When does the Catchdog let go?

[Noah]

I've always used a breakstick.....but hunted with a few that used the same pull up on the collar method as Mike said and that seemed to work great as well.  Could never understand why some would smack their dog with a flashlight or fist to break them off.........They teach their dog to catch and then in a split second punish it for doing what it was taught.....I dont believe any good catch dog should have the "lightswitch" speed to turn on and off with a verbal command......and at the same time shouldn't be struck to let go of what he is suppose to be caught on......
just my 2 cents.....

Let me know, and I'll show you the baddest catchdog you've ever seen that was trained that way(my mentor's, which  happens to be a cur, the father of my current stock).  There's no "rule" that says one can't have an  "educated" catch dog.... no break stick required.

An intelligent or shall we say, a "learned" dog will do what you ask them to do.  I prefer to work "with" my dogs rather than "against" them(which is what I feel a break stick accomplishes).

Why work against an animal when you can train the animal to work for you?

[hogdoggin91]

If my dog feels the hog dead he will let go but the only way i have been able to get my running catchdog off is with a break stick on live and fresh dead hogs. He lets go a few min after the hog is dead if we dont try to get him off. Ive choked him out of a catch once but a break stick is easier. i might just try tht blow in the ear thing, never heard of it.

[elliscountyhog]

NEVER let go, However used to have a small white bulldog that would turn loose and sit on command and that was REALLY nice, and no i didnt train him to do that it just came naturall, WISH i still had him.

[Black Gold]

Noah,

I've hunted with a guy who called off his catch dog to make him release.  He was the type of guy that spent tons of time with his dog and was really big on verbal commands such as sit, heel, stay, and so on......

Here is what makes me nervous.......A group of guys hyped up on adrenaline trying to leg a big nasty boar and the dog hearing something he thinks is the release command.......not a situation I want to even consider personally.


When my dog is caught I praise it while I'm sticking the hog (when I can) and then as the hog is dying (really praising the dog).....I then use the break stick to get the dog off and continue praising the dog all the time.  If the dog re-catches before I can get him tied then oh well......I praise him some more.......

The dog is caught and knows he is doing good because I'm laying the praise on thick......

Just the way I fix my tea......not for everyone

[elliscountyhog]

We just patted him and said sit and he would let go and sit.  If u just told to sit he wouldnt do it, u had to pat him and do it, dont know y but u did i guess it was like a way for him to know u had it and he could chill out.

[Eric]

Its all about training. You would be amazed at the handle some people have on their dogs.

[Flatbroke]

Eric, you are correct.  An old time hunter, to old to do it now,  used to have the best behaved dogs I had seen,  a friend of mine asked him about 20 years ago when we were younger, "How do you get the dogs to listen so well"  He responded by telling my friend,  "first off you have to be smarter than the dog your training".

I laughed my hind end off, and we still joke about it from time to time.