Well, looks like the big question that keeps popping up on this thread and probably could easily be a different subject is
"When is the dog considered to be finished, if ever"?I thought about it for a long while and this is what I think about that.
First we have different levels of finished dogs based on individual talent.
Second, dogs mature at different ages depending on breed, strain and size of dog. It seems the larger the dog the slower maturing, this is the norm but not always true.
A finished dog according to what I have read here on this thread is a dog that is mature and a straight hog dog and does not trash. Some folks here believe that 3 to four years is the difinition of mature.
Others say that as long as the dog is learning it is not finished. I can not agree with that because then there would not be such a thing as finished hunting dogs.
If the above is the criteria for a finished hog dog then I would rather have a started dog that is 1.5 yrs old that is trash broke that hunts hard, has a good winding nose, cold nosed for tracking, but likes hotter tracks and can find a hog if there is one to be found in the woods. It will be a pleasure to hunt behind this kind of dog and it will be exciting to see him progress until he reaches his peak, exciting to see this dog out strike the mature experienced (Finished) hog dogs. We hope that these dogs die in there sleep at an old age or die at a very old age doing what they do best, baying and catching hogs... because it is hard having to put one down of this caliber at the end of the road...
Where can I find one of these?
