EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I've seen a lot of people discussing rough vs loose bay dogs on Facebook and I see that a lot of people on there are switching to rough dogs cause of all the track star hogs and I see a lot of people trying to get rcd what's y'all's opinions on this subject what do y'all have and perfer rough or loose and a lead in cd vs a rcd I'm not trying to start any fights on her so keep it calm!

Loose is best from my experience.  I dont hunt much but I like to be safe and last few times ive hunted I like loose. Ruff dogs have there place but I prefer loose

In my areas i hunt I catch more with my rough dogs... I used RCD also. I don't mind a loose dog, I just love my rough dogs and always will.. I think it depends on your area, terrain, etc. also.

Both are good I like to have a loose dog with good bottom with some short rang rough catchy dogs works good for me ether way will catch hog. But I lean more towards rough catchy dogs

I like loose. I like to watch the dogs work. I carry my catch dog to catch it. Some people I hunt with like them rough. My down fall to rough dogs is when I get one in the river is when I seem to have a problem cause it's caught in the river. Swimming time

Small places rough, big places loose. So depends on where I hunt that day
but right now it all loose because I have nothing rough right now, except
my female patterdale and she is nuts...

I can change that Paul lol

I run rough dogs with a RCD. I hunted with lots of loose dogs before I started putting my crew together. Loose dogs are great and when I think the situation calls for it I call buddies that run them. When the situation calls for a rough dog they call me. We both catch hogs. We both like our style. We also both see the benefit of each. Neither has lost more dogs than the other due to style. I do have a RCD in the mend today due to catching to far away with no back up close enough. I do believe if u are gonna run one style or the other u want to keep ur pack as such not mixed.


Shotgun
Arkansas

To be honest I like having a little of both in my pack. I try not to run all my rough ones together , mixing them with my loose dogs , it makes a good team. We don't run RCD , jus lead in.

I carry both with me

I got another question? I got a bay dog he's 3/4 mountain cur 1/4 plott  he backed up by his self but when other dogs hell get there hell try the hog a few times an the longer he's bayed the more hell growl and get ruff what makes him do that?

pack mentality brother....strength in numbers!

How many bay dogs and CDs do y'all run at one time and how would be addin a hound to the group he's 3/4 red bone 1/4 Rhodesian ridgeback

I like 2 or 3 loose and two cd with rough I run one loose 3 rough and one cd works for me a good hound is worth his lb gold to me

Which dogs we take depends on where we go, river bottoms I run more rougher bay dogs cause we want to stop it quick.. Now when I say rough I'm talking they put teeth on the hog to stop them maybe fight a second  then back off to bay not catch...open fields I run fast loose bay dogs ... we always run 4 bay dogs and two lead in catch.. Don't always have to use both CD depending on the size of the hog, But that's my choice who I turn loose.

I like dogs that know when to be loose and when to be rough. Thats why I tried very hard to keep the old stock dog instinct bred into my dogs. If they are born with it, and with experience, they learn how to read the animal or animals they are working. Hogs are smart enough to learn pretty quick, if they stand in one place they won't be bothered but if they try to leave they get chewed on. It was hard to get just what I wanted and I culled through lots of dogs. In my experience, a little too loose was better than a little too rough. Rough dogs seemed to break bays too much for me. From what I've seen, people with rough dogs seem to catch more small hogs than big ones. This is in no way the right way or the wrong way, just my way. Hunt what you like and enjoy it while it last.

What Bigo says X-2  It really boils down to personal preference. But, if a dog is gonna get rough with a hog, he has to be rough enough to hold them. Either catch them right there or back up & bay. The rough dogs who gets in a hog's face & does not catch them will make them break every time.
  There are also the dogs out there who just have the touch. They know when to stop a hog & back up & bay. I think those are the dogs Bigo is talking about who do have the old stock dog mentality.

I agree Bigo and Cajun!! I ran one dog named Bo by himself alot just leading a bulldog. Caught 100's of hogs hunting him that way. He worked the hog till he could catch and if he couldn"t he would drop back and hold that hog there bayed. He would bay them sometimes 45min-1hr before we could get there to turn my CD in. I feel the dog that can catch one and be committed to the catch and knowing when he can catch, and knows when to stay back and keep the hog planted bayed solid because of terrain being to thick to catch and move with the hog is the kind I am trying to breed! That kind of dog does not need any help except to help catch a few he cannot handle. Run 2-3 of those and you do not need the bulldog, they will anchor any hog!!

I Like my dogs to be very fast, athletic dogs that are built to run and fight! Medium size, (50-70lbs) dogs with good long legs, nice size heads for good strong bites, lean long muscles for power and endurance. A dog to big and he will get smoked through the thick terrain, to small they will get picked up off their feet when catching a hog that is trying to fling them off!! Serious, small efficient packs of dogs that each dog can find and catch most hogs by themselves!!

I don't think my ideal dog fits into either of those categories.

I don't care for rough/catchy dogs....nothing against them, just not my style. I also don't want a dog that bays from 30 feet....again, nothing against them...just not my style. You can catch hogs with either style dog.

I like a dog that gets tight (4-8) feet and just hammers away. That distance and the dog should still be able to maneuver out of the way if need be or lay teeth if need be.

I don't want my dogs to try every pig either...I just want them to catch the ones they SHOULD catch and bay the ones they SHOULD bay.

Taz you pretty much stated the perfect dog to me

KevinN everything u want your dog to do is sitting in my yard. When there hunted by there selves they bay about 5 feet back. If it's a shioat it ain't running it will get caught before I get there. Everybody who's ever hunted with me I bel eave will agree.

I had a yellow dog that a lot of buddies hated because he was rough, but it was
on average hogs 200lbs and under, but when he bayed get ready for battle
because he would backed up on big boars, didn't give a dam about a sow,  but boars that fought
he would shut them down and wait for the real hitters catch dog!!

Most of mine would be considered rough, but will back up on a rank nasty big hog. Sometimes they dont back up fast enough and its a trip to the vets office. My bulldog runs loose and has some leg and wind and is usually there pretty quick. You have to have a lot of trust in them for that. Couple years ago was seeing a lot of small sows and pigs, so I didnt take a bulldog. Got on a big boar and 178 stitches later, almost lost a good one. My vet still says it the worst he has seen that still lived.

Mine are to stupid to back up or to gung-ho not sure which

I got a rough one jus like ur dog, if he is barking its really big or really rank.

 I like both.....If I had big big land to hunt I would love the loose type dogs run them all day then when they finally stop then just sit back and watch the show .   But since I do not have land like that to hunt I have to have dogs that will stop a hog and mount him right there on the spot and the rest of the dogs better help out.  I like to run ruff dogs that will pull some hair on a moving hog and then a couple of dogs along with them that there is no doubt what they are going to do their minds are made up its you are me no questions asked no doubts in their minds.  I have caught more big big hogs with these kinds of dogs than any other and the marthon races all but stop with these kind.  I like em both its ruff to catch for me .

I like a dog that will bay close to the hog  and put just the right amount of pressure on the hog. One that will bite a hog bASS when he tries to run and will bay him all day!!
Rough dogs will get cut down to quick down here.. They always seem to break the bay where I hunt!!!

Bow hunter 94 where y'all hunt we hunt hr south of Dallas the runners around here hit the thick spots field thicker spot and field if you don't shut them down fast they will be long gone and if your dog can stay with em you are going to have to foot it to em

Deep South Texas.

I hear ya bow hunter but getting cut down happens every where mine been cut up north east and west guess I need to go down south and so they can make a circle lol. All joking aside I heard it is rough hunting down there

I agree as well...and  with enough sense to not over heat and to take care of itself on a bad hog...

Good stock dog instincts knows when to slobber in ones face to hold bay, and when to back up 12-15 feet and circle, or when to apply the teeth.  They can read the situation and apply proper amount of pressure to hold bay.

Lots of variables to the loose/ruff dog thing-including age and experience.  I have seven plotts, one Catahoula, and one dogo.  If I want to  go somewhere where there is a bunch of hogs and I want to catch a lot of hogs- I take my 11 year old cat gyp and my dogo.  I'll being catching and tying hogs faster than I can keep up with.  If I am going to a big section of land that has fewer hogs, I'll take the plotts and it may take a while, but I will end up with a hog or two.  I have just as much fun with an all day race as I do catching a mess of hogs.  Sometimes I prefer the race and will try to make the hog run intentionally just to keep a race going.  With my plotts, they are going to try to catch most hogs.  Two of the plotts are almost RCD type.  My ruffest plott (Joe) is going to catch (or try) any hog that will stand for a second.  So, I keep some ruff and some loose.  I think of them as tools in my tool box.  Sometimes I need a hammer, sometimes I need a screw driver.  For me they key is they all work and they are all good tools for the purpose I intend.

You will catch hogs with either type. I like loose dogs but it's some days I wish they was ruff as cobbs. You will have to just see what you like and what works good in your places you hunt. I like to hear a dog baying its heart out and it's not many ruff dogs that do that haha so that's the reason I like loose

Different styles work better for different places so I tried to raise dogs across the spectrum. I hunt anywhere from 1 to 4 at time depending where I'm hunting and how i'm hunting. I have a bird bull that will catch just about any size hog, but I have seen him bay twice after being cut down really bad. I have a bird dog that'll give the hog 5-8 feet and bay, and I have 3 other birddog crosses that will be 2-5 feet away and catch anything under 150. The thing I like about them all is they hate for a hog to run and they all will pull nuts till he stops. I can't see what they do in the woods but I turn them loose on hogs in fields with night vision and they'll catch on the nuts or tail and be drug a few yards till he turns to fight. They'll let go and bay unless he tries to break again, then its back to pullin nuts.

Rough!! Cur dogs catch most everything they should being stock bred.. They sit back when they need to. Everything else gets strung out. It's nice when you can catch 20-30 hogs in a day and only use your bulldog a handful of times.  :) it's not for everyone but someone has to do it.

We tied 33 this day and used the bull dog about 3 times I believe.

(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/08/12/e7uheqe2.jpg)

Ours are rough as a pack though.. Not really just one or two rough dogs.. They are all about the same, but you get 4 or 5 there and it's a caught hog or you are gonna need the bull dog. Got to be in shape to hunt this way though

In shape and fast huh? Tony

Haha like you Mathew! Shape like that lol

 im.not as fast as you... I can get there. But I do not think we ever went to the same hog caught/bayed...

Hell we almost raced to that big toothy sow but i think you fell or something

Haha nah we are always split catching our own hog!! My damn horse that day acted up when you crossed the creek. I just bailed off bc I knew you and Libby were going to her and I got there a few sec too late