We use the term hog hunting, but actually the folks who use cur dogs are not using a hunting dog, but a stock dog. When you use them to find hogs they are actually working loose/ feral livestock do there should not be that predatory instinct of hunt for the weak. Now of course you will have slip ups with pups but that should get worked out pretty quick. If you were using a pack of curs/ stock dogs on cows that got out and they kept catching out on the calves you would not be happy and that is how I feel about the hogs. I don'tind it every now and then but if they continue to do it after you have given a good effort to break them of it then they are culls even if you are killing the hogs that you catch. The reason curs make the best hog dogs is because hogs are livestock and it takes a stock dog to work them properly especially when you bay up a sounder. They should do nothing but circle and bark to hold them in place and do nothing to break them. If they do break they should stop the lead one and bunch them up again, not catch out on piglets and camp out with them while the rest of the herd gets away. If they do that then they aren't finished and could possibly be culls. That is just my opinion, but I believe a lot of cur dog men would agree with me 100%.
Reuben,
That is the exact method I told PLP to use to see if it would line them out after we hunted on Sunday.
I agree X 10,000
If you have a dog that is targeting the weakest, or hunting out of hunger, or so called pre drive. Your dog is working for the wrong reasons. They should be working due to instinct that has been bred into them over 100s of years. Dogs are a long way from the wolves they originated from. Cutting horses have instinct to work cattle. Trust me when I tell you that instinct might be rooted in some primal survival trait but it has moved WAY beyond that. It is much more than that now. Same goes for working dogs.
Not trying to call anyone out but most of the first page of responses I completely disagree with. It was a breath of fresh air to read the response from JHY......
Shoat catching out of a sounder is a big time hog dog sin for me. It is a serious issue that I do not want to get started in my pack. The best way to deal with it is to start with stock bred dogs that have livestock working instinct. That instinct will drive them to want to keep the bunch of hogs together, IE they wont want to catch the shoats. Cur dogs have good strong livestock working instinct. Bird dogs, bull dogs, hounds....all breeds that will water down stock working instinct if crossed into Cur dogs. Since you are talking about dogs you already have, this is more valid for the future but perhaps worth mentioning anyway.
One thing I like to avoid is working young dogs on penned up or tethered shoats. I know it is fun to do. I have done it allot. But the more I do it and see it done them more I dislike the practice. A man might get by with doing it a time or two but why risk it. If you don't want them to mess with pigs or shoats don't start them on pigs or shoats. If they are not mature enough to start on a grown hog they are probly not mature enough to start to begin with.
The next step is to not run your dogs with dogs that are shoat catchers, just like you would not want to run em with dogs that are trashy in other ways. It is simple and easy enough to do if you are diligent...... but most people aren't. That means culling the chronic shoat catching dogs you have, not hunting with people who run shoat catching dogs, and screening the dogs you allow other invited guests to bring on a hunt with you. This can be hard to do. Most people don't identify shoat catching as a problem, They wont understand why you don't want them to bring ole so and so along again. and its a tricky situation to tell your buddy you don't want him to bring his shoat catching dog along on a hunt. Its even trickier when that buddy with the shoat catching dog is also your dad. haha. Trust me on that one. I cant tell all I want but the listening part is not always there.
Sometimes where hogs are pressured allot and are really spooky they will be conditioned to scatter as we all know well. It is not their natural instinct, it is a learned behavior resulting from hunting pressure. Their natural instinct is to bunch together. Often times when they scatter, the sacrificial shoats are in the rear or straggling behind. This creates a dilemma of sorts and sometimes catching that straggling shoat is unavoidable. But ......Dogs catching a solo shoat, and dogs singling a shoat out of a group are two different things. The trick is being able to tell the difference. Usually there will be a race before the shoat is caught if it was running solo or if the hogs scattered before they were bayed up as a group. However, If you had a solid bay with hogs chattering and then next thing you know, a shoat catching ensues, that is a bad sign.
I would not recommend killing the shoat. The best way I've dealt with shoat catching is to tie the shoat, tether it to a tree, and make them leave it. Don't be scared to whip them off of a tied hog....... unless they are sorry to begin with it wont ruin them. This is also a good way to encourage them to roll out.
I've got an idea of a way to train against shoat catching. Work dogs in a pen with one tame hog (big worn out boars are cheap at the livestock auction) and a bunch of wild shoats. Let the dog work a bit and then walk though the hogs and when the wild shoats scatter and run around make the dog bunch them back up with the tame hog. If the dog tries to catch a shoat, knock them off and make them bay and bunch the group again. If they have even a trace of stock working instinct it should not take them long to learn the proper way.
Hope this helps, and don't be fooled into thinking you should be lucky they caught anything. You will be much happier if you can get your dogs working properly.
Waylon
