Going back to the original question and changing the current subject just a bit, one instinctive thing I like to see is an early indication that a dog is going to roll over after a caught hog.
Lots of people love to see a dog be “hog crazy” or “hate a hog” and from time to time I’ve seen a handful of that style that are nice dogs, but I really perk up when I see a pup on its first few hunts being an active and purposeful participant in the bay, BUT, losing interest and leaving as soon as the hog is under control. I like to pretend the dogs I’ve trusted with are mostly all predisposed to this trait, but the truth is, as little as I’ve hunted since Harvey, I’ve had to look honestly at who is instinctively driven to always be looking for the next one, and who is having to be reminded that they are still on the clock.
Sorry guys, I didn’t explain myself on the “hate a hog” front. What I mean is several times over the years I’ve seen dogs that are SUPER intense working their way to a hog, baying and helping catch it and then afterwards have to be leashed and clipped to a tree. Wild eyed and snarling, they keep pawing at the ground, straining against the leash to get back to the hog. That’s what I had in mind with those phrases and while I’ve seen some very driven ones who were hard to beat to the first hog, I’ve seen the same guys who were incredibly proud of that dog be frustrated with it when hunting with dogs who are always trying to beat each other to the next hog.
