Now in my opinion, in order for a dog to be able to work correctly in both situations and produce the desired outcome (bayed hogs), they have to have finesse.
You are exactly right! Only I call it brains .......LOL This is a trait that not all dogs posses and most people seem to overlook it when talking about a dog.
I prefer a dog to asses the hog\hogs and then determine for that situation how much and when to apply the pressure.
In simple they need to be gritty\rough enough to stop a hog but have enough brains to know when to bay and when to bite. Nothing pisses me off more than when I see a bay dog bite or nip a standing hog.
I have gotten to watch a single dog bay a descent boar buy standing 2-8ft away and chopping but when the boar lost intrest she would nip it and spin off to the other side. She only touched the hog when he had lost respect and was thinking of moving. One dog could work a hog like that and keep it bayed all day.
This same dog has been known to eat the arm pits out of a running hog but wont catch or touch a hog that is standing
A dog with brains or finesse should know when to pull hair, when to bay and when to catch.
Longshot
