Can a hunting dog be both a pet and a hunting dog?

[SouthernYankee]

My fiancé and I have gotten into hog hunting with dogs. Some good friends of ours have a Catahoula that they have priced very reasonably to us. I’d like to get a few hunting dogs eventually. I’ve always loved the dog and she’s always been partial to me. If I could convince the fiancé to let me get her she would still be a hog dog but I’d like to domesticate her a little.

My concern is she’s always been kept in an outdoor kennel, her training includes hunting, leading, and coming when called. Beyond that she is not house broke, does not know sit/stay, or any other ‘pet’ comforts. She is not dog aggressive at all and minds well but being a Catahoula can be a little hard headed. She’s gritty, which is why she is a good hog dog. She’s about 3 years old now.

We have a JRT that I’ve spent the time with and is well trained, she will not leave the farm property unless told it’s ‘ok’. So I’m familiar with training the stubborn breeds. We have house cats in addition to horses and cows… my main concern is keeping her a hunting dog but I would also like to work with her and transition her into a pet too. I’m sure she will have to be closely monitored with the cats but she has been trained to only hunt hogs so she shouldn’t ‘trash’ on cats, cows, or horses.

Is she too old to be able to distinguish the difference between work and home? Is she too old to be ‘domesticated’ (she isn’t wild but has lived a hunting dog life). Would I be better off just waiting and getting a puppy?

[Epona142]

While I am not against hog hunting with dogs, I would have so much trouble doing it myself. Even with state of the art armor and well trained dogs and special care, hog dogs are often injured badly or killed during their line of work. Imagine having to scoop up your pet when his organs are hanging out. No, no I could not do it.

BUT I have met many a hunting dog of all types that was a fabulous pet at home, lolling about on the couch. They know when it’s time for work. I hunt with my Chinese Crested, but for much smaller game. Of course, she went in the opposite direction - from fancy pampered show dog life to farm and working life. Never heard her complain though.

[S1969]

Would you want this dog other than the fact that the owners are offering it to you? Or are you feeling like you should take the dog because the owners no longer want it? I guess I’m not clear if you really want this dog or just want a hunting dog at some point.

It’s really hard to say how this dog would adapt to living in a house or to your other dog. I have an older bitch that started out in a field trial home, lived in a kennel and in training or hunting all the time. She is pretty good as a house dog, but while she’s 100% reliable not to pee/poop in a crate, she’s not 100% if left uncrated. It took a while to house train her to our house - she had a very short “I gotta go” prompt, and if you didn’t catch it immediately she would go.

In your case I would ask people more familiar with the breed. I have Brittanys, and they are a very different temperament than Catahoulas. The “grittiness” you describe that makes her a good hog dog is not a term we would generally use when describing a good Brittany…driven, or birdy, but not gritty. I’m not sure how well this breed adapts to being a “pet” regardless of what its upbringing/training has been.

[SouthernYankee]

[QUOTE=Epona142;8087912]
While I am not against hog hunting with dogs, I would have so much trouble doing it myself. Even with state of the art armor and well trained dogs and special care, hog dogs are often injured badly or killed during their line of work. Imagine having to scoop up your pet when his organs are hanging out. No, no I could not do it. [/QUOTE]

Thank you for the reply, and the open mind. I’m not new to hog hunting, and have helped stitch up dogs multiple times. She’s knows her job and is very good at it. She is not a catch dog but rather tracks and bays the hogs. While the risk is still there she doesn’t get any closer than needed and this season has managed to stay out of the way and not get cut up. I’m not trying to sound cold about it but she has a job that she does well and while I would like to have her as a pet also hunting will always be her first job.

Which is why I’m concerned with the lifestyle change. If anyone has tried to do it before. Catahoula’s can tend to be intense and hard headed, which is what they were bred to do.

[SouthernYankee]

[QUOTE=S1969;8087963]
Would you want this dog other than the fact that the owners are offering it to you? Or are you feeling like you should take the dog because the owners no longer want it? I guess I’m not clear if you really want this dog or just want a hunting dog at some point.[/QUOTE]

I have wanted this dog since the friends bought her. They have offered to sell her to me/us because she’s taken a liking to me like I’ve taken a liking to her. Something clicked

[Epona142]

You won’t find me calling you cold - in my world as well, most animals have a job to do and I expect them to do it. The majority of people have to work to earn their living, and so do most of the critters on the farm. Nothing wrong with that!

[wireweiners]

I have successfully house trained older outside dogs before. I don’t think it would destroy her prey drive but I would never trust her around the cats. That would be my main concern. Also ime, Catahoulas prefer to be outside.

[GoodTimes]

I think the biggest question is whether or not she can be reliably house trained. Some dogs take to it quickly, some don’t. You won’t really know unless you try.

As far as hunting dogs making good pets, yes. I’m not that familiar with Catahoulas, but growing up my family always had either Labs or Chesapeake’s that were used for field trials and hunting (mostly ducks). My uncle always had beagles for hunting game, and my Grandpa always had German Wire hair pointers as bird dogs. All of these dogs were good with kids, cats, chickens, cows, horses, etc., however they all started in the home as puppies.

[MMavin]

[QUOTE=S1969;8087963]
Would you want this dog other than the fact that the owners are offering it to you? Or are you feeling like you should take the dog because the owners no longer want it? I guess I’m not clear if you really want this dog or just want a hunting dog at some point.

It’s really hard to say how this dog would adapt to living in a house or to your other dog. I have an older bitch that started out in a field trial home, lived in a kennel and in training or hunting all the time. She is pretty good as a house dog, but while she’s 100% reliable not to pee/poop in a crate, she’s not 100% if left uncrated. It took a while to house train her to our house - she had a very short “I gotta go” prompt, and if you didn’t catch it immediately she would go.

In your case I would ask people more familiar with the breed. I have Brittanys, and they are a very different temperament than Catahoulas. The “grittiness” you describe that makes her a good hog dog is not a term we would generally use when describing a good Brittany…driven, or birdy, but not gritty. I’m not sure how well this breed adapts to being a “pet” regardless of what its upbringing/training has been.[/QUOTE]

This. We also have Brits, and got a kennel dog as a two year old. She is not 100% housebroken, but she is absolutely the easiest house dog of our three in every other respect. One note: she is not quite as bonded as the ones we got as pups. The biggest lover, yes. But she loves people all the same and will go of with anyone.

[Beethoven]

My fiance grew up with a German Shorthair Pointer that was both a bird hunting dog and a pet. He was kept intact during his hunting years. He did sire a few litters. He was eventually castrated later in life as he did bite someone, but I believe it was after he went a little senile. I believe he was 11 when finally neutered. He lived a very long life. He did well indoors and did well doing his job.

My fiance and I plan to get a hunting dog as well. It will be a pet as well and will be raised inside with the cats, kids(if we have them yet), etc… Likely an english pointer as he wants another bird dog.

I had greyhounds growing up and they went from living in a kennel to great house dogs.

[Casey09]

My biggest concern would be cats (just because she hasn’t been around them).
In my experience you can housetrain an adult dog that has been kept in a kennel, especially if the dog tends to keep his or her kennel clean. I think that is a much easier proposition than housetraining a dog that has had multiple accidents indoors.
Other than that I think some of it just depends on your own preferences and standards. I’m not familiar with Catahoulas (other than a mix I found and sent to a rescue after hanging out with him for 6 weeks), but some hunting dogs tend to be a bit energetic for some.
The only other concern I’d have would be keeping 2 females. Bitches sometimes fight and fight badly with each other, and neither breed is the type to back down.

[RackNRoll]

Of course. Look the adult dogs bring home from shelters - many were previously kept in very different conditions, sometimes in horrid conditions, and are able to successfully transition into a pampered pet lifestyle.

The difficulty of the transition will depend on how the dog was raised and kept previously. Dogs that weren’t adequately socialized when young will obviously have more problems.

Catahoulas can be territorial at home (described by breed lovers as “protective”) which may or may not work well in a pet situation, especially if you have lots of visitors and/or close neighbors, so be aware of that. However, a female is less likely to pose a problem than an intact male.

[My_Two_Cents]

Our family has 2 Catahoula’s from the same litter. They are about as opposite as you can get. One is very intense and the other is very laid back. I think some of your training success will depend on the dogs personality. I think every dog should be taught basic obedience training. Sit, stay, down, recall (although some breeds don’t always get this one right every time), etc… I’m guessing the only one that can really evaluate the dog for a future job holding/pet dog will be you. Maybe you could try a few weeks on a trial and see if it looks like it might work out?

[S1969]

[QUOTE=RackNRoll;8088847]
Of course. Look the adult dogs bring home from shelters - many were previously kept in very different conditions, sometimes in horrid conditions, and are able to successfully transition into a pampered pet lifestyle.[/QUOTE]

I don’t think it’s as much a question for me about “how the dog was kept” previously, as it does what the dog was bred for – does a hunting-bred Catahoula ever make a good pet/house dog? I think that’s the bigger question, and as a sporting dog owner, I can’t really answer. My breed is supposed to be a happy-go-lucky dog. With enough appropriate exercise, they should make a great pet. But I’m not sure about other breeds/types.

I agree that the cats and the smaller dog would be my main concern, not the house breaking.

[cloudyandcallie]

Yes they can. My father’s llewellyn setters always ate at the table, slept in my parent’s bed, and sat on the couch. And then they went out in bird season and hunted quail and dove. Oh yeah, and they had “liver hunts” on Easter when I had Easter egg hunts. And they ate what we ate at the dinner table. Out of my father’s mouth.:lol: and they had birthday cakes on their birthdays. People always said they wanted to come back as one of our animals.

I always treated my aussies and my cats the same. No liver hunts anymore as we learned decades ago that the cooked calf liver was not good for man or beast so my parents switched that to steak. Dogs know when to play and when to work.

And for some reason, people thought my family was eccentric.

ETA I don’t know much about catahoulas, but Justin Wilson had them and was a friend of my father. Justin said they are mean. He gave one to some friends of ours over on the Savannah River for herding. They kept him and their sheepdogs in a kennel.

[Calamber]

Yes, Beagles, Labradors and Coonhounds, I have no experience with a boar or pig hunting dog but our Redbone Coonhound had never been in a house until we rescued her at about I would guess 9 years old. She had been in a fight with a bear and had the scars to prove it. We did not have cats but we had chickens and smaller dog and she was fine. The biggest problem we had was having her spayed per the shelters rules and she almost died. I would have a Redbone again in a heartbeat but the only experience I had with Catahoulas was a co-worker had one (not hunted), and I had a few puppies when I was rescuing.

[Foxtrot_s]

Foxhounds are often given to trusted Hunt members after they retire and they make suitable pets. Not too sure about the housebreaking bit, but even kenneled hounds do not dirty their sleeping quarters and go outside.

No harm in trying, right?

[Kyzteke]

My neighbor became inamoured with Catahoulahs and has 3-4…maybe 5 by this time. They also have a bunch of little tiny “imitation” dogs of the toy variety. She must have 10-12 dogs total. Plus she rescues dogs from time to time.

Her entire 8 acres is fenced, but the dogs all live together. No kennels. Doesn’t seem to be any problems that I hear about.

Originally she & her husband were going to use the dogs to hunt, but not too many wild hogs in our area, so I think that plan sort of fell by the wayside.

They don’t have cats, but all the dogs seem to do just fine together. However all of these dogs were pups when she got them.

But I just recently got 3 mini-heelers from a breeder – all of whom have been kennel dogs their whole lives (ages 5+yrs, 2yrs & 10 mos). They all took some “gentling” and time to get used to be house dogs…and they still are not 100% in the housetraining dept. Also, I would not trust them to run loose in my fields just yet…don’t trust their recall.

But it’s only be a month. And Heelers can be hard-headed as well.

So I would say you would be fine.

[FLeventer]

My two coon hounds are fantastic hunters. They flush the deer and travk. They also are giant lap dogs. Bleu loves his ears being rubbed and will just lay with his head in your lap.

My two come in and are well adapted to both kennel and house life.

[cowboymom]

I’ve known quite a few hunting flunk-outs or retirees that went to a home when their hunting days were over and they all did fine, even the ones that were trained on cats.