I don'tknow what I did to do that last reply but I agree with Ben.That,s why I say, good dogs bred to work stock work best. They handle stock with finess first and brute force when finess dosen't work. They come here knowing where to be and what to do in relation to the task at hand. I have hunted every style of dog from one end of the spectrum to the other and the stock bred dogs have produced more caught hogs. They are getting extremly hard to find.
I have made the same conclusion...as most of you know I like the right mt cur...I believe that these dogs are hard to beat for locating and sticking with the track...and they will catch a hog but have a hard time setting up to catch because of the thick vegetation...they are bad about fighting the hog and I believe that their mindset is to try and kill the hog and as a result the hog keeps breaking bay....some pen training will sometimes help in teaching the dog to stop the hog from what I have seen...
As most of you have guessed by now I am not a fan of the average stock dog as a hunting dog but I see that some have the mindset to stop a hog as they would a cow or bull and bring them back to the herd and don't get me wrong...there are some good hunting dogs in the stock dogs but I will pass...but that natural ability to stop the livestock and turn it back to the herd comes from selection of these traits in stock dogs from cow dog men who breed for stock dogs...I have seen a few cow dogs that were culls as cow dogs and hog dogs because of too much gritt and I owned one...he was the perfect fit to run with my mt cur cause he sure could put the brakes on a runner and the mt cur wasn't bad himself but he had the ability to locate and stick with the track...the other dog was a cull but was one of the best I have seen to stop a hog and he was a good hunting dog as well...he wasn't my dog but when I think about good hog dogs he is up close to the top of my list...
So I believe in that inclination and mindset to stop a runner from certain dogs...
Bryant...I have had success with running one and sometimes 2 dogs in the past...just baying loose and not attempting to catch unless the hog or hogs break...gritty dogs usually only bay one hog cause they break bays and single one out...
T-bob...I have seen some good ones that were 1/2 pit 1/2 mt cur out of my dogs...about half stick close until the dogs strike and then they fall in the race...the other 1/2 make excellent striking catch dogs and most of these hunt out far and will not bark just catch...I never wanted to bring that in to my old line because it was tight bred of nothing but top strike dogs with lots of hunt and range...but it always kept crossing my mind to do it for myself and now I am making that jump...the dogs I hunt right now 3 out of the 4 need vests but the grit is not quite where it needs to be...the plan is 1/2 and 1/2 at first and then 1/4 pit and then try and maintain that...
Rednose...might try to post a picture of the dog...he is a 65 pound leggy dog that is a solid catch dog if the hog breaks will go and hunt for about 30 minutes before checking in...he is a 3rd generation catch dog is about all I know and has a touch of game bred APBT...
The gyp is the same as my old line and he grandfather is out of my yard and about a catch dog he was besides being a great strike dog...that dog was inbred from a dog named buck who was his grand father on both sides and great grandfather as well...
I have her in my yard as well as her full brother...A friend was kind enough to give me the 2 dogs because they hunted too hard too far and are bay busters...
I think the biggest problem will be that they might be caught too far away and that can become a problem but that is a choice I have made knowing that...talking about the 1/2 pits...
but I am will to go this route because the tracts are getting smaller and the fines steeper...
Halfbreed...thanks but the gyp should be ready to take a male any day now so I am moving forward with the plan...
