EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Just out of curiousity, and never given much thought to this not that it really makes any difference anyways...

On you all's catchdogs, will they turn loose when the hog is dead or stay caught?  Zeus stays caught until I break him off, or sometimes its easier just to cut the ear off.  When the hog is dead, he gets a little more "shaky" with it, and wanting to get a better bite but he won't turn loose.  Sometimes like yesterday evening when I'm in water or mud and working by myself, he can be a real chore to get off and out of the way.

our bulldogs used to be hell to break off, but buddy and prince seem to be getting easier and easier with each hog they catch, i think yelling dead hog or caught hog everytime you break em off might help, then again, who knows? they are bulldogs they have minds of their own sometimes, lol.

Meathead and Tyson both have to be pulled off the hog. I cannot tell them to let go, pretty much have to use a break stick, or choke them off. Live hog, dead hog, it makes no difference.

i like the blowin in their ear technique, i know i thought it was crazy when i first heard about it but i tried it and it worked  :o ive been doin it ever since i only had one dog ever that it wouldnt work on

Can also grab both flanks of the dog, it is unnatural and weird feeling and will usually cause them to let go and turn around to look at thier rear ends.

"Out", then maglite if necessary.

I may be in the minority here, but I don't want a catch dog, that I can call off of being caught with a command.  flanking them, blowing in the ear, break stick, etc all sound good to me, but no verbal commands for me.

I mostly use the "cut the ear off" method myself. They aint letting go no matter what.

Steve

I'm not complaining that I have to break him off (and not that easily, either)....I would have it no other way.

What I'm curious about, is whether or not others catchdogs let go once the hog is dead, or stand there with a carcas in their mouth.  :)

on our catch dogs we break them off. we tie every hog down, so I dont want a dog
letting go  by hollering out. never heard of the blowing in the ear thing...  
 

Yea I came up with that one. The first hog I got with a pitt the guy told me to do that, and thinking back on it I think he was messing with me to see if I would do it or not, maby or maby not I don't know but I did it and it worked good. That was the only time I ever did it and probably wont do it again. I keep getting vision of getting bit in the face. He was from the eastern oklahoma area maby thats the way thay do it over in that area. :-\

Gotta break him off.  Wont have it any other way.  The harder to break the better.

I see alot of them shake, pull and let go after the hog is dead. Which is fine by me, as long as they are caught solid until the hog is under control.


I always choke them off. I leave 1" collar up at the top of the neck and pull straight up... eventually they will release to take a breath. Some may take a little longer than others... but any catch dog will come off like this.

I gave up on using break sticks because I always lost mine! ;D

The blowing in the ear does work... Krystal showed me on Cliiford last year. :o

wonder how many hunters are gonna be blowing in pitbulls ears this weekend now? lol

I agree with you Circle C ,  I would NEVER want a catch dog to let go on command or any other meathod except , breakstick or cut the ear.    That way i have no second guesses about it when im going in to leg one. Especially if someone new is hunting with me or there is other comotions going on and the dog hears some one hollering at a different dog or whatever and thinks it is time for " him " to let go .

My white dog dosnt trun loose has to be choked off. My little pit will turn loose and start chewing on it once we have stuck it and it dosnt move any more. Really dosnt matter to me as long as they are there when they are needed.

I've always used a breakstick.....but hunted with a few that used the same pull up on the collar method as Mike said and that seemed to work great as well.  Could never understand why some would smack their dog with a flashlight or fist to break them off.........They teach their dog to catch and then in a split second punish it for doing what it was taught.....I dont believe any good catch dog should have the "lightswitch" speed to turn on and off with a verbal command......and at the same time shouldn't be struck to let go of what he is suppose to be caught on......
just my 2 cents.....

I use a "Dead Hog" command and then "Load Up". Too lazy to lead dogs in or out, especially when you went in on hands and knees. :(

My thoughts as well.   It shows a person's ignorance to do something like that.  It is quite simple and harmless to "choke off" or us a break stick. 

You shouldn't be smacking them to not catch,,, should be smacking them for not listening when you say to stop catching. There is a big difference.
When done right you can have a dog with a good handle, when done wrong you can ruin a good catch dog.

Wether you use your hand, boot, lead, shock collar, ect... it should be done to re-inforce to some thing the dog already knows to do or not do. That applies to children also. You can't just beat them if they do some thing wrong but have never been taught its wrong. That is true ignorance.

Let me know, and I'll show you the baddest catchdog you've ever seen that was trained that way(my mentor's, which  happens to be a cur, the father of my current stock).  There's no "rule" that says one can't have an  "educated" catch dog.... no break stick required.

An intelligent or shall we say, a "learned" dog will do what you ask them to do.  I prefer to work "with" my dogs rather than "against" them(which is what I feel a break stick accomplishes).

Why work against an animal when you can train the animal to work for you?

If my dog feels the hog dead he will let go but the only way i have been able to get my running catchdog off is with a break stick on live and fresh dead hogs. He lets go a few min after the hog is dead if we dont try to get him off. Ive choked him out of a catch once but a break stick is easier. i might just try tht blow in the ear thing, never heard of it.

NEVER let go, However used to have a small white bulldog that would turn loose and sit on command and that was REALLY nice, and no i didnt train him to do that it just came naturall, WISH i still had him.

Noah,

I've hunted with a guy who called off his catch dog to make him release.  He was the type of guy that spent tons of time with his dog and was really big on verbal commands such as sit, heel, stay, and so on......

Here is what makes me nervous.......A group of guys hyped up on adrenaline trying to leg a big nasty boar and the dog hearing something he thinks is the release command.......not a situation I want to even consider personally.


When my dog is caught I praise it while I'm sticking the hog (when I can) and then as the hog is dying (really praising the dog).....I then use the break stick to get the dog off and continue praising the dog all the time.  If the dog re-catches before I can get him tied then oh well......I praise him some more.......

The dog is caught and knows he is doing good because I'm laying the praise on thick......

Just the way I fix my tea......not for everyone ;)

We just patted him and said sit and he would let go and sit.  ;D If u just told to sit he wouldnt do it, u had to pat him and do it, dont know y but u did i guess it was like a way for him to know u had it and he could chill out.

Its all about training. You would be amazed at the handle some people have on their dogs.

Eric, you are correct.  An old time hunter, to old to do it now,  used to have the best behaved dogs I had seen,  a friend of mine asked him about 20 years ago when we were younger, "How do you get the dogs to listen so well"  He responded by telling my friend,  "first off you have to be smarter than the dog your training".

I laughed my hind end off, and we still joke about it from time to time.