smart, cowardly, or cull

[Black Gold]

If you are hunting him solo and he is avoiding big boars then you have to think what happens if he does go to catch a bigger one and about the time you go to leg the boar your dog decides the boar is too big and lets go.....THAT can be a HUGE safety problem....I agree with Mike 100%...He is a cull as a catch dog, but for those who run gritty packs he would fit in and perform up to standards with the others......

[pig snatcher]

As a catch dog it is a cull.

There is no reason to make excuses like he isnt the lead dog and such.  A catch dogs job is simple. Run to bay, catch, hold on as long as there is breath in him.  A good catch dog doesnt back down for any reason.  Dont matter if it is the dominant dog or catches small hogs or has an issue with other dogs or the hog is 999 lbs, and has teeth as long as 1000 cheetos glued togather end to end. A catch dog catches.  A dog that you have to baby may catch for a while but he will let you down sooner or later. Just hope it doesnt cost you a good dog or get you hurt when it decides to let go.

Too many good dogs out there that will catch the first hog they see and every one after that to mess with cowardly dogs.

If your family likes him, just keep him as a pet.

My 0.02

[Bryant]

By the consensus of this post, I think you probably get the idea of what most people think.

Dogo's were bred to do three things, and do them well.  Find, Catch & Hold.  To specialize the breed, they were also specifically bred to do all this while maintaining the disposition of a family pet.

Go to http://www.dogo.org and view the requirements for their hunting test.  I don't know much about the Dogo Argentina Club of America but I have noticed that for a dog to be hunt tested and certified it must do the three things I mentioned above.  No where in the breed standard is there any mention of cornering the intended quarry and holding it at bay.

As far as breed standard, I would agree with most that yours falls short.  I don't subscribe to the theory that he's learning from the curs nor do I believe that catching any certain size of hog would negatively affect his performance.  Game bred dogs love a challenge.  Uglydog, Thomas, Longshot, and several other who use the same bloodline dogs will testify that we have seen our dogs many times run past smaller hogs to get at the nastiest, meanest hog of the bunch.

I also agree with Cody, that a catchdog you can't trust is a catchdog that can get you injured.

[hoghunterdfw]

yeah... its pretty much the conclusion I came up with as well. just wanted to get a few more opinions before I had to make a decision. all thats left is figuring out wheather to get rid of him or chop off the nuts and let him stay my dads pet. thanks for the advice everyone and if anyone knows where I can find a relatively cheap catchdog that wont be a safety concern pm or email me and let me know.

[shawn]

If he has the family on his side he is real smart.

lol yeah i was thinking the same thing, he sounds pretty smart to me

[Eric]

Isn't a Dogo bred to be a pack dog?  I know a lot of people use them for catch dogs, but my understanding is that they were bred to be hunting in packs, not used strictly as a catch dog. I would think the dog is doing exactly what he was bred to do, catch the smaller hogs and bay and wait for help on the larger hogs.  If I am mistaken please feel free to correct me....

That is my understanding also. There is a guy around here who hunts a pack of dogos all on the ground. They find and catch.

Plus, the dog is a result of your hunting style. The dog had to learn to bay big hogs and wait for backup or he probably wouldn't be around any more. I have seen PittXs do the same thing when hunted like that.

You have to use him like the people who run 8 cur dogs and no catch dogs. My vote goes to SMART.