EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

hey guys wondering if anybody had any suggestions. My problem is this I'm having a hard time convincing my wife to do the hog dog thing.  Not only for me but also for my boys as well.  she thinks the dogs are aggressive and shes also worried about the feed bill a place to keep them all sorts of things.  I told her that there are more aggressive dogs in general so its not only hog dogs.  that our back yard was big enough to chain them to a tree with a long chain to let them have freedoom to move about.  That no matter what kind of dog we get their still going to eat. So any help out there from whomever would be welcome.

I don't consider myself the authority on much of anything but I may be a good resource if nothing else on this subject  8).  My wife is a great person whom I love dearly but she really doesn't understand why I like this as much as I do.  She doesn't like having to worry about dogs etc but she has learned to love all my dogs over time and will go feed with me occasionally and has even went hunting a time or two.  One thing they will always have over us is the cost.  This is a very expensive and time consuming sport, if you don't have a good deal of both it is very hard to keep the peace at home, that is not me saying anything but the truth.  You might find some neat ways to cut corners on everyday expenses but the first time you have to drop $500-1000 dollar at the vet I will garuntee you she will remind you of how she doesn't like what you do.  Having said that I can't think of a better thing for you and your sons to get involved in and spend time together outdoors doing.  Not only that but the things the boys can learn from it like how to care for an animal correctly, responsibility by having to take care of the dogs, how to respect the outdoors and enjoy nature, the list goes on and on and that is what you have to sell her on.  Who knows she may even want to join in the fun once she sees how things are going.  As far as the dogs being agressive towards the kids I don't know that I have ever hunted with anyone that has kept people aggressive dogs, there is no place for them in the world as far as I am concerned.  Again sell her on the positive points.....or you could do what I have been doing for the last 5 years and that is beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission  :angel:

What he said.  That was as good advise as you will get.

Take her with you and the boys make it a family thing and the dogs family friends, then she will love the idea. Be sure to talk about it from a family point, the family hunt, the family dogs so on.........if its your thing only then goodluck.
She may just need to be a part of it.........if not then get her own thing going on.........give and take. Spend on her what you spend on hunting, if that dont make her happy then nothing will.

what they said

One thing that I have found to always hold true........ Girls, Ladies, Women, Moms and Wives ALL love cute cuddly little puppies! They just cant seem to say no.

Start slow with just one, a "pet". As it gets older you have an excuse to get a puppy trainer, then another puppy.  When you have 3 or 4 dogs and a new hobby, she won't even know what hit her  ;D

Steve

Pretty sound advice there Steve...until the "pet" is sitting in the back yard 10 months old and about 15 staples in his back leg from a boar hog.......yeah that didn't go over to well hahaha

I tried the "spend on her what you spend on hunting" method too....I ran out of money quickly  :o

 :D

A paradigm shift is inevitable when implementing my method. Said shift is guaranteed to be painful any your only hope is that it blows over quickly. He didn't ask about the risk though, he only asked how to talk her into it  rolleyes ;D

So true brother Steve, so true  :)

Thanks guys some good and funny stuff. I was wondering if there was anybody whos wife's had the problem with the money that goes into it I see now that I'm not the only one.  Thanks again.

Then your name would be mud.....oh wait....it is.... rolleyes ;D


Some guys blow their extra money on fast cars, too much beer, season tickets, certain dancing establishments, ect, ect, ect...........
Hunting with dogs can easily be a family sport  and like Matt said it teaches many good values to children through its many activities.   
My wife spends her own money on her interests but she does like to go out hunting when we can get a sitter for the kids (3 & 2 yesrs old) .....doesn't hurt for a "band-aid gift" when the big purchases are made to take the edge off......

Bottom line is hog-doggin is expensive, but the TRUTH is you will spend what you make.....on something or another.....might as well spend it on something you like and something that will bring your family closer together..........my kids favorite part of the days is feeding the dogs and letting them run in the evening.....the 4 of us sit and watch the dogs play and take turns petting the dogs as the come up for attention........a price can't be put on quality family time......

feel free to use any of the yellow quotes to make your sell!  ;D

Everybody has something they love doing. If you don't spend your money on hunting you will spend it on something else. I am sure she has something she likes to do that cost money.
I have to say I have a good wife, she feeds my dogs and tends to them while I am at work for two weeks at a time.

it's hard to make people understand our sport.

my sister absolutely hates it. the people i work with, excluding some of the guys, hate it as well.

most people think that it's harmful to the animals which is why i train my dogs to be loose....

just be careful man, a lot of people don't see it the way we do.

I always thought this sport was ridiculous until I went for the first time.  Thats all it took, I was hooked.  Its not all about killing a pig, afterall, you can tie them and pay for the dog food at least.  The real sport as I see it is spending the time to train your dogs to do what they were bred to do, and then ultimately watch them work together as nature entended, baying and catching a hog as a pack.  It still amazes me everytime I go out, how hog dogs work.  

well FcHogDog....here is something from a womans point of view. I had never hog hunted before I got with my husband, and let me tell you his ENTIRE family does the hog hunting thing. So when we got together we all went a bunch of us...."OTHER WOMEN TOO" and we ahd a blast. So you might want to be sure that there are other women that can hunt too. It does us good to bad mouth yall men when something goes wrong or yall are hard headed, even when you know we are right.

Then we had kids and lets just say their grandparents had both of my kids hog hunting before they were 6 months old, and I was not there on either one of their first hunt. Now my kids are 3 yrs and 14 motnhs and if they hear going hunting they are screaming anting to go. It is a great thing for a family to get involved in.

As for the feed bill that is just part of life if you are going to have animals you have to feed them. And I have always had animals so I understand that. Now we have about 25 head between us and my in-laws and sometimes I think it is a few to many but it is part of the sport.

So tell her it can be really fun if she just tries it a few times. I wish you the best of luck!

The two things I enjoy most about the sport is watching my dogs (especially the young ones) work, and spending time with my son (and soon to be sons when the youngest gets a bit older).

Each time we hunt, I always make it a point to show or explain something to my son that I think he hasn't seen or noticed before.  Could be a certain bird and what it's doing, or perhaps a particular set of tracks seen around a watering hole.  I'm always amazed at the vast amount of knowledge he has aquired regarding nature in just his seven years of life...things that just aren't taught in school.

I agree with others, if you make it a family affair you'll be much better off.

On a silly side, once your kids get old enough you'll probably have to sit them down and have that "what happens in the woods sometimes stays in the woods" talk.  I'll never forget the first time Braydon came home wagging a picture he had drawn at school of a hog with a dog on each ear and blood gushing out...He was proud as a peacock!

Yeah, don't forget the "what happens in the woods...." talk.  I was one fart behind on that one.   
"But Dad, you laughed when I did it the other day"   rolleyes :o

I was raised with cow dogs and hog hunting so I usually just say Its how I was raised, I will never change, if you don't like that then you don't like who I am.  They can either take it or leave it, its strictly left up to them.   ;D  It works ok for dating but might not be such a good idea for marrages.


Most peoples hobbies are pointless other than for entertainment mine is productive, puts food on the table, helps farmers and ranchers, and like others have said teaches values to young people they wont expereince playing video games or watching TV.  I am forever greatfull for being taken hog hunting when I was just a small kid.   I learned things and became who I am because of it and the bond between my dad and I would be no were near as strong if it was'nt for the time spent in the woods together.

Waylon

That's it right there........that's what it's all about!!