How gentle are your dogs? Answers from the more experienced hunters please.

[cdc505]

How gentle are your dogs or how gentle do you let them be? Do you pet them when not hunting and let them out around your house? Or when you go hunting do you open the gate let em roll then open the door and stand back til they load up? I've heard a few guys say don't mess with them much and they will hunt better I realize not all dogs are the same so let's just consider answers for your average tempermented dog. Thanks

[brad s]

I give all my dogs lots of attention but I don't let them run around at home. When I get ready to hunt I drop my tailgate let em out an they jump in the truck.

[Muddogkennels]

i love my dogs just like they show it back . i let my pups run around when feeding or in the garden planting or just fill they need bonding time with big dogs.  . so if u want them to come to u when your calling them off a hog then spend time with them.  kids can play with them an pups can play with main strike dog for bonding. but i will not touch them in the woods . posion ivy sucks . i pay a kid to wash them after hunting .

[chads7376]

I let all of my dogs out of the kennels almost daily to run the 3 acre fenced in area on my place. This is also where my house is so they interact with my kids and anybody that comes over. It doesn't affect their drive to hunt whatsoever. On that note dogs that show any aggression or scared/skittish dogs don't stay on my yard.

[dblackwell]

Gentle?...no, but do they have a handle?...yes. Most of mine will let you pet them but don't really want you to however they will roll out when told come in when called get out when told and get in here when told and walk behind my horse like a cow dog. I like to leave pups running loose at the house to get a little bond tell them and let them learn there name. I feed in my trailer so they learn to load up when told and crack a whip at them when barking during the night or getting out of line they get to understand that the crack means uh oh and this is how I call my old dogs out of the woods.

[T-Bob Parker]

Gentle?...no, but do they have a handle?...yes. Most of mine will let you pet them but don't really want you to however they will roll out when told come in when called get out when told and get in here when told and walk behind my horse like a cow dog. I like to leave pups running loose at the house to get a little bond tell them and let them learn there name. I feed in my trailer so they learn to load up when told and crack a whip at them when barking during the night or getting out of line they get to understand that the crack means uh oh and this is how I call my old dogs out of the woods.

X2 on everything but the horse, but I'm about to buy one of those too.

[Shotgun wg]

Pet mine when I feed. I don't cut them loose till we go hunting. They are fine with people and kids but are a lil rough for my 2 year old. When we catch a hog I can put a lead on my RCD and the rest will follow me out without a lead. I figure a dog wants to please u. The more he likes u the more he is willing to please. I know my labs are surely that way. They will do whatever I tell them. My RCD don't like coming home or being on a lead or stuck in a box so when he gets loose he won't let u catch him till he's tired but he hunts the way he is suppose to.

[YELLOWBLACKMASK]

They will all come when called...but are not pets in any way.

Dont mind a dog being a lil standoffish or cautious ....but the wild eyed coyotes are all handled the same.   

[Black Smith]

I will turn them loose in the yard let them run a few minutes. I try not to be pet them to often whine hunting cause that means they are too close!!!!LOL

[setxhogdogs]

My two main dogs don't like to be touched or petted....however they tolerate me touching them but a stranger will never lay a hand on them! I never touch them in the woods they load up on command!

The Original Setxhogdogs

[LoftinCattleCo]

All of my dogs are babies outside the pen even my bulldog and will act on command... They love kids don't bother horses... But when you drop em in a cow pasture or in the woods and ride out on a horse they get gone some kinda nasty... My bulldog is strictly lead in catchdog that's house broke lol .... But my cur dogs go both ways cows or hogs.

[LoftinCattleCo]

Since I can remember my dad has raised BMC... I have no idea why but we only raised puppy's out of red BM gyps and every gyp we had you could pet in the pen but was not gonna touch em once the gait opened but their puppies would be nothing like that .

[TeJaShOgSlAyER]

i show my dogs attention and pet them when i feed them, when i am suiting them up to go to war, love on them after a caught hog, when i am taking everything off after hunt, and thats it the cur dogs do not get to get out of there pen unless we are going hunting unless its a pup, the bulldogs on the other hand they get let out to only go run jump in the tank and then throw em the ball a few times and put them right back up. the reason for not letting cur dogs out cause i make them hunt there a$$ off when i dump them out of the box lol so its resting time for them in kennel lol

[Acwells0808]

I pet mine around the house ...i don't let them run till i hunt ..however i do not pet them at all in the woods and if they do good on a hunt i give them a pat or two when they get loaded and tell them good job..they know to if they did good or not.lol

[AnotherRunner]

My two main dogs don't like to be touched or petted....however they tolerate me touching them but a stranger will never lay a hand on them! I never touch them in the woods they load up on command!

The Original Setxhogdogs

X2 those dogs hate to be petted lol never saw the like. Around the house I show them attention and pet them, in the woods I don't touch them they need to be hunting! Showing them attention at home hasn't affected them in the woods wanting to play or be petted ect.. I think it helps them come to you when you want to catch them up while hunting. I've saw some dogs that get loose from the box and couldn't catch them the whole hunt and waste time trying to catch them. I know its a good thing they want to hunt but when its not where you want em...

[txhogsanddogs]

I never turn mine loose at the house.  I don't pet them at the house either.  I pet them after a hunt.  When i pull up to hunt i take them from the box on a lead and don't turn them loose till I'm ready for them to get ahead.  I like skidish but not scared to death.  Mine will come when called and load up when told. 

Now, since one of my older ones has proven himself time and time again he gets loved on a little at the house!  I've gotten softer with him in his old age, he even gets to ride inside my mega cab from time to time and it hasn't effected his drive.

[cdc505]

Good info. I don't touch mine much cause I guess they don't like it they wag tails when they see me and come in when I call but they won't lick your hand and pee on your boot at the same time. I let them out one at a time to clean kennels and when they here a feed sack shaking they haul butt back to eat. Catch dog he does whatever he wants lay on porch, run around house, guard wife, etc but still stays in pen.

[chads7376]

One thing I have figured out is, if a dog has the "hunt" in them it really doesnt matter what you do their gonna go hunt when dropped in the woods. They either have it or they don't.

[AnotherRunner]

One thing I have figured out is, if a dog has the "hunt" in them it really doesnt matter what you do their gonna go hunt when dropped in the woods. They either have it or they don't.

X2 I agree

[Reuben]

One thing I have figured out is, if a dog has the "hunt" in them it really doesnt matter what you do their gonna go hunt when dropped in the woods. They either have it or they don't.

X2 I agree

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