Opinions wanted - On catchdogs performance

[Noah]

I will say shook off and turning loose are two very different things!

Good point.

I look at it like this... imagine a professional boxer that's used to gettin' his face knocked in for yrs and yrs... then one day somebody walks up behind him whilst he's in a fight and hamstrings him with a razor blade...

"Why'd he stop boxing???"  ..... "he's a fighter... he should have kept fighting"  the crowd said...

"new sensation"? .... takes time for most creatures to learn to tolerate pain from unexpected angles...

[INABs]

Once my bulldog gets there all my other dogs jump on and a bulldog that would come lose of a bad boar would get all my dogs wrecked.  Self preservation in a catchdog is unacceptable.  But cudos that he went back in there and caught but he thought about it and it is what it is.  

[sfboarbuster]

I agree with BoarNinja and Noah.

I have never owned a "catch til i'm dead" CD. My cur dog that I lost a week ago was the closest I have had to one, but if he got wrecked he would back up until I got there and he would give i another shot. He was smart enough to not take a beating if he didn't have to. Before I had him it was usually just two or three gritty cur dogs, and i've had to play catch dog a few times but hey i'm still alive.
Personally I wouldn't want one that hangs on til it's dead, THEN YOU JUST HAVE A DEAD CATCH DOG!!!!
If it comes down to it i'll give it a try or just shoot the dang hog.

But hey, that's just me talking

[Scott]

It's those ones that won't "hang on till their dead" that you ought to be concerned with. I don't need a "smart" bulldog. It's nice to speculate that the dog wouldn't quit on you in your moment of need...but if they quit once...they'll quit again.

If you're talking bulldogs...lack of self preservation is their defining quality.

[BarrNinja]

It's those ones that won't "hang on till their dead" that you ought to be concerned with. I don't need a "smart" bulldog. It's nice to speculate that the dog wouldn't quit on you in your moment of need...but if they quit once...they'll quit again.

If you're talking bulldogs...lack of self preservation is their defining quality.

I thought we were talking catch dogs but I hear a bulldog will catch one too.

[jesse]

will they i wount 1 he he

[duece24]

like what was said before, getting shook off is one thing, quitting cause of pain is another. quitting cause the cd got hit funny just inn't good enough. i'm not going to say that i would cull him, but he wouldn't be my number 1 anymore. maybe i'm nuts but i want my cd to catch till he's dead. that is his job to catch hogs and hold till i tell him "caught hog". my bay dogs should back up if the hog is too much for him. i don't mind a gritty/smart bay dog. if they can catch the hog GREAT! if that hog is too mean for them i need that bay do to back up and keep him there till the "calvary" gets there. the cd has one job and that is to run to the bay and catch. if the he is able to make it to the hog he needs to catch that ear, snout, jowl and keep him there..if they can't do that then i personally don't need them.

[BarrNinja]

like what was said before, getting shook off is one thing, quitting cause of pain is another. quitting cause the cd got hit funny just inn't good enough. i'm not going to say that i would cull him, but he wouldn't be my number 1 anymore. maybe i'm nuts but i want my cd to catch till he's dead. that is his job to catch hogs and hold till i tell him "caught hog". my bay dogs should back up if the hog is too much for him. i don't mind a gritty/smart bay dog. if they can catch the hog GREAT! if that hog is too mean for them i need that bay do to back up and keep him there till the "calvary" gets there. the cd has one job and that is to run to the bay and catch. if the he is able to make it to the hog he needs to catch that ear, snout, jowl and keep him there..if they can't do that then i personally don't need them.

I can respect what you say hear. Most of my buddies feel the same way. Hell, I use to feel the same way. Send me your culls if they cant keep a big hog anchored until they die. I will save you the cost of culling him and Ill give him a try.

[hoghunterdfw]

I would not cull him for this one isolated incident.  Every dog is going to have a bad day and hopefully that is all this was is a bad day.  This may never happen again and he could be the best cd you will ever own?  Only time in the woods will tell.  I had a cd I would consider great get thrown 10 ft in the air and when he came back down he didn't go straight for the hog he circled around and got a run at him from the side and caught the ear.  All dogs are different, but prior to this if you thought he was a good cd I would keep him.  If this happens again then I would start looking for a new one.

for once I agree with leonriverboy. it was the dogs first time getting cut like that, and he made up for it with good effort in the end. keep him in the woods and don't even consider replacing him unless he does it again.

[raider54]

I would not cull him for this one isolated incident.  Every dog is going to have a bad day and hopefully that is all this was is a bad day.  This may never happen again and he could be the best cd you will ever own?  Only time in the woods will tell.  I had a cd I would consider great get thrown 10 ft in the air and when he came back down he didn't go straight for the hog he circled around and got a run at him from the side and caught the ear.  All dogs are different, but prior to this if you thought he was a good cd I would keep him.  If this happens again then I would start looking for a new one.

for once I agree with leonriverboy. it was the dogs first time getting cut like that, and he made up for it with good effort in the end. keep him in the woods and don't even consider replacing him unless he does it again.

X2

[duece24]

my thing is the next time he does it you may be running in to leg the hog and just as you get there he gets hit wrong and quits on you. then you are looking a pissed off hog that has not dogs on you. now you are up a tree and you can't "slap the sense back into them". there is a reason they call hogs the poors man's grizzly..lol. if i ever get any culls boarninja i'll send them your way...lol...if you have any culls give me a buzz as well...lol

[hoghunterdfw]

I don't really think its a good idea to hunt with just one catchdog, always use 2. so, even if it did happen again, you don't have to worry about it. i have gritty curs anyways and usually send my catchdogs in from  200-300 yards away so I can't imagine a caught hog becoming uncaught just as I go to leg him. not after he's been caught for over 5 mins cuz even if one catchdog is MIA, you still got 3-4 curs and another catchdog still on him.

[UNDERDOG]

X2

Raider I fugured you would agree being as the same sorta thing happened to you recently.

I am with all the folks on the "cull" side,a true catch dogs job is to catch the hog peroid, not get smart and wait for you or what ever,catch and catch till you need him to let go. I also agree if this type of thing happened to the dog or like raiders dog it could happen again at the wrong time and get someone or dogs hurt. If I wanted dogs to wait on me and catch on command I would go back to some old rough azz cur dogs but I enjoy my bulldogs and like them but will cull a quitter.....just my oppinion tho,if a dog suits a man and he is feeding it it all comes down to what the mans own perception of good is and his expectation levels.

It's those ones that won't "hang on till their dead" that you ought to be concerned with. I don't need a "smart" bulldog. It's nice to speculate that the dog wouldn't quit on you in your moment of need...but if they quit once...they'll quit again.

If you're talking bulldogs...lack of self preservation is their defining quality.

X2...

my thing is the next time he does it you may be running in to leg the hog and just as you get there he gets hit wrong and quits on you. then you are looking a pissed off hog that has not dogs on you. now you are up a tree and you can't "slap the sense back into them". there is a reason they call hogs the poors man's grizzly..lol. if i ever get any culls boarninja i'll send them your way...lol...if you have any culls give me a buzz as well...lol

Pretty much what I was typing while you were....if you ever ran into a bay and a CD has decided to quit for what ever reason it ain't a good feeling    a cut down inable to continue is different than one who quits and the decides to go ahead back in there.

[Cull Buck]

Everyone, thanks for the opinions.  This has been a very interesting read.

In about a month he should be ready to give it a go again so we'll see what happens.  Someone asked if I would be 100% confident going behind him again and my answer would be 100%.  The only reason I still have complete confidence in him is I'm almost positive he never got the ear when he was first cut.  It was a hit, split second scuffle and then whining.  In my hard head, getting smashed and having your back leg dang near half way severed by a big boar (that had obviously been dogged before judging by his torn up ears) and acknowledging the pain is different than catching and letting go because of pain.  When he went back in on this hog it cut thru his vest and gave him a 3" rip on his shoulder.  He never reacted to that cut/poke and was the last dog to come off the hog.  Had he been caught and let go my confidence would be shot.

 

[BarrNinja]

my thing is the next time he does it you may be running in to leg the hog and just as you get there he gets hit wrong and quits on you. then you are looking a pissed off hog that has not dogs on you. now you are up a tree and you can't "slap the sense back into them". there is a reason they call hogs the poors man's grizzly..lol. if i ever get any culls boarninja i'll send them your way...lol...if you have any culls give me a buzz as well...lol

Deal! But I never said that I would cull a catch dog that “would” kill himself keeping a big hog anchored. I just said it wasn’t a requirement as long as he didn’t sacrifice me in the process! This arrangement may not work out as good for you as it will for me. lol

I have never been around a catch dog that I had 100% confidence in. Im sure I will be spoiled to em if it ever happens though.

[chainrated]

I can't speak for any other breed of dog but a bulldog should be held to a higher standard just like a linebred cur dog. I will cull every cur dog that I raise off the line I hunt that doesn't live up to that standard. I don't think it should be any different with a bulldog. Years of culling made them what they are and yes of course there are some sorry ones out there and that will never change. The same arguement can be made about bulldogs as it is with good linebred cur dogs. The only way to get consistency and dependability and raise your percentages within a line is to be honest with yourself about them and cull hard. But In the end Cull Buck it's your dog and all that matters is that you are happy with him. I certainly don't blame you for giving him another shot

[BarrNinja]

I can't speak for any other breed of dog but a bulldog should be held to a higher standard just like a linebred cur dog. I will cull every cur dog that I raise off the line I hunt that doesn't live up to that standard. I don't think it should be any different with a bulldog. Years of culling made them what they are and yes of course there are some sorry ones out there and that will never change. The same arguement can be made about bulldogs as it is with good linebred cur dogs. The only way to get consistency and dependability and raise your percentages within a line is to be honest with yourself about them and cull hard. But In the end Cull Buck it's your dog and all that matters is that you are happy with him. I certainly don't blame you for giving him another shot

I can support this totally.
The problem I personally have with "Catch Dogs" is that I haven't fully figured out what "my" standard is yet. I will admit that I havent had the same thought process and high standards with CD's as I have with curs. I use to have that "dime a dozen" attitude with them but not anymore.
Keep us updated on him Cullbuck.

[T.C. 75925]

I think that since that was his first serious cut he didnt expect it when it happened and didnt understand, it kind of surprised him.  He went back and caught the hog after you got to him and "calmed" him down.  I think he will be ok to keep hunting.

[Nickjones]

I never cull a dog the first time they do something wrong. My main catch dog came from a buddy that sent her into a bay one time and she didn't catch. The day i bout her, for twenty five dollars, i took her hunting and caught four hogs with her. Just give him another chance. But watch you a$$. I would be sure to take another cd with u.

[Bump]

My question is.....What did you tell him in your pep talk that he gathered himself and went back in? Was it like a Rocky Balboa deal