NEED SOME ADVICE - HELP!!!!

[scout1]

NEED SOME ADVICE!

I HAVE TWO 7 MONTH OLD CATAHOULAS AND THE OTHER DAY I BROUGHT HOME A 35LB SHOAT.  PUT THE SHOAT IN MY BAY PEN, AND PUT ONE OF THE PUPS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE PEN WITH MY OLDER DOG WHO BAYED OF COARSE, BUT THE PUP COULD CARE LESS WHAT THE SHOAT OR THE OLDER DOG WAS DOING, TRIED THE OTHER PUP AND GOT THE SAME RESULTS.   AND THEN TODAY I PUT THE PUP IN THE BAY PEN WITH MY OLDER DOG AND THE PUP WENT TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PEN DIDINT PAY ANY ATTENTION TO THE SHOAT OR THE OTHER DOG.  ACTUALLY THE SHOAT RAN INTO THE PUP AND THE PUP JUST LOOKED AT HIM...THIS IS ONLY THE SECOND TIME THIS PUP HAS EVER SEEN A HOG...THE QUESTION I HAVE IS HOW LONG SHOULD I CONTINUE WITH THIS PUP BEFOR I NEED TO CUT MY LOSSES ON HIM, OR DO I NEED TO CHANGE MY TRAINING ON HIM,    ANY HELP OR ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED, THANKS.

[Mike]

Put them up and try again later... they're still pups. Catahoulas are very slow maturing dogs.

Also, make it fun for them. Don't get upset and punish them for not baying.

[Silverton Boar Dogs]

Mike is right, I will "never" put a pup in the pen untill they are baying from the out side. Also some pups need different thinks to trip their trigger, squealing, hog running, other dogs barking, I have had some that would not bark at a hog in a pen, but were h*ll on wheels outside. They are still pups and if you push them to hard you may hurt their chances,

When I am starting pups I will put a dog in the pen and let them bay the hog, then I will turn the pups loose and just let them do what ever they want. If they head to the pen great, if they bark at the hog through the fence great, if they run around looking at the sky great. They will turn on when they are ready, never push a pup. I will only put them in the pen when they are trying to climb in on there own.

Paul T

[craig]

keep tyring them on the outside of the pen with the older dog , try both pups with the older dog ,pups might be more confident together

they will come on pretty soon just keep working with them and praising them when they act interested.

[NT-HOGGIN]

Well I am fairly new to this and there are a lot of guys on here that can give you more help than I can.  I am gonna show my pups a hog for the first time really soon and a fellow hog dogger friend told me to not be surprised if they don't bay or if they show little interest.  He also told me that sometimes it takes them getting rolled up a little by a larger hog for them to start talking to em.  He did tell me not to use too big of a hog that will ruin their confidence.    He really stressed the confidence thing and told me to just give them time.  I am not speaking from any experience, just what I was told from an experienced dog man.

[scout1]

THANKS GUYS,  I WILL CONTINUE TO WORK THEM FROM THE OUTSIDE OF THE PEN, PROBABLY BOTH PUPS TOGETHER...DIDNT THINK OF THAT, THEY ARE ALWAYS STUCK TO EACH OTHER ALL THE TIME.
I'VE BEEN WORKIN THEM ABOUT 15 MINUTES AT THE BAYPEN TWICE A DAY,  I WASNT SURE HOW LONG TO KEEP THEM THERE, BUT I FIGURED PUPS LOSE INTEREST PRETTY QUICK.  ANY OTHER ADVICE IS WELCOME, AGAIN THANKS

[craig]

as soon as they act a little interested catch the shoat and let it sqeal that should really bring em on
 tie the old dog back so it will bark but cant get the hog

[Scott]

I have a gyp that has never bayed a hog in a pen and she's 5 years old. She'll sure enough get out and find/bay them in the woods though. I put more stock in what they'll do in the woods compared to what they'll do in a pen. Bayin' is not so hard...it's the findin' that's a little tricky      Then again, I usually start mine early going to the woods.

Try draggin a small hog into the woods and tying it off and see if the pups will find it.

[Overkill]

Yeah what Craig said should work. I have a 4 month old pup and she showed no interest in a hog until she heard it squeal and then she jumped in the pen and barked and bayed her head off. Now whenever I put a hog in the pen she cant wait to get in their and get after it.

[Lockedon]

Make it squeal!

[craig]

after you get them baying ,  Scott's advice works good to get them hunting for a pig

[khoghunter27]

I agree with Mike 100% , I also Believe that there are dogs that are naturally born to do it that turn on fast with no problem and that are dogs that have it in there blood but just require time and patience they will come around over time you just have to have the patience!JMO hope they turn out.

[Noah]

If they hear one squeal and don't get on it.... cull.  Personally, if a dog doesn't show interest by 4mnths, I'm not interested(unless it's from EXCEPTIONAL blood, then I'll give 'em till 6mnths  ).  I've made too many excuses, along with a lot of my friends, for dogs that did nothing but waste our time, when we could have been working with a dog that was interested.   The time I have to actually work hog dogs, I place at a premium. 

Therefore, I don't want to "hope" that a dog "might" eventually "be interested in looking at" a hog....  I want that prospect to HATE a hog from as young as possible.  Most of my dogs have caught shoats on their own by the age of 3mnths.... Albeit, I run fairly rough dogs, but that's what I look for,  HOG HATERS!   Now, if that's the best prospect you've got, roll with it until you've got an option.... just my oh-pin-yee-own.

[muleman]

I am with you Noah, i like early starting dogs. Not to say that some of the later bloomers dont make a hand. I look at all dogs with potential breeding in the future. If it doesnt start early its not for me and I sure dont want to raise pups out of it. I have gotten rid of tons of dogs that didnt pick it up early enough for me that went on to make dogs for someone with a lot more patience than me!

[catahoula_cur]

  Scout1
    Mike and Silverton Boar are right. Catahoulas are slow maturing dogs.  I know because thats what I have and started out with.  When I first took my cat pups (1 male and 1 female) to the bay pen, they wouldn't have anything to do with it. They just ran around the outside of the pen playing. They where 7 months old. Don't get me wrong I was ready to cull them right then, but a buddy of mine told me not to give up on them just yet because they are still young. So I didn't cull them. I keep taking them to the bay pen and letting them run around the outside of the pen while we worked the other dogs. When they turned 8 months old my male cat turned on and started baying from the outside of the pen, but we didn't put him in the bay pen until he was tring to climb the pen which was about 2 weeks later. My female still wouldn't have nothing to do with it. When she turned 10 months old she finally turned on.  They are a year old now. Now they are doing really good in the bay pen and doing pretty good in the woods also. They both bay really tight and our getting pretty gritty. They will try to catch anything under 100 lbs right now. They have been on about 10 to 12 hogs in the woods. So don't give up on them just yet. You will need patience with these dogs, that for sure. So good luck with your catahoulas and don't forget they are still pups.

   James

[shawn]

Noah is right, if you got some other dogs to work with, cull those 2 and work with the others, if not, id let em be puppies for awile, put em up a few months then try again later.

[jdt]

this is what i would do .

   if you just got them and they ve been looking through a chainlink fence all their life , giv em a little more time .

 if you ve had them awhile and / or they ve been running loose and able to get out and see the real world  and still dont show any interest , id get them out of my feed . and get something that wanted to get with the program .

[Bryant]

I used to have pretty short patience when it came to pups like some others have mentioned.

The absolute best dog I ever owned (or even hunted behind) wouldn't look at a hog at a year old.  She was such a good looking dog that even as frustrated as I was at her, I let her stay around and started just letting the kids play with her.  One day about two months later I was loading up to go hunting and she was bouncing around all excited so to shut her up, I threw her in the trailer also.  Long story short, she struck and bayed a hog that day, and again the next morning.  Somehow, the switch came on and when it did I think that dog had the ability to make a hog in the woods where there were none.

Gyp died last year of histoplasmosis, but during the short couple of years I hunted with her she taught me many things one of which was patience.

My .02