How to get a solid team of dogs without paying an arm and a leg

[Mr. Oinker]

I'm new to the sport and have got an untrained 3/4 BMC 1/4 Pit that I am looking to start, but where should I go from there? Any breeds that are overlooked (cheaper) that make solid dogs? Has anyone used dogs from the animal shelter before? Should I just bite the bullet and come to terms with spending half my life's savings on a good set of dogs?

[Judge peel]

There are many ways to go in this game. The best advice I can give is go slow and keep your wallet closed. I would put the money on a good cd so your dogs coming up work can pay off


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mr. Oinker]

Thanks for the advice. Do you or anyone have any experience hunting hounds? I sure like the looks of a walker or bluetick or a cross of one of them but I'm afraid I could never get one to be silent on track.

[Black Streak]

Depends on how patient you are.
      Couple things you might consider.    You want loose dogs or gritty dogs?  Curs or hounds?    Hunting big properties  or small ones.    Best to know what style of dog you believe would fit your hunt style and try to get dogs that would compliment  you and one another instead of having dogs so divers the they don't work well together as a team.  
    If you want to be catching  pigs by January,  might better buy some started dogs.  If  your patient you can buy pups.  
Buyer be ware!!!   Good luck to ya!

[dallas22]

Just keep this in mind one mans junk is another mans treasure. Im still in process  in getting  my pack together. But this past year i decided to cull hard and im down to one dog but im planning on getting a good pack this year. The style  im choosing  is running two jagds, running catch dog  and a big catch dog. Its a style that alot of hog doggers will probly not like but its my yard. My best advice to yo u buddy is listening to guys been doing it awhile but be careful for some doggers once u get u some decent dogs they might try to dog your dogs. Just keep in mind where u wanna be.

[Mr. Oinker]

I want my best find dog to be loose just so less chance of injury but also want one or two tight, gritty baying dogs. I hunt small properties so a short-medium range dog will be fine. Looking for silent on track. Also want my gritty dogs to help catch with catch dog(s). I like hounds but understand the difficulty to get them to hunt silent. I am also very interested in GSP crosses, I love watching those bird dogs hunt haha.

[Judge peel]

Hounds are great but I wouldn't suggest getting a started or young dog if your not experienced with them. I would go with a good established hound. This way you decide if there for you and recoup your investment.   


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[liefalwepon]

Make friends with some hog doggers that breed their own dogs. Also there's free pups on the ethd dog trade fairly often


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WayOutWest]

If you can find someone who will take you with them and you can prove that you are what you think you are they could very well give you something they are breeding and teach you how not to screw the dog up. Keep yer mouth shut and prove yourself will take you a long way.

[Mr. Oinker]

If you can find someone who will take you with them and you can prove that you are what you think you are they could very well give you something they are breeding and teach you how not to screw the dog up. Keep yer mouth shut and prove yourself will take you a long way.

I was mostly talking about how on the dog selling sites I see dogs for sale everyone wants $300 for an unregistered, un-started pup that may not turn out no matter how bad you want it to. I'm not scared of training my own, I have experience training working dogs. But as for "proving what I think I am" I'm confused. What is there to prove? That I can stab/tie a caught hog, or not make a bunch of noise during a hunt? This is a sport/hobby for me. I'm all for respecting the wisdom of those who know more than me but you make it sound like a cult or military boot camp or something. I've been on many hunts with friends who run dogs and I'm looking to get into it myself. Never had to prove anything to them.

[l.h.cracker]

I had good luck with getting pups out of a proven line and a couple older dogs from people to get the pups going but unless you are really good friends with someone who has a lot of good dogs you're going to be paying for a good dog to train pups in my neck of the woods.I feel that you can only teach a pup so much but a seasoned dog can teach it much more. As far as hounds go I can't comment but if you're wanting silent dogs don't try to find one that hasn't been bred to be just find silent curs you also said your tracts of land are smaller another reason to consider Curs rather than hounds.By no means am I an authority on the subject but I managed to build a decent set of dogs on my own like this also Judge was correct in that you need a quality catch dog as well. Good luck.

[lacrash]

Question1: many people start their dog in a pen with a hog to make sure the dog has interest. Some believe that a pen will ruin a  dog n only do mock hunts n drags for their dog. I think both are a fine way to start your dog.
Question2: Every breed of dog has been tried on hog. Some like certain breeds vs other breeds so i will say NO to your question on a cheaper overlooked dog. If you can think of it someone has tried it.
Question3: Im sure someone has made a dog out of a pound pup if he spends the amount of time some of us spend with our pups.
Question4: Its all up to you how much you wanna invest in this sport. It is expensive as heck though. If you wanna try a high bred dog for x amount of $ then go for it brother.

[Slim9797]

Lots of good people to meet when it comes to this sport. I've been lucky enough to come into contact with more than 1 person who has either given me a honest finished good dog or a well bred pup. My advice after a year of getting started would be don't get so hung up on a dog that you can't cull it but also be patient. Expect too much too soon and your dogs will disappoint you every time. Relax like had to learn to do and my mutts started surprising me

[Curcross1987]

If you can find someone who will take you with them and you can prove that you are what you think you are they could very well give you something they are breeding and teach you how not to screw the dog up. Keep yer mouth shut and prove yourself will take you a long way.

I was mostly talking about how on the dog selling sites I see dogs for sale everyone wants $300 for an unregistered, un-started pup that may not turn out no matter how bad you want it to. I'm not scared of training my own, I have experience training working dogs. But as for "proving what I think I am" I'm confused. What is there to prove? That I can stab/tie a caught hog, or not make a bunch of noise during a hunt? This is a sport/hobby for me. I'm all for respecting the wisdom of those who know more than me but you make it sound like a cult or military boot camp or something. I've been on many hunts with friends who run dogs and I'm looking to get into it myself. Never had to prove anything to them.

[Curcross1987]

The only thing I can think that he means by prove yourself is to show you are trustworthy of someone giving you a young dog and it will be taken care of and not be for sale the next week not saying you don't take care of your dogs or you would be the kind of person to turn right around and sale a pup you got for free but these are the things I want proved to me before I give someone a nice pup or young dog

[Mr. Oinker]

Here are some pictures of my BMC mix. I've ran him a few times with some finished dogs but he is still a little shy. I am just gonna go ahead and look for a finished catch dog or two, but I want to keep working with this one until he can find his own. He has legs for days and a strong nose but he is scared of men. He will obey every woman's command who has been around him but runs from me and I've never laid a finger on him  .

[Pwilson_10]

U don't need a team just one dog and a gun


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Swine-Stalker]

^take his advise. I have a loose dog that bays hogs pretty much every hunt. On hot days im hesitant to send a cd to a loose dog. If it breaks, my cd will over heat and die. Her and a .22 and I would certainly get more hogs.

[Mr. Oinker]

^take his advise. I have a loose dog that bays hogs pretty much every hunt. On hot days im hesitant to send a cd to a loose dog. If it breaks, my cd will over heat and die. Her and a .22 and I would certainly get more hogs.

I would like to catch them and haul them out of the woods alive. Hogs are selling for quite a bit here in West Texas. And before you say get a trap or anything like that, I like watching dogs work. There is nothing as exhilarating as seeing dogs on a big hog.

[Georgia-Hawgs]

Cool lookin dog right there.