EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

As someone whose never hunted with dogs or hunted in general, I have to ask this question. Is it absolutely necessary for a good catch dog to be aggressive? And if so, is there such thing has too much aggression? Keep in mind this is from the perspective of someone whose never hunted and whose always had dogs as pets, not hunters.

Define what TYPE of aggression you're referring to. That'll help for better answers I think.

Any and all CD's we have here are big babies with humans, and are tolerant to other dogs...but when they see a hog, and catch one....it's intensity and determination to it's fullest. I wouldn't consider it aggressive per se'.

Hope that was helpful input in some way :)

You pretty much answered my question. A lot of the people I know are pretty biased against the breeds that are normally used as catch dogs, (i.e. Pit Bulls) and have it in their head that they're all blood-thirsty monsters or something ridiculous. But that brings to mind another question, how do you train your dog to attack hogs, but not other animals or people?

These dogs have an ingrained prey drive. All that is done is teach them what is and isn't prey. Socialization is key as young pups when it comes to dog aggression. Teaching them u are the top dog not them. Same goes for human aggression. Human or dog aggression is not tolerated. Any sign of human aggression tends to lead to an early grave. Dog aggression is almost as bad.

The truth is the dogs we use are bred to do a job that requires close handling in excited situations. The dogs that are bred in city's are bred to look mean and be scary. Most of the dogs breed in the city would have a short life on a hunters yard.

It is not something they are trained to do. They do it because they want to. A good catch dog does not "attack" it simply grabs an ear and holds and allot of times doesnt leave a mark on the hog. Seems some people have a big misconception... When we catch hogs it is just fluffy pillows and rainbows not an attack on the poor helpless animal.

Sir..... Are you affiliated with PETA?????????

sure looks that way on his past postes!! his pic is iffy !!!  an stores are iffy!!

 Peas in a pod.

Well, can't help ya there, as we don't "train them to attack hogs." We DO however show them to catch and hold a hog so it's safe for us to get in there and leg it. :D They're introduced to a hog, and in most cases, it comes pretty natural to a dog that has a good prey drive. Said dog HAS to be socialized early on with people/strangers/other dogs as someone already mentioned because when we're out hunting, they're exposed to people they may not know as well as multiple other dogs they may or may not know.

I'm not to sure about this "training dogs to attack the hog" stuff. ???

Golly gee whiz folks. I think he's just a dude who doesn't know about our sport yet, but wants to learn. Don't quite have to be a conspiracy. Even if the president of PETA came on this site with a profile pic of Ru-Pual banging Michael Jackson on a Dennis Rodman skin rug, we ain't got nothin to worry about as long as we hog hunters keep the best foot forward and the gritty stuff private.
( like stories about killing a hog with a stick and your bare hands  rolleyes)

Ahahahahahahahahahaha

I agree t-bob, some posts and pictures need to be left unsaid and un -posted.  In my opinion we can be our own worst enemies at times, as long as we show this sport in a positive light by continuing to help out farmers and landowners alike by dealing with a real problem causing the loss of monetary loss we should be ok.

Nobody on here likes a dog aggressive dog! We do it to hunt pigs not to mess with dog aggressive dogs!! Simple as is!!

X2

ya looks like we got off the subject ,, that's nothing to do with aggressive dogs that's a person try to save his dogs an his own ass at that!!!!  t-bob bob on this:---     
lol         

If I were affiliated with PETA, do you really think that I would call myself "HoosierGunNUt," use a picture of myself and two other people on a firing line as my profile pic, and actually to try to learn about hog hunting with dogs?

Not trying to accuse you of anything, but I doubt your screenname would be "I'maPETAbunnyhugger" if you were with them. Lol

Hoosier, you'll have to excuse some of these folks.

But to answer your question... no. The catch dogs I've had have zero aggression. Anyone can pet and handle them and I can stick them in the box with any dogs.

Hell I was pickin at ya...... Kinda..  Gotta be careful these days... And like mike said my bulldog is the same, no aggression what so ever anyone can pet him and stick him in a box with any dogs.

ok now that where on the subject, No, They are not aggressive they are some of the sweetest pets u can have! I trust mine around small kids an they stay in side during the night an out in the back yard during the day with other some small dogs .. when i hear about a aggressive dog i thing of a (land shark-aka Chihuahua).. them dang buggers hang on your pants like there's no tomorrow.. Hope that help answer your ? ya we give people bull #2 all the time but it kinda what keep some of them days fun..lol .. and people take low blows at other for the fun of it but at the end of the day we all still love the same heritage of hunting hogs with dogs! an most of the time alot of the BS is forgiven to keep this heritage alive for are kids coming up...

Lol. I never get people's obsession with little lap dogs, which I'm convinced are simply overgrown rats that look like dogs. And what get's me, is that when they start biting people's ankles and ripping up that brand new pair of pants you bought, everyone's like "oh isn't that cute!" No! I't not cute, it's pissing me off! And yes it does help answer my question.

The truth is the dogs we use are bred to do a job that requires close handling in excited situations. The dogs that are bred in city's are bred to look mean and be scary. Most of the dogs breed in the city would have a short life on a hunters yard.
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This is true!   
My pit gyp will back away if another dog shows any aggression at all she knows it is not allowed!  No exceptions!

This is true!   
My pit gyp will back away if another dog shows any aggression at all she knows it is not allowed!  No exceptions!
[/quote]

Right on. I'm just trying to learn here. Most of the dogs I've had have been pets, I've never had a working dog....................yet.

Right on. I'm just trying to learn here. Most of the dogs I've had have been pets, I've never had a working dog....................yet.
[/quote]

Be careful........its an addiction!!!

Be careful........its an addiction!!!

[/quote]

I already have an addiction! Its called gun fever! Another one won't hurt anyone........except my bank account

An expensive addiction !!!!

I don't let mine get outa hand but I do let them be bulldogs....I would rather have to rein one in and tone him/her down than try and get one to be something it ain't never gonna do. All my bulldogs are good with my kids/other dogs etc. some are a little high srung when young but like I said...tone them down a little and the calmness does come with age and use. I do have a few that will not be so friendly with strangers at the house but I'm quite ok with that. A dude I know was hunting with me a couple weeks ago and my 5 yo was climbing around on the bulldog in the truck and he said "wow, I can't belive that dog don't bother her" ....my reply was "he had better not"..

Well said Sir

Or a flashlight?   Lol

Dang right.  ;)
But hey, if you remember, I didn't go around saying that about myself, I'm just so bad that word got out.  >:D :laugh:

Your right.   T-Bob

I work on handle from a young age , I'm working with a new one now , she never left my side for over a month , I took her to work , backhoes , boats , swimming , jack hammers , parks , ball park , kids , lots of dogs we don't know , introduced her to my other 4 , they all run together for exercise , most bulldogs will catch so this is not the important part , handle is the important stuff , there teeth ain't ready anyway till a year or more so the more things you can teach in this time frame the better dog you will have , anything good takes time and work , my male I have didn't see a hog until 20 months old and he's the best I've been around , I'll show them a hog about 4 months or so and see what happens and then it's over for a year and just work on commands and handle , riding on the atv , running at least once a week in a pack setting for a few miles , braking off chickens , cows , letting them know what they are not gonna do , establishing that I'm the pack leader , it takes a lot of work to get a old school pit to this level but when you do you will have a dog like no other , when they do hit what I call the trip factor you will be able to handle this type of animal , to many people think the catching part is the important part but that only takes a few minutes , so the important part is handle and this takes months of showing everything and teaching the donts,  if you don't teach these things you will be posting like so many others asking what to do , aggression post out the rear on here , good people bad pack leaders , good dogs with extreme handle takes mucho work , the first months I spend more time with the bulldog than I do my family , but if you do it this way you will have the best dog ever with extreme handle , there's always issues that arise just like kids , but if you don't teach your kid right what do you have , pretty much the world we are living in , JMO , I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK , OH YEH  I also pray for my dogs , anything is possible threw Jesus Christ.  God bless