EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Hey guys. Have a question. I got a catahoula gyp, round 4 months old. She is a pretty good little pup, and hates a hog already, but we are having some issues. First off, she is a little on the shy side, and won't just come to me. I don't have to chase her down, but she isn't gonna just trot up to me. Any suggestions on fixing this? Second off, if she does screw up, and I yell or gripe at her then she cows down and shakes for several hours. I have never hit or kicked her at all, so is this just a cat thing?


I ain't never had a catahoula around, so give me some things that work, because I am finding out she is a TON different than my bmc's

Nope, not normal. Never been successful fixing one like that. Good luck to you

I would just focus on being her buddy right now and not so much on discipline. Some come out of that crap, some don't. After you gain her trust, you can slowly work up to other things. Good luck

I feel that is just her personality. I agree on being her buddy. I have two that I am working with for a friend  like that. Try to socialize her as much as possible.

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I don't know anything about how your dog is bred but I have seen them start getting like that if they are tight linebred. If she will let you walk up to her and not run from you she will probably come around.. If she acts like a coyote though and won't even let you put your hands on her that's something that 9 out of 10 dogs won't come out of no matter how much socializing or petting or talking to her you do, save your time and money and just cull her..
About half of these dogs I fool with are one man dogs and until they get to liking you they don't care nothin about you or anybody else.. They won't just come running up to you and if you start getting rough with the males they will get rough right back and the females will pout..BUT once they like you they will give 100% for you..
About the hardest hunting female dog I've ever owned would not let anybody but me catch her and would tuck her tail and cower down if you even yelled at her and I never laid a hand on her. When you turned her loose though she was going to find a hog if there was one within 2 miles and she had way more bottom than I ever had dedication.

i have had this problem a few times ,eventually the pup will come to trust you and get out of the shy stuff AROUND YOU but will allways be spookey around strangers

You need to do some basic training with her, sounds like she has not been handled enuff or is a slow developer, buy a basic training book and start over with basic stuff, make her eat from your hand right away, dont feed her unless she eats from your hand and start petting her more and more, get a collar and tie some weedeater line on it so you can catch her with your boot, call her name, Gal, come, then reel her in and give her a treat, do this every time you see her shy away, get some kind of a game to play with her, get a squeaky toy, a piece of hog hide on a spring rope to wool over or something so she will come out of her shell, right now is critcal in her developement, she will be find with some extra handling, anyway you could get a carrier from TSC and put her in house or truck while you are in the house or going to the farm or store so she will watch you work, you could kennel train her as well with it, handle more, get her to know her name and the comand to come, get a play toy for fun and dont give up, you have already started her training and rehab by asking for help, when you get her going some more you can teach her to command to load up in the dog box or truck with the lead, you might have to build a ramp or something but keep it up every day and praise her if she does a comand corretly or attempts its, good luck, lots of hog dogs are runined right here as they are not under control and first time they go hunting they dont handle and get the cull tag becuase they did not load or did not hunt or what ever they blame the unstarted dog for, good luck

Meagan, I would take that offer you got a while back, then take that money and buy you a good bmc....   ;)

You know im your friend, but going out and DELIBERATELY getting a catahoula makes me alittle ashamed of you....  >:D  :D

Personally a shy dog does not bother me at all, I actually like being the only one able to catch my dogs. Just spend some quality quiet time gaining her trust and she'll be ok. I have a plott/cur male that was that way, I got him at 16 months old. He was the spookiest pup ive ever seen, but that was due to the worthless SOB I got him from. 2 weeks and about 20lbs of hotdogs we was buddies. He is now making me a damn fine do it all hog dog. At 4 months old you shouldnt have a hard time turning her around, but the Catahoula part of your problem can only be solved one way >:D

the guy i get all my catsfrom that has raised em for years says catahoulas are very tempermental an majoruty of mine are if not all of em but that hasnt made em a bad dog by n e mean

I had a line bred black and tan that was like that she never came around I culled her. I gave her 18 months. I wasted 13 months worth of dog feed. JMO.

Right about Catahoulas being tempermental, i've always believed because they possess a higher degree of intelligence than most other breeds, they know when you like them or not, or when you're not in control as the leader of the pack mentality. They will test you consistently to see where you stand, in order to know where they stand in the pecking order of the pack. Some will try agressiveness, submissiveness, shyness, needyness/attachment, complacentness,etc. because they can they're that intelligent. That's the beauty of the breed the challenge to diagnose/analyze temperments/personalities and have the more dominant intelligence as the pack leader to guide/teach, coach/train them to fit in your pack and to be resposible enough to breed the compatible traits and avoid the negatives.

Hard one to answer for sure when all scenarios, traits & rearing techniques are only 100% known by you.  8)
Also depends on if you have or are willing to put the time & money in with the possible end result being the same anyway.

I have had two dogs (both female) in my packs that have been similar. Yes, they were tightly bred so an out cross has been made to try eliminate that trait that appears 1 in 20 times from this gyp.
-The first timid one (still hasn't relaxed) hunted real well but was sometimes difficult to get back on the ute or bike because of timidness (would cower at a raised voice).... She was recently speyed & given to a family friend as a guard/family pet on a small farm.
She is already doing fantastic & has settled well. She is 2.5yrs old.
-  The second one was 12months old last week. She was also culled last week. She was bred as a future replacement for one of my older gyps. Initially i thought i got it right with my plans. ie - Bred to be taller, slightly deeper in the chest but keeping the same natural prey drive resulting in a fantastic work ethic....Well, she was timid from about 8weeks old which i thought i could get past. I was careful not to reprimand her whilst young beside the normal scruff of the neck shake. She was very loyal & quite aggressive towards other dogs in the yard. Unfortunately, when she decided not to come when doing the wrong thing she would lay and cower in the paddock for hours, she would find a hog no probs but as soon as another dog arrived she would leave it & if she saw me arrive with the rifle she would dissapear a hundred yards away..... :( 
She wasn't showing any signs of improvement with one on one work or pack work....She bacame a CULL  :-\

Well I have not seen the dog. I would say cull but maybe not. I have been around a lot of different breeds and have seen a few good dogs ruined by yelling. I figure the dog can hear better than me so I don't yell. Now I ain't saying that is the problem. I have a cur gyp that tucks her tail when I pet her. I am not going to lie I thought I had been taken again when I got the dog. I thought she was the biggest chicken ever. I took her to a pen and she became a new dog. Frothing at the mouth trying to get to the hog. She is still very timid around me but she is still the alpha bitch in the yard. She even puts the males in their place. You are not trying to get a guard dog or a show dog so I would see what she does with hogs. (I just had to go get her off another dog)

I would put a chair next to her food bowl. After you put the food in the bowl sit down. Do not pet her just sit there. I usually grab my dogs and say their name when they are eating starting from pups. It helps to build trust. They see you bring food and give it all to them. It makes you the alpha and one that can be trusted. I do not care if my dogs want to be petted or not. I don't want them come for a petting when they should be hunting. But at the same time I want them to come when called. So they learn when you say their name it is a good thing. Just my two cents

My gyp was the same way until she was about a year and a half old.  Was all i could do not to whack her.  just be patient and keep at it.

Ok, so I am not being a smart ass, so please don't take it this way, I'm just going to give my 2cents back like y'all have given me so we can figure this out.

I don't think this pup is a cull. She is very sweet, and likes me. She has no problem coming up to me tail wagging when we are playing. It's just when I try to call her to me that she looks at me like I just beat the number 2 out of her, lays down and pisses everywhere. That's why I am so confused. I don't yell and scream at my young dogs ever. Once they hit a year or so old they might get griped at occasionally but not often.

Knightstock, I don't woods hunt, bay pen only, with my own dogs, so kennel training is a MUST since my dogs are inside dogs. She LOVES her crate at eatin time but I tend to have to trick her into it for bed. Lol typical kid. She LIVES to play with a tennis ball right now and will fetch for HOURS but when she is done playing and I try to call her to me, well, read above I ain't gonna repeat myself lol.

I just don't understand why when we are playing or she is just running around it's all good, but the second I try and actually get her to come to me, she is scared of me???

I have seen some dogs like that and would not worry about it as long as she hunts. It is just the personality. But I would sit next to her food to bond a little. It helped with my gyp that sounds the same. I had a bird dog that would only come to me or listen to me. She would cower when any looked at her and I had people say I beat her. She was a retrieving fool so I loved her.

I use one of the small shock collars from tractor supply set it on number 10 and whenu start this be sure and finish on a positive note. Put your pup in your house yard or an area no bigger than 200feet around,the cheapy collars dont range out at all. all dogs will come when u squat low and talk baby to them but that just wont cut it after a while,they need to know when its time to get serious and should be able to be spoken to in a raised tone without cowering down. Call your pup and raise your voice after you say her name and come here 4 or 5 times,SHE WILL NOT BE AT YOUR FEET BUY THIS TIME I GUARANTEE! hit the button one time and watch her run away as far as possible,usually into a kennel or barrel etc. Hit it again and continue calling her name over and over,she will try 20 different hiding spots before she figures out to try something productive(coming to you)thats the only time you lay off the button. A dog in shock collar basic training as i call it needs to know only one thing and that is that u are not the one producing the punishment,INSTEAD YOU ARE THE ONLY PLACE IT STOPS. continue this for 5 to 10 minutes the first time,meaning walk away from her then call her in an almost demanding tone and each time she runs off or lays down hit your button and continue to do so until she comes to your feet,rub her down when she comes then wait a few minutes and repeat over again. By the end of the first productive lesson you will not be able to get her out from under your feet,dont worry about it this is not woods training. some dogs need only one lesson,some need a couple spaced days apart but every dog on my yard can be spoken to softly or aggressivly at any given moment and all respond to there names accordingly. Any doubters of this method bring me your most timid pup and a 100 dollar bill,the franklin will be mine after 2 sessions. good luck with her,if shes as smart as you say she is then it should be a cakewalk for both of you.

If you search for an old post of mine I was having this same problem with one of my cats. I was told by a well know dog man (Mr. Mason)  ;D to do the weed eater string deal... I tried it for a couple of days and it seemed like it wasnt going to work I got discuraged and said i was going to cull him. I spoke with Mr. Mason again and told him I am done with the dog and he asked if I had done the weed eater thang and I said it didnt work. Well I thought about it and tried it one more time. Well this was about two weeks ago and after the third time of using the string it is like he is a differnt dog. I can call him and he comes running with his TAIL UP (something he has NEVER done)and happy as hell to see me. He now acts like part of the pack and the rest of the dogs stopped picking on him. I dont know what it did to his brain but it surely changed something. My wife said Ceaser the dog whisper needs to go take tips from Mr. Mason ;D I am very Very happy that maybe I will get to hunt this dog after all. This dog has been a problem to me for 4 months now and if it wasnt for his bloodline he would have been culled a long time ago and that would have been a shame because he just needed some thing like a weed eater string and my a$$ to use it.... ??? good luck ;D

peachcreek pm what mr mason says to do with the weedeater string, it maybe useful in the future please.

ive always done a 35 foot lead line and some hot dogs, let it go all the way out and then call its name then reward it if it come straight back

exactly the same thing as you do i guess. just step on it and call him and when he doesnt come reel him in and then praise him, repeat and repeat again and again. I had never heard of it so it seemed strange to me, but I have read a few of you guys talking about it so i guess it was no big secret all i now is that it worked for the hard headed dog i was messing with ;D

Yeah, works on most! I have used a similar method when required but with two bicycle wheels mounted to stakes. Seperate each wheel around 10metres apart with a rope looped around the wheels & joined. Tie a clip to the bottom rope run & you can do both - cast the the dog away (i say "GO") by grabbing the rope or wheel and send/spin it away.....Do the opposite for  "HERE".....  ;)
I'll see if i have a picture of the set up 

genius! 8)

I just went through the same thing you did with my cat pup. I kinda contribute his behavior to the fact that I got him at over 3 months of age. This is the first working dog of any sort that I got older than 8 weeks. I have gotten more impatient with dogs as I have gotten older(trying to get better at that) I was kind of hard on him when he did wrong before creating a bond. For several weeks everytime he saw me he would try to be  sliver away. When it came time to kennel the other dogs  up he would litterally play cat and mouse with me. One night I was so pissed he wouldn't come I went out to the shop made a lasso out of some cotton rope and when I got close enough to him I roped his A** and like to pulled his leg out of socket I was so pissed. I am telling you this because all I was doing was just shooting myself in the foot. I was simply scaring the **** out of him everytime I tried to be apart of his life. The next night I tried to kennel him up to eat, he did not come, so he did not eat. The next morning I tried the same thing and he kenneled up wagging his tale and has done so for me every morning and every evening. He now sees me and often comes running wagging his tale. I just have to constanly remind myslf not to be so short tempered with him. Good luck

If used that method jsut not with weed eater string.  I have a long check cord, i prob shoulda used the weedeater string.  lack of patience and a long nylon heck cord were somewhat counter productive.  My gyp will come to me but usually lays at my feet (prob cause thats how she landed when the ptience ran out.)  rolleyes

That sounds like how I teach my bird dogs to stop. Use a rope tied to a tree and throw the ball or whatever and then yell stop just before they hot the end of the rope. I just need a spring loaded real that will drag the dog if they don't come ;D