EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I have an AB gyp close to a year old. She just started catching about a month ago. Problem is, she wants to puppy fight before grabbing. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on correcting this. I don't know if she will come out of it with age, I just don't want her to form a bad habit.  A friend of mine had a petbull that did this and it use to get a lot of dogs cut.

does she do it on small and large hogs alike?

I never put her on an extremely large hog, because she just started. I put her on 120,90 and 40 pound and did the same with everyone. Granted this is the only 3 times she caught. She will run up, stop and puppy fight for a few seconds than grab behind the neck.

Sounds like it's time to put her on one a little bigger with an attitude that'll thump her a little.

x2

The dog isn't a year yet, I'm don't want to ruin her by something to big. Do ya'll think I should let her get a little older? I'm used to having pits, never had this problem.

Seen it a couple of times try playing tug of war with the dog. He will catch on soon enough.

I'll try ya'lls advice. Just don't want her to make a habit out of that.

i would give her a little more time to mature and try using another dog that will catch with her she will figure it out i woundnt put her on to big of a hog and get her hurt i hav seen people do that and it ruins them

I may be way off base here, but I figure if the dog is old enough that her teeth are set, and she is turned on enough to catch 40, 90, & 120# hogs, that if she can be ruined by a big hog, then she was not meant to be a catch dog anyway...   I can understand putting her on a big hog first, and ruining her, but she is catching decent sized pigs, she knows what her job is, now she needs to do it.

Just the way I look at things.  If we were talking about a cur dog instead of a bulldog, then I would have a different opinion, I just expect more of a bulldog.

Most of my experience is with pit dogs, and I know that if you push them to hard when they're young they may end up just quitting on you. They may not quit at that moment, but there is a good chance it will come back to bite you later on.

I agree with this 100%

I follow you, I'm just looking at it from an ex game doggers perspective.

Beejay,

   I don't know jack about game dogs, and I know just enough about hog dogs to keep me in trouble.. That said, at what age to you expect your "game dogs" to walk the walk? 

You saying your game dogs would quit on you? I thought real game dogs were supposed to be "til death do us part" kinda dogs?

Wouldn't start them until at least 16 months.

"Till death do us part"lol  You would be suprised how few truly deadgame dogs they have. I would venture to say 1 in 500, maybe even fewer.

Krystal, most of the old time game dog men would not even put a tooth on a young dog untill 16-18 months old,they needed to be mature enough for the "work"   Now the thugs that we see in the media start jackin w/ the dogs way too early w/o any knowledge of the out come of there doings nor any real goals w/ the dogs in the end.

I have a americanbulldog dogo cross I had her catchin littel hogs sence 4 months. As she gets older I make the pigs bigger she 6-7 months and about to be on 120 pounders.  It's to each his own

Thanks Underdog, I know you understand what I mean. Whats your opinion on this dog, what should I do?  Its not the catching that has me worried, its the few seconds of puppy fighting right before she grabs. As I said, I've seen an older petbull do this and never came out of it. It just worries me.

Everyone who has posted on this subject has caught plenty of hogs and knows what you are talking about as far as the catching. There are only a few im sure that knows the other subject you are talking about.

Yeah I know, I only have hog dogs now. I don't even own a pit, sometimes I get carried away and refer to types of dogs I'm familiar with. I try to look at any form of bulldog the way I look at pits and my assumptions aren't always correct. Thats why I'm try to get ideas on this dog.

What I am not understanding is why have we been talking so much about pitbulls and gameness and such yet you turn to an AMERICAN BULLDOG to catch with????  If you are so knowledgeable on all the good bloodlines of "true" pitbulls why dont you go get one???  Just a thought

Had a good one get killed last year, AB was free. Now does that make sense.

In my opinion, you're not dealing with a "gamedog"  or pit, so you can't expect it to act like one.  You're dealing with an AB, expect it to act like one.  (yeah I know, somebody has an ab that started so young it wasn't even dry yet). You say that the dog is puppy fighting before it catches.  That means it's still too puppy for the job you're expecting it to do.  I would say put it up for a month or two and then try again with a hog that will challenge her, not competely whip her butt.   She has already demonstrated a desire to catch,  she just needs to take her job seriously.  A little maturity and a couple hogs she has to work for will probably solve that.

Thanks catch, that sounds like a plan.

Are these true pitbulls hard to find or expensive???  

My expectations of a catch dog are the same whether they are pit/AB/Dogo, or any cross between them.  Get a handle on them and get the socializing done while they are pups and let their teeth set.  When they have a little age, start them on a small pig, then move them up. At some point you have to decide if you have a catch dog or not. Regardless of the breed.  I cannot understand why someone would expect different of a catchdog based on breed. They are supposed to catch whatever hog you put in front of them.  The day they don't, is they day they are no longer a catchdog, at that point they are just a pit/AB/Dogo, or whatever flavor you are working with.

I don't expect a working catchdog do be any different because of breed, but I do expect to have to start them differently.    Just my opinion, and I'll be the first one to tell you that I'm not the most experienced guy on the boards.

That's like saying all strike dogs should be burning up the woods and finding hogs at six months old?

Some dogs, regardless of breed, start slower than others. Once they start, they should never look back... or they're no longer a catch dog. ;)

Agteach, I couldn't even tell you. I haven't messed with any of that in a long time. I'm married with kids and have turned my life in another direction.  I still love the true gamedogs and in my opinion, they are the greatest breed ever. Just my opinion. You don't really want a true gamedog as a catch. You want him catching a hog and not the dog. My last pit was a big red male that was given to me, he was the best catchdog I ever had. He was great at what he did, what more can you ask for.

I don't think that applies in this situation. This dog is catching hogs already, she knows what she is supposed to be doing, she just hasn't had to "work for it" yet. A 40, 90, and 120# hog.  I still say it's time to step it up a notch.   Is there really a good reason to wait to put her on a larger hog?  If it's a maturity thing, then why is she catching the smaller hogs?  Maybe I am missing something obvious here?

She's not "catching " yet... sounds like she's playing with them, that's the puppy in her.

Try sending her in on a bigger hog behind an experienced catch dog... a lot of times that's all you need to "flip the switch".

Mike, that's how I got her started. I left her loose while the baydogs were bayed, as soon as she showed some interest, I let the ridgeback go. I broke him off, and was dogging him off and she caught. Now, I don't know what your definition of "catch" is, but she will grab and hold. Its just the few seconds of puppy fighting that I don't want. You know, the growling and snarling and nipping, like a puppy fight.

Then I misunderstood your post... I was thinking she only caught three times.

If you like the dog, give her a little more time to mature and see what happens.

I've caught the 3 different hogs with her. Now I would let her catch, break her off and do it again. Just training her, but yes  she has olnly been on 3 hogs.

Good post guys.  I'm learning a lot. 

I finally decided to retire the rifle and bought my first catchdog a year ago so I don't have enough experience yet to formulate my own opinions on CD's other than I know what I'm looking for performance wise in a catchdog. 

 

I don't know much about "gamedogs", but here's a question:

I don't like a catchdog that tries to fight the hog.  I want them locked on and holding the hog under control until I'm ready for them to come off.  The only battle that should take place is the dog doing whatever it takes to get a mouthful of ear.

Isn't that a little different than what is expected of a gamebred dog?

I like to give my opinions and play around, but when it comes down to it to each his own. If it works for you, then who cares what other people think. Like they say the best dogs are the ones you are feeding at the time.lol  Just find something that will hold no matter what. (try to stay away from the puppy fighters lol)

Bryant, its a lot different. Had a friend who once tried a gamedog on a hog. The dog never would hold one place, he would hold and work an ear for a while, then he would swap to a leg, that back to an ear. You get my point. In my opinion you don't want one of the old style gamedogs as a catch.

Just by what you said I would give the dog more time to develope.

Yea it seems like a month on the chain and a fisty hog would do her good. let her watch from outside the pen as well a few times then put her back on the chain without letting her in and dont use another cd. .02

Beejay, there was alot of good feed back in relation to your dog...if you said how she was bred I missed it but some AB's more so the bigger ones can tend to mature slower,does she carry any johnson blood? Like some said let her set a coupple more months and mature a bit then put her to something that will not allow her to play around.

Thanks for the info Underdog, and thank you all for ya'lls advice.