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

[Muddogkennels]

agree. The dogs that have it {hunt} peting the dogs dont make a #2. yall just have yall own 2 cent for caring for your pets ..  remember there not live stock !! thats a thing some of yall have stuck in yalls head.owell only my 2 cents..lolol 

[TexasHogDogs]

Well I go out and mess with my dogs everyday.  May not be but a pat on the head and how ya doing then some times.   Then sometimes I will just go out and sit with them a hour are two they sure like those days . My dogs dont come out of the pens are off the chains unless we are going hunting .  Only the pups get to run the yard .  I want them to know its all business when they come out of the pens are off the chains .

[firemedic]

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.

X4.......I pet my dogs when I'm feeding them.....I LIKE my dogs and I want them to like me,.....I get more out of them that way seems like. One dog of mine will let anyone catch her in the woods.....the other not so easy to catch....it's taken years for her to let some of the folks I hunt with catch her when they need to. I want mine to be easy to catch by the people I hunt with. If they're running a hog and one of my bunch kills it, I don't want to have to go all the way over there to get my dogs, I want them to let my buddies bring them back to me.  As for the whip idea.....mine would come running and looking for the hog that you just shot at and be a bit chapped at you for missing it.

[dblackwell]

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.

X4.......I pet my dogs when I'm feeding them.....I LIKE my dogs and I want them to like me,.....I get more out of them that way seems like. One dog of mine will let anyone catch her in the woods.....the other not so easy to catch....it's taken years for her to let some of the folks I hunt with catch her when they need to. I want mine to be easy to catch by the people I hunt with. If they're running a hog and one of my bunch kills it, I don't want to have to go all the way over there to get my dogs, I want them to let my buddies bring them back to me.  As for the whip idea.....mine would come running and looking for the hog that you just shot at and be a bit chapped at you for missing it.

About that whip, when you have a trashy dog on your hands. Get you a little rat shot and when you catch them in the act bust em!(from a distance of corse) usually they will come to you for releaf like what the heck was that and they will remember that loud bang. after that when you pop your whip they will usually stop whatever they are doing and find you. If you tried baying and shooting over anything from my house you better make it count because they will scatter I'm sure!

As far as the other goes I agree with chad if a dog has the desire to hunt it don't make a difference what you do with them at home. However I was taught young that a dog is a tool no diff than a horse. It has a job and does it there are no free meals. Just as a tool I use them when I need them and put them away when I don't. You won't catch me in the pasture or in my barn just loving on a horse and you won't find me watching my dogs chase butterflys in my yard. It's just not how I'm made and I don't have the time.

[aussie black mouth curs]

1.  I make a habit of patting my dogs once when they get let out and not much after that.  I believe that being overexcited makes them silly and they can be hard to get rid of.  I hate dogs hanging around the table if we are outside, they are allowed to come for one pat then get told "go away".  Same thing in hunting camp, young dogs are tied up and older dogs must stay away from the kitchen area.

2.  I don't talk to my dogs much, except when giving a command.  I think it makes them listen more. 

T

[Bowtech99]

I try to spend individual time with each dog.  Walk em out to the pond pet em an play with them.

I dont believe my dogs are tools. The ones that make dogs and earn it, are part of the family. When i get to the bay i want the dog to be relieved to see me, to be able to trust me and i trust him/her. Also the only one i want handling my dogs are me. I'm pretty picky, I dont want just anybody handling them.

Seen too many "tools" neglected, thrown around, and such. Thats why you hear guys say, "Dont expect your hog dogs to live very long" or "ol hog dogs are a dime a dozen"  I politley disagree, I do expect them to live long lives and I dont believe they are dime a dozen. Too each his own, I just feel like the dog peforms better when they are happy and enjoy what they do.....

[AnotherRunner]

I try to spend individual time with each dog.  Walk em out to the pond pet em an play with them.

I dont believe my dogs are tools. The ones that make dogs and earn it, are part of the family. When i get to the bay i want the dog to be relieved to see me, to be able to trust me and i trust him/her. Also the only one i want handling my dogs are me. I'm pretty picky, I dont want just anybody handling them.

Seen too many "tools" neglected, thrown around, and such. Thats why you hear guys say, "Dont expect your hog dogs to live very long" or "ol hog dogs are a dime a dozen"  I politley disagree, I do expect them to live long lives and I dont believe they are dime a dozen. Too each his own, I just feel like the dog peforms better when they are happy and enjoy what they do.....

Well said. I agree

[Blake F]

My dogs see me once a day, for about 10 minutes while I feed. If they come out of their kennel, it is because I am cleaning the kennel (so they go on a chain) or because we are loading up to hunt.

My young dogs are hard to catch in the woods (if I spent more time with them they probably wouldnt be this way); my older dogs, well depending on the dog, will either jump in the truck when called (they like to hood) or will come to me when I call them. When I drop my ground dogs, they run and run and run until I tell them to come back so we can go....I dont call my dogs off of hogs, just never had to, and frankly dont know that I will be able to or will ever want to....if we are away from the truck and need to get the dogs back to where we are supposed to be, then I will put a lead on them. My dogs might follow me without a lead, but only until they smell a hog, then another race is on. So I lead them if I dont want them hunting.

It is very interesting all the different responses to this question. I had always heard "yard dogs" or "kid dogs" wont get out and hunt, but this thread proved me wrong!!!!

[cody l]

I try to spend individual time with each dog.  Walk em out to the pond pet em an play with them.

I dont believe my dogs are tools. The ones that make dogs and earn it, are part of the family. When i get to the bay i want the dog to be relieved to see me, to be able to trust me and i trust him/her. Also the only one i want handling my dogs are me. I'm pretty picky, I dont want just anybody handling them.

Seen too many "tools" neglected, thrown around, and such. Thats why you hear guys say, "Dont expect your hog dogs to live very long" or "ol hog dogs are a dime a dozen"  I politley disagree, I do expect them to live long lives and I dont believe they are dime a dozen. Too each his own, I just feel like the dog peforms better when they are happy and enjoy what they do.....

My dogs are tools I have 2 house dogs that are pets but the problem I have seen with people treating there hog dogs like pets is they seem to overlook the dogs faults because they care about the dog.

[bob]

when I drive up from work or turn on the lights at 4am to go to work I can hear my bulldog barking at me , { dad lets go hunting} I luv my dogs , I give all nine a good petting when I feed , the bulldogs I run on the river a few miles a week to keep them fit , they luv this time , all the dogs have been in the house on the couch healing up at one time or another, I have a horse walker to walk the bay dogs on the summer to help keep them fit , I cant turn them loose because they are geared to hunt and will leave out ,they are very gentle and part of the family , for some reason ever since a little boy dogs have become very close to me ,the two i had growing up would follow me to school , lay by my bike all day and then follow me home ,my american bulldog in the house flips out every day to see me walk in the door , she dosent do this to the rest of the family , Ive herd guys say  that dog is just a slave , thats the exact oppisite of the way I feel about mine , there my friends , my family , my hunting dogs , I can go talk to them for hrs , theyll just sit and listen no matter what you say there happy , you just cant get that anywhere LOL

[jon]

almost every afternoon i let mine out of there kennels. they run around play with the kids and what have ya. give them attention every day. But when we're hunting i'll only give a pat on the head After caught hog then they know time to roll back out. i used to not give a dog anything more then a pat on the head when i feed but idk guess i got soft once married and two kids later lol cause everyone plays and what not with em (unless trashed on a skunk lol)

[LTcaughthog]

There like any other working species . The work for you and if they do a good job pet them and praise them

[Eric]

I play fetch with them... roll in the flowers... they ride in my lap when we hunt... They either want to hunt hog or not.

[hog bit]

My dogs are all ad gentle as can be. This is my main dog. He will hunt his tail off. When he checks in, I pet him up and off he goes.

[dub]

That would depend on what you call gentle. If you ask me then my dogs are gentle. If you ask me wife then my dogs are not gentle. My kids can go outside and may get pushed by a dog but if I have to worry about my kids getting hurt then the dog is gone.

[floridahogdoghunter]

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.

x 2 my lead dog gets let out everyonce in awhile but i put her on a run everyother day. i pet her everytime i go out there and if she comes back to me in the woods ill pet her she will wag her tail then is back to hunting, but she has proven that she hunts and she hunts damn hard at that she is a proven dog no amount of petting will ruin her of hunting hard. although my 8 month old pup does not get let out only put on a run everyonce in awhile. i never pet him in the woods becouse he hasnt proven crap to me yet. not saying he doesnt do anything but he does not produce hogs like a proven dog. the catch dog gets let out all the time. take him with me just about everywhere i go.