Independence / me-too dogs.

[joshg223]

In hunting most everybody runs multiple dogs on the ground so how do you prevent dogs from becoming reliant on the others to do all the work and just following along the better dogs. Is independence bred or is it something you can put in them to an extent by hunting them solo


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[Judge peel]

I think that is just a roll of the dice as where it pops up from breeding. But if the dogs are rotated enough I feel like a decent dog will step up if it knows it has to. Most dogs will always do there best if they can it’s a fine line between almost as good and better so if a dog can do better he will if he ain’t out doing another more then likely he can’t


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[t-dog]

Myself I think it can be bred for. Want to has a whole bunch to do with it. As soon as I know my pups know we are headed to catch hogs, I start giving them a head start so that they have the opportunity to strike and bay first. They will beat an older dog to a hog here and there but not regular. If they beat my older dog regular then we gotta a problem, lol. Hustle or lack of can be a habit. Dogs can get lazy if you allow them to. Some dogs are competitive and there are times when a young dog will give up trying to beat the older dog out of sheer frustration. I seen those type young dogs put in the lead role and come on and make heck of a good dogs. Some are just counterfeit. Jmo

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[l.h.cracker]

I tend to have a problem with this line I'm fooling with being to independent they all always want to run and bay their own hog ,sometimes it can be frustrating but I won't feed a me too dog so they must know that's a good way to live round here lol.

[Judge peel]

One thing I always say is all dogs behind the lead dog on a strike have just become a me to dog. I call a me to dog is a dog that won’t leave out until there is barking or never ever finds its own hog. I learned a long time ago if you got fairly independent dogs you best only hunt one or two or your going to have a mess on your hand Johny bayed 2 miles this way and Jenny bayed 2 miles that way


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[t-dog]

Lmbo been there

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[cajunl]

A hog dog to me is one that will bay its own hog. If it cant do it a lone by 2 years old it is a cull to me. I normally hunt no more than 2 very seldom 3 at at time. They are all looking for there own. The majority of the time they are bayed alone. Most of the times the biggest hogs I catch are bayed by one dog. I start young dogs by hunting by themselves.

[joshg223]

A hog dog to me is one that will bay its own hog. If it cant do it a lone by 2 years old it is a cull to me. I normally hunt no more than 2 very seldom 3 at at time. They are all looking for there own. The majority of the time they are bayed alone. Most of the times the biggest hogs I catch are bayed by one dog. I start young dogs by hunting by themselves.

That’s exactly how I feel. But can’t get there it seems like. I Think Most people would be real disappointed in their all-star dog if they were to take it to the woods solo. A man could shorten a lot of these 4-5hr races with using one dog IMO.


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[Reuben]

It is best to breed for rolling out naturally...test for it in pups...

When around three months old load them up straight to the dog box, you want them fresh wanting to do something...take pups to open woods and turn them out...hopefully some will roll out like they have done it all their lives...if they haven’t left out just sit back and relax and give them the chance to roll out...if after a while no go then slowly walk along and they should follow and then you stop so they have a chance to get bored...and if they roll out wait on them to get back and then move 200 yards and repeat...

With grown dogs that should be going on their own...you can do them the same as the pups but hold back the dogs that roll out or leave them at home...if holding back the dogs that roll out have someone stay with them to keep them quiet...

it is best to turn out one grown dog every now and then just to make sure they don’t get used to partnering up...sometimes if we don’t have that many hunting spots we tend to turn out 3 or 4 dogs each time and as a result then partnering up can become a problem...

Sometimes me too dogs can bring something to the table like stopping power...

[Reuben]

I believe we can catch more hogs with one strike/bay dog and two lead in catch dogs than with 3 or 4 strike dogs...

[t-dog]

Reuben that's what I try to do with my dogs. I don't have the money, time or desire to feed a 1 dimensional dog. They have to be ready, willing, and able to do it all.

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[Judge peel]

Josh that’s the best way to see what you got.


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[Reuben]

Reuben that's what I try to do with my dogs. I don't have the money, time or desire to feed a 1 dimensional dog. They have to be ready, willing, and able to do it all.

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Yes indeed...

[l.h.cracker]

One thing that I have noticed is most hounds and heavy hound crosses will pack up and most will make a race.For instance there are very few culls to Deer doggers because most will pack up and make a race they generally have 1 or 2 that actually can start and finish and 10 that will run or follow(imo feeding Culls).I personally don't hunt this way and neither will my dogs I think the true stock bred Cur dogs were bred to do it on their own and that's how they prefer it.If they don't than they're a cull.I have a very good gyp that will not run a covered track period if its got a dog on it she figures it's their hog and she'll go find her own run right past a bay to go bay her own.If She starts it and another dog joins in that's fine she'll stay and bay all day but she refuses to help another dog on "their hog".I've bought several finished hounds over the years that were nothing more than help dogs(Culls) and the owners had no idea because"They've been on hundreds of hogs and were at every bay rolled out with the other dogs and made every race" but looked like lost fools when I asked them to do it their own.This post is not intended to bash hounds by any means or say Curs are better than hounds because I know plenty of great hounds and houndsmen.I was just saying that in general hounds have the "go" to pack up and make a race and this can be very deceiving as to what your actually feeding.Generally speaking Curs that are Culls show themselves much better because they won't leave, won't make a race and won't be at the bay everytime.Once again I'm just giving my opinions I have made from my personal experiences and by no means am I pitting hounds against Curs saying one is better.

[t-dog]

My dogs may all leave in one direction and as soon as you look at the garmin, they 3 or 400 yards apart or more. As soon as one barks they are headed to them. Once I've got the hog they leave and are going to find another. If I have 3 dogs on the ground, I could wind up with one to three bays. That's fine with me. I remember a hunt that we killed 18. I believe WOW was here. I dropped 3 finished dogs. I don't know why except I couldn't leave any of them at home that morning. We had dogs in three sets of woods and all three bayed about the same time. Out of 18, we probably had more than one dog at 7 or 8 hogs. The rest of the time, they were solo bays. It was tiring but damn fun. I like that type of independence. If they aren't fixing to bay the go to the dog that is. If something else is bayed but another dog is fixing to put it's own hog up, I don't want it to abandon it just go to the bay. I'm usually gonna hunt 3 dogs if I'm the only dog owner. But sometimes there are more depending on who is with me or I'm with. I also try to switch up who goes or rotate so there isn't as likely a buddy system. It's hard to leave any of them at home because if I'm feeding them I like and enjoy them.

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[joshg223]

T-dog  my dogs do the same thing and can even keep all the dogs on the buggy and that single dog will go do it solo but as soon as you load that dog and only that dog besides a catchdog they won’t. My dogs don’t nessarily with each other but  I think they understand that other dogs are there to show up. So my question is that bred in them or a learned habit?


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[t-dog]

I think both. I think some have independence that like Cracker explained, she understood exactly what was happening but was there to do her thing not someone else's. Others are independent enough that they will do it on their own but will also honor others. Smart dogs learn what you expect from them. They know the drill. To me it's a lot similar to the dual purpose dogs. We use to have dogs that knew if we loaded horses we were going after cattle and if we loaded a wheeler then we were going after hogs. They had it in them to do both and learned when to do what.

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[Judge peel]

Man y’all got some good dogs cuz when I drop mine they run around pissing and number 2ing. I think a lot of it is how there started and handled. I seen dogs hunt there but off and not find anything then a dog that was just farting around go right in there and pop one up. I think it boils down to if the dog can it will. I don’t have a problem with a dog needing a running buddy but what I won’t do is haul 10 dogs to catch a hog


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[t-dog]

Lmbo, mine gotta do all that too judge. You know, you talking about the dogs hunting hard and then ole lazy bones goes in and puts one up behind them, I've seen that too. I think there are variables in that. I use to hunt with an old man. One of the first trips we made together was to crop land in the river bottom. We drove up and parked on the south side of a dry lake bed that was grown over with brush, it was pretty sizable. He rolled the windows down, turned heavy metal music up.load as he could and started shooting in the air. I started laughing and then we drove up.and down that side of the woods a couple passes. Then he stopped and we cast the dogs. When they left he said I guess you think I've lost it and I laughed again and said well I wasn't gonna say but..... He laughed and said well maybe but I was waking those hogs up. I said what? His theory was that the hogs were in some pretty dense briars and cover and that once they get in there and get bedded that its sometimes hard for a dog to smell them because the cover is so thick that scent doesn't escape well especially if the breeze can't get to it. So, when he woke those hogs up they would start moving around some, which would create scent and wild like those hogs were, they were going to leave for the river or bigger wooded areas. Sure enough, it wasn't any time and we had dogs bayed almost simultaneously in the woods and the open field opposite us. It was a technique  that worked for him consistantly in certain areas like that place. I'm not sure that the hard hunting dogs don't go through and stir those well hidden hogs with their presence sometimes and just keep traveling past only to allow ole lazy bones a fresh whiff of ole porky. Maybe I'm as crazy as the old man, lol but I think there is something to it. I think it's especially true with boar hogs.

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[Muddy-N-Bloody]

I wrote something for this last night and then deleted it
Then bout hour later typed out something and deleted it to.
Anyway
Bout like everything else - everyone has different opinions and more important different ways of hunting

Me- to dogs just like stated above needs another dog period

Preferences on dogs are different for different people- I want my dog to go to another dog in some cases- so if you running big boy and u want all favors going your way - I will turn a dog to one to help run stop bay and let’s catch this hog !
This to me is not a me-to dog
Unless this dog can not start and finish its own hog then that is more of a me-to dog
Some may disagree with this - oh well


Now I will say that In a case of jumping a group if a dog takes its own hog and then stops and goes to another dog that is “me-toing “
Not tolerated

If a dog won’t or can’t do it by themselves but is at all the bays and caught hogs this is what people call help dogs / me-to dogs in my opinion
Yes I have in the past fed  and have used them but would rather not

The way I hunt is turn one dog out on a track or sign and let him find the hog or hogs then run from there - I expect all my dogs to be that dog that I can turn out first to find the hogs - sometimes I’ll turn out two- but normally it’s one and a young dog - once the young dog ever does it by itself then I’ll put that  young dog out and start to push that dog to be the one used to finds the hogs first- after the hogs found.... we run what we brung then but it depends on what place we are at but normally they will bay alil and then run and then that’s when we start packing to that dog - if the dog bays them in the bed ( it is always most normal to be in the  bed cause I only hunt in the mornings - don’t hunt at night anymore)
Then we will go to him and catch the hog or turn a dog to him to tighten bay or  turn a dog to him cause we know there more than one hog then they will then relay- or wait till dog leaves with other hog - just different for different places cause everyone knows tht different hogs at different places act different depending on pressure-hunt a place enuff you figure them out and kinda know what needs to happen
Anyway....

hounds, curs, hound cur crosses don’t matter what it is- it goes back to caliber of dog and I’m gone add in handling - agree or not but yes handling
Dogs helping don’t mean it’s a help dog but
If a dog can do it then it will normally —- if a dog is at the point the dog won’t do it till another dog is down then he is a me -to dog

But I have also seen a nice dog only used to go to other dogs then dog change hands or other dogs get killed out and then this dog gets out truck and stands with head in air listening for a dog - he got ruined by just being turned to others-handling - this is why I alternate my dogs being out first
I believe a man can make a “me-to dog” but then again that can go back to caliber or dog

Dogs that don’t go to other dogs - I believe it’s a trait from stock sense and can be used very nicely in different ways especially in getting numbers- that’s a good way to run and bay a couple different hogs at one time like stated above- my only thing with that is if you know one is running the big boar hog that dog is just gone have to finish it- sometimes that’s difficult but a dog that does that is a very nice dog -

By no way shape form or fashion am I acting like I got it figured out cause I dang sho don’t -this just kinda my opinion and how I do and see it -
I like a dog that will do it whenever however and that’s what I’m breeding and hunting for

Alright I’m done
Leave y’all alone now



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