Introducing my new catchdog, PPC Eloy and his first Texas hog

I got an awesome new dogo from the people at PPC dogos, Peter and Birgette a few weeks ago and finally got him on a Texas hog last Sat. night 4-4-09. For those of you who didnt see it, they had an ad up a lil bit ago offering a free 14 mo. old dogo to whoever could pay the shipping costs for him cuz their kennels are located in freakin Denmark. Well everybodys got their dog breed that they are particularly fond of and for me its dogos, unfortunately for me I always seemed to get the ones that were culls. So if I had the chance to get a REAL dogo that actually lived up to the hype and reputation of the breed I was ready to jump on it for sure. After doing some research and talking to Marvin (Ladogos), he has 5 dogos from them that are all catching machines, I decided to contact them and let them know I was interested. Well they were offering me a 14 mo. old dogo named Epo, that had an awesome nose for a bulldog, but they said he had only caught in the pen once and that was when he was 6 mo. old. They said they could ship him for around $1,500, but Kevin A. posted a great idea about going there and picking the dog up and having it brought back with me on the plane for a lot cheaper, plus you get a free trip. Well I checked and was able to find a roundtrip flight for $650, and was told to expect to spend an additional $400 to cover the planes extra baggage handling fees and the extra large crate to transport him in. I know most everybody thinks I am crazy for spending 1000 bucks on a catchdog but I didnt think the price was that bad considering I was planning on buying McCoys Gringo dogo that Bar M has now for $600, and Eloy comes with papers, a good pedigree, is younger, and I got a free trip to Denmark and made some new friends all for $400 bucks more. Since I'm about to committ to spending a $1000 bucks, I ask them for some reassurances that he will catch hard, so they tell me they are going to test him in a pen tomorrow against a 200# boar and see how he does. They told me the dog was going crazy as soon as he saw the hog and he caught it right on the ear but unfortunately got jabbed good in the chin too and got hurt bad enough that he was not fit for transport. Since they knew I already bought my ticket, they decided to make a big sacrifice and gave me his littermate Eloy who they were keeping for themselves. Eloy is a more accomplished hunter than his brother Epo and Eloy apparently is also a 3 time dog show champion (for whatever thats worth). I was more than happy to get this dog and have been impressed by what I have seen from him so far. In my opinion his body structure is the perfect combination of power and agility, and his temperment is unmatched. He has an excellent prey drive and when I let him off leash he will get out 400-500 yds with the curs and hunt his butt off. Oh yeah did I mention he HATES hogs and wants to tear em up! So far he has hit on the ear every time and no-gripping issues. He hits em like a freight train and has the legs and lungs to keep up with one that breaks. The best part is how friendly he is towards other dogs and people. He does not fight with other dogs even other large males, I took him to a local dog park and he was running around playing with 20-30 other dogs, some of them big Dobermans and Great Dane males, and not even one growl just a happy wagging tail. He is a perfect example of the dual nature in dogos and is the sweetest dog inside the home and even enjoys playing with small children. In short, I finally got a real dogo!

Now to the hunting, I seem to have become the dry run king the last 2 months, only 2 shoats in all of Feb. and Mar. (not counting the Lousiana hunt 2 weekends ago where me and Eloy caught a good sized boar with ladogos), but that all ended last Sat. night. I had not planned on hunting that evening but my other plans fell through and I called my buddy Chris up for a quick hunt by this creek next to his house. Well we dropped out around midnight and it was a quick hunt, 5 mins later they were bayed up. Not sure which one hit it first but the other catchdog, a pit, had the hog by the snout and Eloy had it anchored down on the ear. We hobbled it and took it back to my buddies house. It was night time so the pics didnt come out too good. It was about a 200-220# sow, no real cutters to speak of, but it was a good quick hunt and no dogs were hurt, plus Eloy finally got his first Texas hog! Undoubtably the first of many...