Catch & Release: Pros and Cons

I didn't mean rough dogs as opposed to loose baying dogs or that rough dogs have no bottom.

I was trying to suggest the combination of being too bitey or breaking the bay and then not following through. That would be the least desirable combination . . in my opinion . . and also a very common result of bulldog crosses which many hunters prefer. Doesn't make them wrong . . just not my preference.

Ideally . . I don't want dogs that are too rough at the wrong time, or too loose. A dog with some inherent or bred-in stock sense should be able to hold a high percentage of hogs until the man with the knife or mule tape shows up. After a long time trying to maintain the roughest bear dogs possible I had my eyes opened by hunting hogs with stock oriented curs. I've come to believe there is a fine line. If the dog is applying the right amount of pressure the hog should be paying more attention to him than my approach. But any time a dog isn't able to hold the hog or hogs at bay . . I expect him to go the distance. If I get tired of hunting I'll try and catch him off. But I want to be the one that chooses when the race is over. If I run out of places to hunt I'll go somewhere else before I start breeding inferior dogs. It's still a big country.

Of course things seldom work out exactly like I want them to.