Sammy

[matt_aggie04]

I was taking pics of my dogs today and thought I would post a pic of my newest strike dog Sammy that I got from realdogs.  He is half redbone and half pit, I had always wanted to try a hound pit cross and he seems to be living up to what I had hoped one would be.  I have been real happy with and I think he is only going to get better.  Thanks again Scott!

[Mike]

He's purdy!

[jml]

Good looking dog Matt, is he rough?

[Sean]

aaahhh sammy! he sure has some great coloring on him.

[GitDatHawg]

Man he looks good!!!  One thing about Sammy is that he just keeps on gettin better everytime!!

[matt_aggie04]

He is rough Jason, but only when he needs to be it seems.  He will catch when the catch dog gets there which is what I like the dogs to do.  Him and Duece cought that 230lbs sow last week by them self but I would say that is more the exception then the rule.

Matt

[duece24]

good looking dog matt. that second pic you can really tell he is a sturdy dog..kinda funny but it's like you can see the redbone features and the pit features...thick back legs, strong back and blocky head like a pit bull, hound ears and long hound body..good looking dog..

[Bryant]

Great looking dog, and an interesting cross.  Sounds like he's working out good for you, Matt.  I know there are always exceptions but if someone were to ask my opinion of that cross in general, I would tend to think more of a straight catch dog.  It seems like more times than not that rough pit blood runs pretty strong. 

I have always been curious (though I'm in no way knocking) why someone would cross pit into their bay/strike dogs.  The majority of the straight Black Mouth's (mine included) that I've hunted around are about as rough and catchy as I would want them to be.  In fact, I know several people who use the same bloodline BMC's (Weatherford's Ben) as I have myself and use no catchdogs.  They basically run, find and catch everything all by themselves.


 
 

[duece24]

from my knowledge it seems that people cross the pit into their dogs because of need and availablity. some people really don't like bmc's for whatever reason or they don't have access to a bmc that hunts they way the like. so they take their bay dog stick it to a pit and usually you get some pretty good running catch dogs or you get a pretty gritty bay/strike dog. it's kinda like well i know a hammer would work best to knock the nail in but i have this screwdriver right here. my neighbor has my hammer, bump it, let me knock this nail in with this screwdriver. you use what is readily available to you...that seems to be the main reason why i see most people make this type of cross...

[matt_aggie04]

That is a good question Bryant.  I think that for the most part people think of a hound as all nose and very little grit, so they add a little pit in hopes of making a dog that is gritty like a good cur dog but has an above average nose.  You also end up with the prey drive of the pit and the hound with physical characteristics of the hound that physically allow the dog to have a lot of wind and bottom.  These are all my opinion and not proven facts.  
I am like you, I really don't want a cur dog, especially a good strike dog to be overly gritty but I think that there are exceptions like Sammy who are gritty but not "pit like" on a hog.  Really works like a good cur dog with a little more nose.  Of all the hogs I have had him on he is very good about not opening till he sees the hog.  He has not opened early yet, and if the hog breaks he stays open while he can see the hog but shuts up and keeps after the hog.  
Matt

[Flatbroke]

nice looking dog.  I like the color

[pig snatcher]

Good lookin dog.

Me and my buddys use some pitt/hound mixes. Making that cross is a crap shoot though, some will be more like the bulldog while your more houndier ones like the dog above make pretty good dogs.  The more bully ones usually wont make catch dogs but are a bit to catchy for my taste.

[Bryant]

First off...I wasn't knocking the dog.  No reason to get all defensive.

If you re-read my post, I never mentioned anything about pure-bred dogs other than to say the only pure-bred BMC I own and others I have hunted around are very rough.  Actually my personal preference (and what the majority of my dogs are) is BMC/Plott crosses.  My question was simply what a person hoped to achieve by crossing a pit with a strike dog (of any type)...not saying it won't sometimes work but I would also agree with pig snatcher that in my opinion it would be a crap-shoot.

I think there is a difference between a gritty dog, and a catchy dog and sometimes people use the term "gritty" to describe both.  Here's how I see it...A "gritty" dog is a bay-in-the face, sit a running hog down, not afraid to get nasty when it needs to but smart enough to back up and bay type dog that will also catch once the catch dog does his job.  This is how I want everyone of my dogs to be; not to mention they usually live longer.  On the other hand, a "catchy" dog is a dog that will bay a hog, but is always looking for a chance to get a mouth full and usually when they do their not going to stay caught.  In my 13 years of owning and hunting dogs, I have had some like this and to me they are worthless.  They put too much pressure on a bayed hog by trying to catch and not staying caught, usually busting bays and leaving you frustrated as you chase them and the hogs all over the country.  A pit is a straight catch dog (at least I've never seen a full one used for anything else), so in my mind crossing one with any other dog would put "catch" into the cross.

Here's another example.  Douglas Mason breeds Catdo's which are Catahoula/Dogo crosses (50/50),  I forget the exact number he has told me but out of all the pups he has bred and sold over the years, 100% have been solid catch dogs.  I was surprised when he told me that and thats what got me to thinking sometime back about the pit crosses and wondering why some of them make bay dogs and some don't.  Perhaps training has something to do with it, but I would suspect that of all the people who have gotten a catdo pup and trained all their own ways one or two along the way would have turned out a bay dog which they haven't.

Once again, don't mis-read my post and think I was knocking the dog or discrediting how many years of experience you have or how many hogs you catch.  I asked the question simply out of curiousity, and hoped someone could answer.

[de_moon]

Sounds like an awesome dog, Matt!!  I can't wait to see him work.  Holler next time you come get dog food, and bring him.