Now this is just me and how I look at it. If a dog has the heart but not the tools to get the job done its not his fault. If he wants to but cant do it because of some physical incapable abilities but would die trying its not his fault. He might be to small to swim 300 yds are he might be to big to get into a rosehedge and just cannot get it done. Does that make him a bad dog when he has maybe found and caught you 100's of hogs ?
Na I don't think so .
Can you ask a Champion Pointer to whip a Gr Ch Pit Bulls ass ?
Can you ask a Gr Ch Pit Bull to do a Ch Pointers job and find and point out birds ?
Can you ask a great Catch dog to do a great find dogs Job?
Can you ask a great find dog to do a great Catch dogs job ?
This can go on and on and on .
Does that make them a bad worthless dog and not great at what the do for real ?
No.
Dogs are like tools ! "Don't mean that in a bad way just a figure of speech" You breed them to do a specific job and do it well. You hand pick the dogs to do what they do well. Then you fine tune it .
I sure as hell aint going to call a dog that has found me many many hogs on top of hogs for years not a real hog dog if he just cant get the job done once are twice in a very bad situation . Am not going to call my 80 lb catch dog a piece of chit if he cannot fit his self into a briar thicket a rat has trouble getting into . There is excuses for everything but then there is common sence and lets not forget about the almighty ego's.
Jimmy...I agree with what you are saying here...
but for hog dogs I am very particular about size of a hog dog...if it is 10 pounds heavier and or 1/2 inch taller I don't keep it unless it is an outstanding dog...it is my opinion that too large of dogs are slower in close quarters and usually don't have the stamina of a 55 pound strike dog...it is also my opinion that a 30 pound dog might be very good at finding hogs and finding his way through all types of terrain including getting in rose hedges...but I like that 50-60 pound dog because I want to know that the hog knows he has an anchor on his ear and not feel like he is wearing an ear ring when that smaller dog latches on...but this is just how I see it...
that mid sized dog can go all day and he can can be a strong swimmer, maybe not the fastest but fast...and this dog is agile in tight quarters and can get in tight places including rose hedges...
This type of dog can hunt anywhere any other good hog dog can...my comparison of that dog to a human athlete is that of the "IRON MAN" triathlete...not the fastest but fast...not the strongest but strong...not the best swimmer but a very good swimmer...etc...etc...lots of old time folks that used there dogs to help make a living kept this type of dog...
as a little kid I had the perfect pack of hunting dogs for the terrain I hunted...I was lucky I could hunt in any direction and not see a soul...
I had 3 different terrains to hunt and 2 of them were not good for my dogs but one was perfect...one of the bad ones was very tall weeds and grass as well ots of brush...the other was nothing but pose hedges too close to each other...not good for running my dogs...but that third spot was perfect...caught lots of game and could catch as many rabbits I could carry...all my dogs had a job to make my pack complete even though I participated...at any given time I had 1-3 strike dogs of the 20 -30 pound size and one flush dog that was part wiener dog...also had one to 2 running catch dogs...if one of these three were missing it hurt the pack...I had different options on how to help but I liked to let the dogs do most of the work...I just led them in the direction I felt was the best to work...lots of rain hunted high spots...drought conditions meant to hunt closer to water...etc...etc...
