BEEN CATCHIN A FEW HOGS

[The Old Man]

  Had a good day for the young dogs Friday, they bayed a black sow and we tied her down and left her. went back to where we had struck her and the trailed another one out of there and bayed her, she was the biggest sow we have bayed in here in a long while. She could have weighed 225, didn't weigh her though. tied her down and left her, then we went home and got 3, young dogs that had never seen a hog, (2 of mine and one of Adam's). We kept Adam's young gyp he had started last year just before summer, and took all 4 back with us and turned the black sow loose, they saw her run off and in a while we turned them after her. All 4 rolled hard down the track and bayed her up in a super thick sprout thicket with briars mixed in. Caught them up and drove around near to the big sow and repeated the process of turning her loose, they bayed her up as well. My 2 had been bear hunted 3 times each Adam's young one had not been hunted at all. Was happy with their work.
 Also started my new bulldog I had gotten last year just as I was quitting the hogs. I'd let him catch 3 shoats and then quit him. Friday he caught both sows once and the big sow the second time as well. Straight to the bay locked hard on the ear, ( used a break stick to get him off) and snapped him to a bay dog immediately after getting him off with no problem at all (just experimenting). Looks like he may do okay. He settles down real good after catching, in fact he was squealing around and I hollered at him to settle down and he hushed and laid down. Following me pretty good loose, will have to refine that some more and see about him following my mule as well. Wish he was bigger, I guess him to be 50-55 lbs. Those 3 catches he was a hit and stick sort of dog no chew, no shake, just grip. Hope it stays that way, I castrated him last week.

[t-dog]

Wow, batting a thousand there oldman. Sure sounds like those young plotts are gonna make hog dogs in pretty short order. I’m with you on the size issue. Those smaller dogs can definitely get the job done and there are definitely pros and cons to both smaller and larger catch dogs. I personally just like the bigger ones. I’m fixing to be packing one that is on the large end for game dogs but still the smallish side for what I prefer, but I’ve hunted with him already and I know me of the mad scientist behind his creation and I know he is going to be just fine.

I have something on my mind. How do you keep your dogs? What I’m getting at is do you keep your dogs in a place where you have to be able to live with them when you aren’t hunting or are they way away from the house where barking and hell raising doesn’t matter? It’s something that I’ve always had to do is live with them when I’m not hunting. I’ve never really thought about it too much until this last couple of years. Kerry made an outcross with our family of dogs and they are really instinctive dogs and very natural, easy starters, but where the crosses  differ from my dogs is in the way they think and how easy they are to live with outside of hunting. I’ve been around hounds and I know they are hard headed to a fault sometimes. My sisters got that same gene. I don’t know how I didn’t! Anyway, I’m going to hunt these two pups and give them fair shake. I really like them in the woods so far but around the house I’m not sure yet.


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[The Old Man]

With young dogs always coming on and old dogs getting too fresh we are constantly shocking and knocking, and shoot lots of bb's. They are pretty quiet generally unless I move the trailer, call the horses and mules up, or open the door on the little hunting truck.
If you count everything, we usually have near 25 dogs and if they weren't disciplined you wouldn't be able to hear yourself think. In fact I keep most all of the Plotts about 50 feet from our bedroom just so they can't get away with barking in the night and let it become a habit. The Cur dogs are just as bad maybe worse and both breeds are highly driven enough that some of them will bark through bark collars knowing they'll get a charge, they actually act like it makes them mad.
The other reasons I try to keep them quiet is neighbors, and I don't want them to bark their voice completely out.

[The Old Man]

 When I was given the bulldog I knew he came from the pound and though I didn't thoroughly inspect him I did not see any testicles and assumed he'd been castrated. Apparently he was younger than he looked because as time went by he "grew" testicles haha, I didn't figure he needed them.

[NLAhunter]

Sounds like them young dogs are wanting to work for yall sounds like the bulldog may work out too

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[t-dog]

That makes sense Oldman. I have neighbors as well. The one north of me has two white German Shepards that are about as annoying as two dogs can be. I sure don’t want to be that neighbor to anyone else. I don’t like a defiant dog, no matter the breeds these two quarter breeds aren’t as bad as the half breeds but it’s there still. For example I could get onto the half breeds and they’d just keep barking. When I’d go to get into them, they would turn and leave the gate but ok
back over their shoulder at you and give you another bark just to prove to you that they we’re going to get the last word in, they were both females so… I run all my dogs loose together during the day and at feeding time, I just say go get in your pen and they each one know what hole is theirs. They go get in there and wait for me to put the feed in their bowl before they stick their head in there to eat. I fasten the gate until everyone is done and then turn them back out. These crosses everyone are the only ones that don’t get in their kennel until I’m a hole or two away from it then they run over and get in. I have a 3 month old pup that is just my stuff and when I say go get in your pen she’s in a sprint getting there. So it aggravates me for a year old dog to not do it until I get onto them. They know to do it but are just going to do it on their time unless I force it. Sounds like a simple thing but to me it’s an alpha issue. I take it as being challenged. I don’t like having to prove I’m alpha every day.

This last year you had 4 young dogs, I think 2 out of your dogs and 2 that were out of your male or completely outside bred, I can’t remember which. Did they all turn out for you?


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[The Old Man]

  Actually I had 10 (won't ever do that again), 4 of a litter I had raised here were the oldest, one of those didn't make the cut. She did everything well but was not tough enough, have one long hard day and was done for 5 more. Her sister got ran over a couple of weeks ago, so of those 4 I have the 2 males left.
  There were 4 younger ones from Alabama out of some females I'd sold several years ago, one of them bred to one of my males, the other bred to an outside male 3 of those didn't make the cut, I was very surprised but it is what it is. The one that has made it does quite well and he is off the outside male. The two out of my male were a big disappointment due to the fact their mama and daddy were both well above average and on paper looked like a potentially great cross.
  Then there is the 2 youngest ones that are stud fee pups I have started a little late due to just not being able to get to them often enough. The female looks really good at this point, the male looks good but not as sharp as the female, time will tell. There were 16 or 17 of these pups out of 2 females and by report as a whole they have done well. With so many of them little things matter.  I'm always looking for the top end of them.

[The Old Man]

NLA hunter I always hope they do good but run them through a pretty fine strainer. The bulldog is over the hump except for one hurdle, I want to see him take a thrashin and stay caught hard.

[Cajun]

Sounds like a great hunt and some extra training for the young ones. Whether big or small, the bite is the most important trait on a catchdog. I also prefer the bigger ones but have had a couple over the years that were smaller but they had the bite.

[t-dog]

I don’t want to take this thread off course, but my size preference is for control and leverage. I don’t want the umpa lumpa (sp) but a big athlete. I had a really good dog get crippled years ago by a caught hog. The catch dog was just too small to control the head. The hog was still slinging and slashing like there wasn’t a dog caught on him. I had another boar hog out run me across a pasture with my catch dog hanging onto his ear. Once I finally caught up, the hog just came to me like nothing had ahold of him. Luckily a bay dog showed up and drew his attention enough for me to leg him without getting caught myself. They both had a good bite or either of those hogs would’ve slung them off in one of the many attempts to do it. I have several more reasons for it but that’s the main reason.

I sure hate that most all your females didn’t make the grade. Will that have an impact on whether or not you breed their brothers at some point? Anybody that’s raised many pups has had that surprised disappointment with a mating that looked so good on paper. I know I have. One in particular comes to mind and it still eats at me even though I know 100% it was the male dog at fault.


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[The Old Man]

  The one female that got ran over out of the oldest litter "did" make it, may have been the best one of my 4. That was a very even litter ability wise very little difference in them.  There were 7 pups in that litter, the one that wasn't tough enough is the only one that has been culled and as I said earlier she had all the traits just wasn't tough enough. All of them but one had bayed their own hog before 1 yr old, not solo cast but off of split races. My 4 were the only ones that had a shot at bear, and they liked the bear. So no, I would not hesitate to breed their brothers, and for that matter the other 3 females of that litter that I don't own I could breed in a pinch. This litter was a high percentage litter.  There is only one of them I haven't hunted with, the man that owns her has high standards and loves her. HaHa there's a lot of math in this thread but there are 5 of them living and have a home.
 
 
 

[t-dog]

It makes sense that the female that got ran over was the best one. If she was sorry she would probably seem immortal. Nothing ever happens to the culls or lesser ones, it’s always the best one or the favorite. At least that’s how it works around here. Those high percentage litters are one of the keys to breeding success in my opinion. I always say I breed to a litter and not an individual.


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[make-em-squeel]

good deal clue, i got my two 18 mo olds going good over the holidays as well.