Whats the youngest finished dog you have seen?

[BIG BEN]

 I seen this on CL this morning http://easttexas.craigslist.org/pet/2139368564.html and tried to send some educating information about a bulldogs teeth and how long they take to properly set. I got a very rude and disrespectful email back from them. I also seen the same number on a finished strike dog that was 11 months old. So I was wondering what is the youngest finished dog you have seen, owned or hunted with personally?

[pltx ken]

I am not arguing or taking sides to anything. But i have and have had other CATCH dogs that at a year old i am taking to the woods. If they will honor every bay and catch everytime. And have the heart to fight until the end,  i would say they are finished. There is a big difference to a finished catch dog and finished strike dog i believe. A catch dog is made to be sent into a bay or fight and catch the hog and hold until you release him. If he does that consistently and never lets you down i would say he is finished. Now i do not know the guy on the add and could care less if i do, but i am just telling you my opinion about a finished catch dog. I dont pretend to no it all and alot may disagree with me and thats fine. But that is my m/o.

[djhogdogger]

 Thats a good question Big Ben. Our oldest dog is almost 3 years old and he is a really good hog dog but i don't consider him finished because he still likes to seek out the occasional skunk or coon. LOL but we also have a dog  that is almost 2 yrs that is a really good dog who is good at winding, long range, lots of heart, will help the cd hold and has been pretty much the same since he was 1 yr. but he doesn't roll out and he also likes skunks and coons. LOL  We started him in the woods at 6 months old. But I would say that it depends on the persons deffinition of " a finished dog".

   If a finished dog is a dog that will find a hog, has lots of bottom, will hold, roll out and completely trash broke, no dog or human aggresion, .... I don't think that I've seen many but the few I have seen were at least over 2 years. But you also have to consider the fact that different breeds mature at different ages.

   Im not sure that you could generalize an answer for how old a dog should be before you can consider it finished.

[chainrated]

A dog that you can count on to consistently produce hogs and bay ahead of the other dogs most of the time is gonna be about 4 years old IMO...    You can catch hogs with 1, 2 and 3 year old dogs but that sure enough dependable dog day in and day out is gonna be at least 4...

[cward]

A dog that you can count on to consistently produce hogs and bay ahead of the other dogs most of the time is gonna be about 4 years old IMO...    You can catch hogs with 1, 2 and 3 year old dogs but that sure enough dependable dog day in and day out is gonna be at least 4...

If you are going to tell everybody what I'm going to say then I'm not going to post!LOL
I agree!!

[BIG BEN]

A dog that you can count on to consistently produce hogs and bay ahead of the other dogs most of the time is gonna be about 4 years old IMO...    You can catch hogs with 1, 2 and 3 year old dogs but that sure enough dependable dog day in and day out is gonna be at least 4...

That is exactly my thinking also.

[Reuben]

I have seen a few that by 1 yr. of age were very good hog dogs and by 2 were pretty much finsished.

I say at 1 yr. I am just comparing their talent to other decent hog dogs. But at 2 yrs these dogs were very good and actually continued to get better with age as they aquired more experience.

To me hog dogs at 10 months should be showing lots of potential and at 14 months are doing real good and at 18 months are not finished but close and at 2 yrs are about finished. To me this is how a well bred hunting dog progresses. They should continue to improve until 3 or 4 yrs of age.

Catch dogs could be 1 yr or 2 yrs depending on the dog.

[LionandBoarHunter]

I have seen a few that by 1 yr. of age were very good hog dogs and by 2 were pretty much finsished.

I say at 1 yr. I am just comparing their talent to other decent hog dogs. But at 2 yrs these dogs were very good and actually continued to get better with age as they aquired more experience.

To me hog dogs at 10 months should be showing lots of potential and at 14 months are doing real good and at 18 months are not finished but close and at 2 yrs are about finished. To me this is how a well bred hunting dog progresses. They should continue to improve until 3 or 4 yrs of age.

Catch dogs could be 1 yr or 2 yrs depending on the dog.

X 2 I AGREE

[Reuben]

Sometimes a pup is born that will do things at a very young age that are amazing to the observant and they might even start hunting at 4 or 5 months of age. With the right handler these pups can be a fairly good hog dog at 10 months and be a really good dog at 1.5 yrs of age. Usually, these are once in a lifetime dogs and if we are lucky might have 2  in our lifetime.

I am always on the look out for these pups and would like to stumble on to one of these one day. These type of dogs usually are not for sale.

No matter how good this dog is at a young age it is not a finished dog but the bar will be set higher for this dog as compared to other finished hog dogs.

[Bo Pugh]

yea i seen a puppy about 8 months to a year old that was just about as good as most old dogs, he found and bayed 2 hogs his self the first time in the woods, he wasnt my dog but he was one of them that would make you question most finished dogs i tried to buy him everyday from that boy that had him until the gator got him. so i think " finished " is just gonna be according to the dog

[BIG BEN]

 Ive been thinking alot on this, is a dog ever finished? I mean does a dog ever get to the point that he/she cant learn a new trick or better way of doing something when it comes to hog hunting? This type of thinking has me decided that a dog is never finished until its retired. I think that the word FINISHED shouldnt be used towards a hunting dog the better term would be seasoned. JMO

[sfboarbuster]

I'm with chainrated, a finished dog is usually about 3-4.

But i'm very impatient with dogs, i want them consistently doing it at a year.

[DangerZone]

A so call finished dog is left too so much interpretation by whom ever called the dog finished, guy #1's finished is not the same as guy # 2's,,,, But I gonna go with Ruben and L&B hunter cause it makes me feel better about 10&12 month old dogs I have.....lol

[Bo Pugh]

and you know never ever never bragg on a dog, it will make you look like a complete idiot.

[sp]

Have a cat gyp that would find her own hogs and bay her own at 9 months.  She is over 3 now and not even close to being what you would call "finished".

[Monteria]

I had a "finished" 11 month old dog once. At 11 months it would tuck tail and RUN from a pig, so I "finished" him!

Best dog I have ever owned was only 1.5 before he got "finished" by a rattler.

Other than that, I have never seen a young, "finished" dog.

[cward]

Ha Ha!

[coyote hunter]

16 months old  bought him in tuttle ok   still got him  goin on 2yrs now

[jwdeltx]

I didn’t know that a hard hunting gritty hog dog lived long enough to be called truly finished!! All the best dogs I ever owned the boars got. HUNT’UM UP!!!

[TShelly]

I've seen 16-18 month old pups that were more finished than most people's "Finised dogs"... It all varies from each individuals personal opinion of what  is 'finished.' These pups I talk about were the type you drop them and your catching hogs til they got tired which usually took all day. We were catching 6-8 hogs with them before the old dogs even had a chance to start hunting.  Thats not to say they wouldnt trash on a coyote or deer occassionaly. Out of those dogs only ones still living as a 2.5 yr old, whose currently crippled. You're lucky  to raise the ones that start so young, something always ends up happening to the great young ones!!