Your catch dog

[t-dog]

This is a topic that has been talked on in the past. I would like to hear from the people that like and are satisfied with what they are catching with. It use to seem like catch dog prospects were just about everywhere. Now they seem to be on the verge of extinction. I have never been the type to settle and that’s exactly what I’m being forced to do at this point. I have a standard of what I like and I had it for many years. It spoiled me honestly. I let that family of dogs run out on me and now I’m paying for it.

Tell me what you are catching with. I’d like to know the breed(s) that it is. The size, the style it catches with, the disposition, etc.

Right now I have a Dogo. First and last one I’ll ever own. He’s REALLY smart and athletic. He is built like a typical Dogo in the sense that he is tall and leggy and not overly muscular or broad. He’s an 83 pound dog. I walk him off leash all the way to the bay. He is my dog and he is happy with that to a fault. I love all of this. They are all criteria for me. 
His negatives are that he’s an idiot when it comes to people. Example, the other day he went to get on the other catch dog for no apparent reason. Deputy Dawg saw it coming and stopped it. Then the  Dogo growled at him. He went to correct him for that and he let him know real quick he didn’t have a problem biting him either. HUGE NO NO when you eat my feed. It isn’t like he doesn’t know Deputy Dawg and Deputy Dawg has never mistreated him. I also question his mouth and his gameness. My gut says they are both suspect. His loyalty is more possessiveness. He doesn’t want any other dog coming up to me and he isn’t real happy about people doing it. I promise you that you won’t hit me twice! I’ve not caught enough decent hogs with him solo to know if he’s very accurate yet. With this heat I haven’t wanted to take the risk of finding out the hard way and stroking out good bay dogs because he can’t do his job.

If you have a good one then tell us about it. It isn’t bragging and I for sure wouldn’t take it as such.


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[Shotgun66]

I feel your pain TDog. I lost my last good female CD in April 2021 and I THINK I finally found another good one. I will say that I ask ALOT from a CD. I hunt 1 or 2 bay dogs at a time that bay loose and don’t always give the CD a good, clean shot. They have taken damage and have become a little hesitant to sink teeth until after the CD hits. I take the blame for this by hunting sub par CDs behind them for too long. They get tired of getting wrecked and having long races because a CD can’t get hooked.
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Clyde is an 18 month old AB/Pit cross.
Disposition/Personality- outstanding. Confident and outgoing to people and other dogs. Shows deference to older dogs he respects and restraint with dogs he is superior to. Loves all people. Almost annoyingly social when he was younger. Still had puppy in him until recently.

Handle- good and getting better. Walks off lead to bays. He does have trouble not whining when I get close to bays & try to listen for a minute or video. He also needs to get better recall on a missed or busted hog. He doesn’t want to come back and this is a major concern.

Athleticism - above that of most AB’s & Pits I have been around. Explosive when you send him and surprisingly fast for a couple hundred yard bursts. Good ability to wrestle & move with bigger hogs. Good at getting hooked on first or second shot MOST of the time. He can be sent as a 1 out RCD if you get him close and give him a fair shot.

Mouth/Holding Style - not a super hard mouth dog. He doesn’t shake or regrip much and moves really well with hogs.

Gameness- 100%. He is there to stay. He has been tested enough for me to trust him absolutely.

Stamina/Recovery Ability- I’ve caught 5 hogs in 45 minutes back to back to back when it was cool and he never took a deep breath. He has good natural wind BUT he’s not super heat tolerant. I haven’t asked him to catch more than 2 on a hunt since it got hot and I’m nervous every time I send him in this heat. Not bad considering his breeding but not a strong point overall.

Prey Drive - very high. Almost to a fault. He would nail anything that moved when I got him. He’s calming down with heavy hunting & a little age.

His biggest fault is that he will bark every breath on a hog that breaks until he catches or gets outran. He has also really struggled getting hooked on sounders at times. I think all the hogs going every direction just short circuits his mind. Again, he seems to be getting better about not barking and getting hooked with time.

A lot of guys probably wouldn’t feed him but I like him.


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[WayOutWest]

Shotgun, he sure enough has more pluses than minus's. He is young enough and should only get better.

[Shotgun66]

Shotgun, he sure enough has more pluses than minus's. He is young enough and should only get better.

Thanks WOW. Your knowledge & experience with bulldogs is certainly appreciated by me.


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[Shotgun66]

Here’s a pic of Clyde’s sire, King, waiting to get permission to go to a bay. King has the best handle & temperament that I’ve personally witnessed on a bulldog. Head full of sense and a strong quiet confidence in any situation. He will lay on his belly and wait to be sent a lot of times. He’s a stockier built dog than Clyde with a much broader head & better mouth. If I had a quality female, he would be my sure of choice. Both dogs are in the 70 to 75lb range.




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[WayOutWest]

I think it's harder to find a gyp to breed to that makes the grade. Shotgun I have a little bulldog knowledge but nearly everything I have learned about catchdogs I learned from Thomas. That being said I am going to be trying a male that is about 60# and nearly all Carver blood.

[t-dog]

One thing that I think so many catch dogs lack is the ability to think on their feet. Some get better about it with age and that sounds like what your dog is doing shotgun. Some never learn it and that’s hard for me to tolerate too.

Accuracy is a big one. I like my dogs to be under control going in. The ones that take a straight line to the hog seem to break a lot of bays, or get hung up in the brush and wear themselves out trying to get there. The ones that pace themselves and look for an easy route seem to bust fewer bays and get cleaner shots. Big Momma never hit third gear going in. I can’t tell you how many hogs, and I mean sure enough toads, that she caught. Bear was another one. Point him at the bay and let go. If the hog was there when he got there it was a caught hog. Bear was bad built. I believe I could’ve put ran him, but he didn’t need speed because he wasn’t going to miss. In all his years I could probably count all the hogs I saw him miss on less than my ten fingers. I saw Vegas run a complete circle around a little briar patch, maybe 10feet in diameter. The boar was standing in the middle and evidently pushed his way in because there wasn’t a front or back door. When Vegas got back around to me, he stepped back and jumped over and on his way down eared the hog.

I think your dog sounds nice for a young dog Shotgun. I can’t wait to see how WOW’s male dog does. He’s tried a few of his game bred dogs over the years and my favorite was his old Jim dog. I think with consistent hunting and starting earlier than he got to, he might have been a pretty special dog. They have all caught, but some of them have wore WOW completely out going through the brush being so driven.

If you think about it, catch dogs are no different than any other dogs when it comes to working. The best, most consistent ones are the ones that are purpose bred. There dogs from about every breed out there that will catch a hog right. The problem is that many of the ones that do it in non traditional breeds are exceptions to the rule. Therefore it’s harder to get offspring of the same caliber because the pups are usually going to revert back to the average of their lineage. There are a ton of green dog hunters and a great many of them have low to no standards in their dogs. Not because they are dumb but because they don’t have any experience so they don’t know what potential dogs have. They are impressed by the bare minimum and end up breeding dogs that do the bare minimum back to another of the same caliber. Unless they are super lucky, the best they are going to produce are more dogs that do the bare minimum. That’s one reason there are so many culls out there IMO.


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[Cajun]

 
 
 This is Gator. He is a tall 80-85# pit. I owned his sire Rhino n rhinos mom Honey on one side and his grandmother and great Grandsire on the other side. He is a rock solid catchdog. We like big dogs that can anchor a hog out n the marsh where there are no trees to get up or hide behind if things go south. He has developed a bad habit tho   He started catching on the nose and I believe it is because we sent him in and the Plotts already had the hog caught so no ears were available. Most of the time tho he will be on the ear. Another drawback is his size. When we were putting on the wounded warrior hunt he caught two big boars back to back 75 yards apart. The second boar hit a bleeder and he had to be packed out. No problem tho as two of the veterans packed him out no problem. He will also fetch a ball as long as you will throw it for him and that includes going in the pond. You can’t wear him out.


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[t-dog]

That’s a really nice dog Cajun. Do you have a female lined up to put him over?

I have seen that very thing you speak of, altering their “spot” because their first choice is already occupied.


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[Cajun]

T dog I got rid of that nice female I had. Didnt want to. I have that chocolate pit and had her when my daughter moved and could not keep Gator so I took him. He was raised in the house for a year. I had sold the female Honey when her son Rhino was old enough to start catching because I didnt need three bulldogs. When I got Gator that gave me three and I could not sell my daughters bulldog so I sold Rhino. I have two of my buddies fixed up with good bulldogs so I am out of the breeding business of catchdogs. Those two bulldogs I have should last me the rest of my hog hunting career.

[t-dog]

I see. I remember you telling about taking your daughters dog. I hope these two dogs last a really long time and you still need another catch dog or two.


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[cajunl]

Tdog, Ive had a couple full blooded Dogo's. Everyone was funny about people and dogs. I had a rash of breakins at my shop.....and the last was I had was a better guard dog than catchdog for the reasons you stated. 

That said.. My last and best I ever owned was half Dogo half pit. Her momma came out of eat texas. I  really like that. The one on the toolbox. I caught with her till she was 12 and only retired here cause she lost her hearing.

This is my catchdog now., Redgy. He is three years old and had a baptism by fire and caught everything I asked him to. Never caught by anything but the ear.  He is a big jug headed 85+ pound dog. He walks without a lead, goes when told. Comes off when told. All the right things.

Cons,

He is built like a bowling ball with short legs. He is really muscled and I have to watch him in the heat.



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[t-dog]

I like the look of that old gyp Cajunl. That male dog looks like a thinker.


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[maverick10]

Rip from jitterbug kennels I got him about 3 years ago he was started has the size speed and the go go go and hard mouth I like and amazing around kids and dogs not an inch of aggression unless another dog shows it..the only faults he has that he is straight forward and doesn’t slow down even being on the box always moving side to side wish he could turn it down just a notch…

Sugar she was started when I got her shes all ear has the heart of a lion… Her fault is she’s a little shy that’s how she’s been when I got her even showing her love she’s still timid on coming to you and the other fault she has she’s lacking a little size but don’t let her small frame fool you


So I went ahead and made this cross to be able to put my hands on these pups and start them the way I want to I’m hoping Rip can add his size to the pups and the pups have the heart like both parents and I hope I can work on the go go go on them


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[t-dog]

When you say he has size, how big is he Maverick?


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[Cajun]

This Dagger. I’m tired boss. It’s been a long day.  For some reason Tapatalk is only letting me post one picture at a time. 70# leggy pit that is extremely fast. Straight ear. I owned his momma , his grandmother n great grandfather. He is related to Gator too and bottom. He can jump up on the top of the dog box even with a vest on.


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[maverick10]

T-dog he’s easily in a large to xl cut vest and he’s easily pushing 55+ pounds he’s not a short pit he has leg and lungs under him


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[Cajun]

Dagger


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[t-dog]

Maverick, ole Rip looks like what he is for sure.

Cajun, which one is better, Gator or Dagger? Dagger sounds like my kind of athlete.


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[Cajun]

T dog  I usually take Dagger on bike hunts because he loads so good and I have such a good handle on him. In the marsh I have been taking Gator. He can just anchor a hog a little better in that open soft ground. Im still working on him in the handling dept. I wish both of them would slow down a little going into a bay. They are just balls to the wall going in.