Boxers and Dogue de Bordeaux

[Bigl]

Mike and I had heck breaking my little needle nosed grey hound off a pig. We had to choke her off. REALLY surprised everyone on the hunt given the long spindly little narrow snout on her.

Cheers
M

Exactly.  Most canines have the strength to bite with enough force to hold on to what ever they are biting, but its just the drive that tells them whether or not to hold on for the long haul.

and this is one thing that the boxer does have and that is extremely high prey drive!

[jhy]

If these breeds worked they would be in the woods on a regular basis.  When I first started hog dog hunting I began with a fella named Odis Weems, some of yall may know of him from Uncle Earls Bay Trials.  Anyway, I was full of ideas of new breeds to use and he told me in a very stern manner, "Cur is the best hunting dog and Pitbull is the best catchdog, period!"  Now I know that other breeds are very able to work and excel at this sport, but they are the EXCEPTION and not the RULE.

Joey

[Circle C]

Joey,

    I think as a general rule, that man was correct.

[Gangly]

I would most definately have to agree

[jhy]

He would know, he has been doing it his whole life until his health got bad and he turned his woods dogs to pen dogs.  Now he is top of the bay pen game and actually making a dollar or two off of dogs.  I have stuck to his advice for the most part, but hogs have evolved with the increased pressure and I have made changes when needed, but we all have to start at a base and go the direction that our terrain, hogs, and other factors that dictate what will work best for us individually.

Joey

[ETHHunters]

I have had several boxers and all of them were nothing but gums no teeth by the time they were 5 years old

[UNDERDOG]

The long and short of this topic is....if either breed could/would CONSISTENTLY function as woods catch dogs.....they would,can one of these two breeds do it? prolly but not on a consistent basis. If anyone had a line of either of these that could on a regular basis catch in the woods consistently the www. would know....

[Mike]

... I have seen some boxer crosses make good catch dogs, but not full boxers.

[ppc dogos]

The boxer is not very heat tolerant, most snort nosed dogs have respiration problems working in warm climate.
They are super explosive in sprints but do not have a high endurance.
I know some boxers doing okay as catchdogs in colder climate though.

[ca10j]

Also the fact that a boxer costs 1000 dollars vs the 25 dollar pit... when dogs are getting killed on a regular basis not many people are gunna risk 1000 dollars. With that said I myself use a boxer/cur. 

[warrent423]

I think jaw strength is a relative term.  I'm gonna start a huge argument here, but I dont think a catchdawg needs a ton of crushing strength, just holding strength.  As an example, a chihuahua has little to no crushing strength but he can hang off your pants legs for an hour.  For another example, look at body builders: they can lift enormous amounts of weight, but they have very little endurance.  If I had to get a hard days work done, I would chose a medium built person over a heavily built muscular person beacuse after the first few minutes, the body builder wont be able to keep up. 

Also, catching and holding is the main goal of a catch dog, not catching and crushing.  I really don't care how hard the dog bites down, as long as he holds true with the catch and doesnt let go.  With all the sharp teeth in a dogs mouth, it takes very little crushing pressure, relatively speaking, to grab an ear and hold it stationary between the jaws of a dog.  If it wanted to, most any canine could latch onto a pigs ear and hold on for the long haul, but different working venues over the past thousand years have selected dogs to do certain tasks, and a dogs genetics will tell them what do to, whether they are capable of doing something else or not.  Therefore, the jaw structure of the boxer should be more than adequate to bite an ear and hold it.  The real question is, will he be willing to ride out the roller coaster that ensues without getting scared and letting go.

Good post.

[ROCKIN ROO HOG DOGS]

I gotta agree with mike here,i believe a boxer used as a cross is fine,just like the dog pictured by gangly. The boxer can add agility and stamina but i have seen pure bred boxers with disgusting underbites and pushed in noses that cause them to vapor lock and have a difficulty breathing through the nose,when a dog is has a mouthfull of pigs ear,he better be able to breathe through his nose or he will pass out. The dog pictured abouve has a nice looking nose and jaw structure like a bulldog or pit or dogo and also the body physice typical of a boxer. I would not think twice about crossing boxer blood into a catchdog id the dog itself was a proven dog.

[Crib]

Thing about boxers, not only has the work (old bulldog characteristics) been bred out of them, but too many pillow fluffers have gotten a hold of them and promoted undersirables like poor health in the dogs. My grandad had them in the 40's. Dogs would live to 14 yrs no problem. now if you have one that lives to the age of 5yrs and is still healthy your lucky. One of my favorite breeds since childhood and I wouldnt take one for free now. Its one thing to try and restore the work ethic in the dogs, but health is also important.

[gary fuller]

heres  my 2 cents on this for what its worth. i just cant see dogues being  a breed to be used as a catchdog  just on their physical traits,ie.. size, bulk, lack of endurance etc. as for boxers , i think the best chance at getting dogs capable to do woods work would be german bred working{even though they basically are worked in protection now days) line boxers. a friend has used 2 apbt boxer crosses and liked both  till he got em killed on hogs at some point. i also tend to agree with a dog bites as hard as it wants to, but also they need the physical ability too. and just a hard  solid mouth doesnt make a catchdog. if he bites harder than anything in the world yet regrips  or swaps hold all the time then what good is he as a catchdog.

[brandeek1]

I have to say that one of the hardest catching dogs I've ever seen was a jack russell. That little sob would latch on to anything n never let go. More heart than anything I've ever seen. Then he got on chickens n had to b rehomed. He lives in Houston now in a big mansion like house.

[brandeek1]

Also the fact that a boxer costs 1000 dollars vs the 25 dollar pit... when dogs are getting killed on a regular basis not many people are gunna risk 1000 dollars. With that said I myself use a boxer/cur.

Shows what u think of ur hog dogs. IMO.