EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I haven't seen this thread yet so lets talk about what got us started. What was your first hog hunting dog? It doesn't have to be trained or raised by you just talk about the dog and how you got it oh and if you have pics share them. My first was a catahoula x walker hound named George. He was a big leggy skinny dog that was black with white and merle spots on him. I was helping a cowboy pen cattle off horseback and we were waiting on the dogs to bay up the cattle when we here just one dog baying so we headed down there to see what he was baying. Well it wasn't an old tiger striped cow and calf like we were hoping for but it was a dang hog. Well the cowboy wasn't all to happy about it and was about to cull him on the spot and I told him I would take him. The dog turned out good for cattle and hogs. I used him on hogs while I walk hunted and he would bay and I would shoot. Then I would go pen cattle with him at our place. I lost him one night when he hopped our backyard fence and was hit by a train. I know I asked for pics but I don't have any of him. Thanks in advance for sharing.

Well my first one I had was a black and tan catahoula. she wasn't worth 2 cents so I don't know if I'd call her my first hog dog but that was what she was supposed to be. Then I picked up the lil kemmer cur I still have off a buddy of mine. He finally starting to get a lil bit of a nose on him at 6 yrs old but the guy I got him from just had him for a help dog and he's still getting after it. He'll ride hood, rig and walk hunt. if I don't go on his own he'll range out as far as the other strike dog.

This is Blue.  He's a Bluetick/Blue Heeler cross.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v620/zonerugby/Blueandboys.jpg)

Got him from a fella over by Troy and liked him and the way that the guy did business enough that I went back and bought two more dogs from him.  He was a great dog for a beginner because he is so easy to read.   In case you can't tell he's been claimed by my oldest boy since then and he eats up all the attention the kids can give him.  I won't say he's the best thing in the woods but he's found plenty of hogs for me and I really like how he bays.  Good ol' mutt that will probably never leave my yard as long as I hunt hogs.   

Pokey
(http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss166/BA-IV/POKEY.jpg)
(http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss166/BA-IV/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_5331.jpg)

Well I been raising cur dogs since I was knee high to a grasshopper. My Granddaddy always had pretty good dogs on cows so guess that's where I got my love for dogs from.  Anyways I got into hog hunting a few years back and have owned quite a few dogs over the time.  I finally got my hands on an alright gyp and bred her back to a big male off some of my grand dads ol stock.  Well I raised a pup off that litter named Pokey and he is my first HOGDOG.  Ain't quite two years old and has already taught me more than any person about hog hunting.  He has his days and is probably a dog that would be on some peoples C team if not riding the bench. I've fed him tracks and he has showed me hogs since he was 9 months old.  He wasn't nothing but a puppy and I would love to beat the piss outta him somedays and then some days he can't be beat.  He'll never leave my yard for no amount of money and probably wouldn't bring $5 anyways 

Just wonder BA-IV what exactly is the breeding on that pokey dog?

This is Chockie, he's a little over 5 years old. I hunted with his dad (which belonged to a buddy of mine) for a long time. We bred his dad to a gyp that I found baying hogs at the river with no collar on. She had 11 pups. All of them turned out to be decent dogs. Some were culled because people wanted a little better dog but I have spent lots and lots of time with him. I wouldn't trade him for any other dogs. I have used him for hogs, squirrels, coons, cows... Not the longest ranging dog but the best all around dog a person could ask for. He's smarter than any of my huntin' buddies and almost smarter than me. He's been on more hogs than alot of high dollar hog dogs. The best thing about him is his stamina. He can go all day and love it.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/NechesBobcat/Dogs/ChockieMenard.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/NechesBobcat/Dogs/Chockie3Wheeler.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/NechesBobcat/Woody/IMG_1897.jpg)

This is Woody. He was actually my  first hog dog but wasn't ever meant to be a hog dog. Just turned out to be. That's a whole story in itself.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/NechesBobcat/Woody/IMG_20101222_160735.jpg)

He is off one of our old cur dogs that was a big tiger striped dog and a catahoula ring necked gyp that was built just right. 

Both of my Grandfathers had plenty of hunting and working dogs.  The hog farmer/steel worker had beagles and farm collies.  The cowboy/engineer had curs, and border collies.  I grew up watching, listening, hunting and learning about dogs from men who worked them everyday.  I only had one pet dog growing up, but that's another story.
 
Anne (english pointer mix) was my first official hog dog.   "First official hog dog" meaning I found, bought, raised, fed, and hunted her on my own.  She was a 100% natural hog dog from a pup, till the day she died.  She would find, bay and catch on command.  

My wife (girlfriend then) and I still talk about that dog today.  Anne was 8 or 9 and retired when "my wife to be" came along.  She saw the scars and grey muzzle and they were instant buddies.  I only have two pictures of the dog.  One is a picture of my pregnant wife sitting in a lawn chair, with her favorite hog dog laying at her feet.  The other is a fuzzy 35mm picture of lemon and white 8 week old puppy with her nose to the ground.  It's proudly displayed in my office right now.
    

Man, My story is similar to yours, Was on the Lampasas river going to pen some cows . Was on a hill and could see them.was just sitting there horseback waiting for the dogs to hit the cows when Rocky a cat x hound dog that would let out a long bawl when he struck then chop. Started baying before he got to the cows. I thought well crap he found a baby calf. So I rode down and to my surprise he had three or four sows and a herd of pigs bayed. My first ! We roped and tied the sows and tried to kill some of the pigs with tree limbs. Man I was excited! So we would go back and hunt for pigs usually ended up baying cows  but roped quite a few more hogs. Been chasing them ever since off and on. That was 30 something years ago.

Larry a 2 yr old blue pitt
(http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j432/hogdog78/Dogs/P3060010.jpg)

not much of a story. i wanted to start hog hunting a could not afford to buy any dogs at the time so a buddy gave him to me so i would a least have a dog to take hunting with us.Thus starting the obssesion. ;D

My first hog dog was a walker that I got from a man at the local flea market. When I asked was kind of dog she was he said "well she's part hound dog, part hunting dog, and part wolf". I just laughed, because he had no clue what kind if dog she was, and said ill take her. I named her Socket and after a few runs in a bay pen and few times  the woods she started turning on. She was silent on trail, because she learned from our other silent dogs, and bayed loose but had no problem holding one as long as she needed to. She would have probably been one of my better dogs to this day but the neighbors didn't like her and put out antifreeze. The next few days were very expensive at the vet but she still died anyway. Who knows what she could have been but anyway that was my first hog dog. Sorry I don't have any pics of her. 

This is my first and only hog dog at the moment. I figured I'd take the crawl walk run approach with hog doggin. Once I get her going strong I'll start adding to the pack but wanted to take the time to learn the breed as well as the sport. She's right at a year old and is really starting to get the hang of things. Found a couple of pigs on her own so far (not sure if she actually found them or accidentally ran into them).

(http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n537/bwhisenhunt1/daisy2.jpg)

(http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n537/bwhisenhunt1/BMCDaisy.jpg)

Beautiful dog Ballyn29. I'd like to find a female that looks like her to breed one of my dogs to one day. Good luck with her.

1988. Answered an add in the East Texas Peddler for Yeller cur puppies. Lady was selling.a litter of strait Yeller pups while her husband was out of town working. LOL. They were 7 weeks old and she had a baby pot belly pig in the house. I picked the prettiest Yeller Black faced gyp pup and put her down on the kitchen floor. No lie she went to hammering on that pot belly and chasing it. I immediatly paid her 75 dollars and scooped her up. That was 23 yrs ago and what I consider the foundation dog to everthing I have raised since. GOTTA LOVE THEM YELLERS BOYZ.


The gyp on the right is her at 9 months old and already full of scars.
(http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/h450/YELLOWBLACKMASK/LadyandCat.jpg)

1997 couldn't tell you the breed.  I know it's 40 years of Line breeding just a old curr.  My first was a brindle and same as blackmouth this will start to carry on my line from hear on out.  Ive finally got the 4 dogs i want after close to 14 years of looking to keep this old breeding line going. 

My first "hog dog" wasn't actually a hog dog, she was a cow/combination dog. Her name was Pup and I had known the dog for years. I coon hunted some at the time (before I knew better... :o ) and coon hunted on the ranch where Pup was. The guy that lived on the ranch let her run loose most of the time as he had a boy with a mental disability and even though the boy was about 14-15 years old, he was like 3-4 mentally. They could let the boy outside to play by himself, as long as Pup was around as nothing was going to get close to him. Not people, not snakes, not other dogs, nothing.

The thing was that this was a cow dog that they used to pen cattle on the place. The guy that owned here also hog hunted her at night and she had scars all over her. She would sometimes come to a treed coon if we were close enough she could hear us and got to where she could trail up a coon and tree , and I mean bark on the tree, as good as any hound we had.

So she wasn't just a hog dog. But like all of us, she got older. She got to where she couldn't get ahead of the cows, didn't hardly have any teeth left , etc and the guy said if they don't work, they don't eat on that ranch and he was going to cull her. I had known the dogs for years and really liked her. She had to be about 10 years old at that time. He asked if I wanted her and I jumped on it. I mean this was a REAL cur dog, my first. She was a yellow bob tailed partial ringneck about 60 lbs.

I never put her on hogs, but did use her on some of my cattle. And she took to me like we had been together all our lives. I bred her to a rough red blackmouth cur a buddy had named Hub. I mean he was ROUGH. He would catch and hold most cows by himself. They got called to clean out a lot of pastures where guys had lost their lease or the place had sold. They would rope what they couldn't pen and catch what they couldn't rope with Hub!

One day I was out working with some show calves and a two year old Brahma bull belonging to my neighbor came running down the paved road outside my gate.They were right behind him in a Jeep, trying to get ahead of him and turn or stop him as he was headed to a 4 lane highway about 1/4 mile ahead. Pup was in my stock trailer, out of the way, and I never thought about it, I just flipped the gate open and sent her to the bull. She went under the gate, caught the bull and he flung her off. He kept going towards the highway and I could see a big wreck coming, but Pup came running in, caught him on the nose and anchored him. He was slinging his head and had her off the ground several times, but she held on....with no teeth I am not sure how. Finally he just dropped his head and stood there bawling. Every time he would try to move Pup would clamp down harder We got a rope on him and got him under control.

The funny thing is, Pup was pregnant with Hub pups and was due in two weeks at the time! I just told everyone I was starting to train the pups a little early!! ;D

That was my start in the cur dogs many years ago. Pup was the foundation to my dogs and 6 generations later I can still see her in many of my dogs. A grand old lady that I was fortunate enough to have pass through my life, even if it was for a short time.

mine was a cat/hound mix, my family got him from the pound for me on my first day of school, never really thought he was gonna hunt but he came back with a piglet in tow and never looked back from there

That's a great way to start.  Good reading right there. 

x100

This is My Blackjack dog better know as just Jack, little over a year old Big long legged floppy eared lanky catahoula and walker hound cross jam up, almost the deepest bark ive ever heard, found and still finding some hogs for me Going to be the man Grandson of tweety from the Fatboy Outfitters bloodline they got goin.
(http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z473/loganlee2/Mobile%20Uploads/P070511_0803_001.jpg)

(http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/z473/loganlee2/Mobile%20Uploads/shilo.jpg)
The other brown dog in this picture was Shilo she found a hog for me at 7 months i dont know what it was about her but she was born ready to hunt, i really messed up and sold her awhile back. they bayed this pig in the pen till the pig just couldnt take it anymore and layed down.

This is my first hog dog Bo. A buddy of mines catahoula gyp had a litter of "cat x pit " pups but obviously something else got a hold of her. I think a great dane down the road got with here to tell you the truth. He has found a couple of hogs for me and I think he is one of the smartest dogs I have ever owned. He will never leave my yard and I have turned down a lil bit of money for him. Just couldnt let him go. If he gets tired then  something is wrong. This sucker can run and run and run. 
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af223/dd121212/bo.jpg)
A lil sow we caught in January
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(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af223/dd121212/006.jpg)

This is Lacee. My ex had gotten a BMC pup from some people here in Donie, and not a week later a was walking around a rodeo and got to talkin to a young guy that had a BMC gyp pup there. He made a comment about he was meeting a guy up there to giv ehim the pups and I popped off with "Well, if he don't take them my truck is parked over there".... 6 hrs later I go back to my truck and there are 2 pups tied to it... Sadly Lacee's brother died before I could get a picture of him, but I have a feeling he either wasn't her brother, or she wasn't 100% BMC even though she sure looked it. Zach (Lacee's brother) was the color of a brand new pair of Wrangler Jeans and had green eyes. Lacee died 3 years ago, she bayed up on a runnin sow, and bay broke, Lacee outran all the other bay dogs, and we could see her bout 150 yards out, tryin to get the pig stopped, then she just fell over. She was gone before I got to her.

(http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af282/Tinytexascowgirl/Lacy.jpg)
(http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af282/Tinytexascowgirl/bwlacy.jpg)

That was a really good story crackerc.