will stand and bay for her she will find and bay it, and stay bayed until youcome get her, she is worn out to come back on her own now, she needs to catch a ride. I would say she is finished but not at her Best, those days are long gone.

Another example- My ugly Roo, 7.5 years Old, limps after the first hog or the first race, been consisteantly finding hogs since she was a year, I try to keep her close until she gets on something so she lasts longer into a hunt, She can and will rig it saves her legs. I like hunting her alot because she is good about getting the job done. However If I say she is Trash Broke, which 99% she is, but that one percent will come out to make a liar out of me. Is she finished? Well, I would say yes, her nose will get better but her speed and agility and temperment will only decline with time as it already has. I remember somebody telling me I should breed for longer lived dogs, well yes you breed better genetics, and sometimes it will work but dogs that get hurt, get rode hard and put up wet, as I call it with the way hog dogs sometimes the injuries contribute to health problems and shorten the overall longevity of the dog also. It don't mmatter how loose the dogs bays, it is no insurance the dog won't get get hurt or a fatality. To me a hog dog has to do what it has to do to get the job done, in order to be considered a hog dog, wether its started, getting warm, done, or finished.