Hog dog that works cattle too

[cowboyup]

I have a young pup by young I mean 6 weeks old. I'm gonna use him for hog hunting but would also like to use him for working cattle. That being said when he gets older and I start hunting him is it possible? My thoughts are is he gonna try and work the cattle instead of hog hunting. Or will he learn with time?

[Cajun]

  I guess there are people who do it but in my opinion you will be hoghunting & your dog will go bay some cows somewhere & then you might be trying to work cows & your dog takes after a hog. I will not let anybody hunt with me whose dogs run cows just because there are cows in the woods in a lot of the places we hunt & I sure do not want a pissed off landowner mad at me because somebody's dogs got after cows. Also it could get all the young dogs after cows as well. JMO.

[Slim9797]

I imagine it takes a very smart dog to do it. My uncle has dogs as he is a cowboy and manages about 3-500 head of registered Brahman and F-1s on a big ranch. Most his dogs go both ways. He can be working cows and send them off to find a hog. But when he's hog hunting the dogs won't mess with cows. He says that they key off the cut collar. I'm fixing to try to get a dog of mine to work hogs and blood trail so we shall see what happens.


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[T-Bob Parker]

Yeah, he could be fine, depending on wether he's smart or not. If he's a good smart young cur dog, all your going to do is make him a better dog overall. A dog that takes to cow work will have better handle, be more confident and be more productive in total hog numbers once they learn that baying an animal is not a one and done scenario.

I've got young dogs who are hard casting go getters and when they've screwed up and bated cattle on a hog hunt, it's as easy as telling them NO, GET OUT!! And they simply roll off to look for hogs.

Tldr; if the dog is smart, you'll be fine, if it's a hard headed dummy, you'll be frustrated.

[lettmroll]

It can be done, but the two main factors are how much are you going to be using him and if he's got it in him.
If your not going to be using him at least four are more days a week, well it want matter if he's got it in him are not.
we've had a dog are two that could be used on cows, hogs, squirrels and coons. But they got used every almost and they new by what you yourself was doing, what they were supposed to be hunting.

[sethmcalex]

I'm with Cajun, bay up someones cattle one time and you might loose your hunting spot.  Not worth the risk to me. 

[T-Bob Parker]

Not knocking plotts in the least, but please notice both of the guys who are worried about trashing on cattle are plotts guys. If you are hualing very hard headed independent dogs (which a lot of hounds and increasing numbers of curs are) then yes, I totally agree with these two guys! If your dog is a traditional, smart, well handled cur who can simply be talked to, then it's honestly not a problem. If you are wanting to use them on cattle, then obviously you must have access to cows, just use him and teach him what get out means and you'll be fine.

Again though, if he's from hard headed or rough dogs, then your asking for trouble.

[sethmcalex]

"talking" to dogs works great if they are hunting under your feet. 

[justincorbell]

Agree 100% t-bob. Ours are around cattle 90% of the time and we dont have issues. I dont personally work cattle therefore my dogs do not work them either but very close friends of mine that have the exact same blooded dogs use theirs both ways with no issue at all. The dogs know when they are hog hunting and when they aren't.

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[T-Bob Parker]

"talking" to dogs works great if they are hunting under your feet. 

Has nothing to do with hunting under your feet. My pups may bay cows a mile away but they ain't gonna catch or chew on none of them or run them thru fences putting too much heat on em. They just find bay and stay, when I get near enough to see that they've messed up I just call them out. Pretty simple really.
After they've been told no a few times they learn what's a hog hunt and what's a cow hunt.

[bigo]

Get Out is the first thing I teach a dog, starting at about 4 weeks old. When I feed them and one growls, I lightly swat them with my cap and tell them to get out. Anything they do that I don't like, I tell them get out and make them quit what they are doing. They soon learn that get out means stop whatever you're doing right now. If they have any brains, you can call them off cows, deer, trash of all kinds and break up the occasional altercation.

[jdt]

t-bob and bigo pretty well summed this one up .


it just like always boils down to genetics , and then training .

[Cajun]

The cowdogs I have been around do have a great handle on them because the cowboys who work them for a living will not put up with anything less.  Most Plotts really do not have a interest in cows but I have heard of a few people who have put them on cows.
  The problems we have faced in the past & they were all cur dogs were baying up dairy cows in a pond & I had a friend whose dogs ran some cows thru a fence.  I dont care how nice a farmer is, just one of those incidents & you will not be welcome back. We hunt a lot of Dairy country & also out in the marsh where we hunt, there are cows. I have nothing but respect for a well trained cowdog or any dog for that matter that has a handle on it.
  The man was asking opinions & I gave him mine, just like yall gave him yours.

[T-Bob Parker]

The cowdogs I have been around do have a great handle on them because the cowboys who work them for a living will not put up with anything less.  Most Plotts really do not have a interest in cows but I have heard of a few people who have put them on cows.
  The problems we have faced in the past & they were all cur dogs were baying up dairy cows in a pond & I had a friend whose dogs ran some cows thru a fence.  I dont care how nice a farmer is, just one of those incidents & you will not be welcome back. We hunt a lot of Dairy country & also out in the marsh where we hunt, there are cows. I have nothing but respect for a well trained cowdog or any dog for that matter that has a handle on it.
  The man was asking opinions & I gave him mine, just like yall gave him yours.

Yes sir, for sure. After a few hours to think about it, I re read my words, and I'm sorry they easily come across kinda rude instead of truthful and respectful like I was trying for. My apologies.

[hyan]

My family has a ranch we had cattle kelpies the ran sheep cattle n would bay hogs tho that was not what they were for if we had other dogs for that they had a really good handle n we worked them with whistles and hand commands when working cattle n sheep so if you have a handle on them as in you know that dog will not do anything until its told then I would be comfortable with doing it but if you don't have that kinda handle then I wouldn't even try and risk it

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[C L]

I think that using dogs on both hogs and cattle is a matter of owner preference and I know of many that do this without any problems. As has been said earlier, many dogs that are used a lot learn from your actions which you wish to do that day; also, good handle on the dogs solves many problems.

Now, I also know of friends who have had their dogs get on cattle and could not get to them before the dogs were shot by the owner of the cattle. I am glad this doesn't happen any more than it does but there are incidents that have occurred. I also know that there are people who will shoot a dog that is just crossing their land. However, as in all issues, each of us should decide the approach that we prefer and consider the locale and conditions in which we hunt.