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

[SouthernYankee]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I’ve been around enough Catahoula’s to realize there are really good ones and really bad ones but there typically isn’t any middle ground. She appears to be one of the really good ones.

She is absolutely not dog aggressive so I’m not too concerned between her and the JRT. The JRT is about the most laid back JRT ever and we have a zero tolerance for a hog dog that shows any dog aggression, the sport is dangerous enough that if the dogs aren’t focused on their job it’s too easy for people to get injured.

My main concern is the cats, like many of you have pointed out. It may be over stimulating for her. (however I’m hoping that because she’s been trained to only hunt hogs that she won’t pay them too much attention. She will not trash on deer, coons, possums, armadillos, etc) I do have a fenced in yard and do not leave the dog(s) inside when I’m not inside. The JRT was raised with cats and absolutely adores her cats but she’s still a JRT and is a hunting machine outside, I trust her about 90% but I don’t ever give her that 10% opportunity. The prospective new dog would be heavily supervised inside.

[Preposterous_Ponies]

Springer Spaniels are often hunting dogs and pets - Its not really common to keep Springers outside. They LOVE their people. Mind you, a Springer and a Catahoula are two totally different breeds, so the comparison is kind of a mute point.

My Springer is a cross between bench lines and field lines, though she is definitely more bench type. She is awesome with the inside animals (cats and rabbits) but is VERY birdy. I’m starting to think I should make her into a real hunting dog… but that’s a topic for another thread, perhaps.

[Foxtrot_s]

I’ve only ever known one Catahouola (kind of unusual up here) and it was not a hunting dog - just lived on a farm with all the other animals, cats included, and was fine - a nice, friendly, safe dog.

[ilmjumper]

Grew up with bird dogs of various breeds, all field bred that hunted, all were great pets. Last one (that still lives with my parents) was an English Setter out of amazing hunting lines, bred and trained to hunt. Totally different dog outside than he is inside. Inside he’s a perfect pet, outside he’s a perfect hunter. I have a plott hound now and she’s an awesome pet but we don’t really hunt However hard headed…oy vey, she’s just a like a mule…takes her forever to get it but once she’s decided she’s learned something, she never forgets it!

[SouthernYankee]

Update: Fiancé has finally caved, with the one stipulation that she is not going to be an inside dog… ok :winkgrin:

Daisy comes home tomorrow… today I’m trying to remember everything we need to get to add another dog to the house… food, collar, name tag, flea collar, etc…

And now that it’s really happening I’m beginning to worry about her being a fence climber/jumper, how she’s going to do with the JRT, how she’s going to transition from kennel dog to yard dog, if she will bond with us, how trainable she will be, etc… this is either going to work or it isn’t.

Fingers crossed.

[goldenrow]

Good luck! I love my catahoula. He is an “hard surface only” only dog - kitchen and entry way (where he sleeps). Potential compromise.

[french_fry]

I think it’s going to be great! I’m so glad you’re getting her.

I would be extremely cautious about her interactions with cats, especially initially. Since she won’t be living in the house this shouldn’t be too hard to manage.

[thatmoody]

I am a former catahoula breeder (for cattle work more than hog hunting). IMO, they don’t make great house dogs, but I’ve had a couple of notable exceptions; they are SUCH individual dogs that that’s a really hard question to answer :). It doesn’t affect their WORKING at all, from what I’ve found with the couple that I ended up keeping in the house, but not all of them house break well. I’ve known a few people who had them as pets from puppies, and they are just like any other high-drive dog in that case - they need SOME sort of job, but they don’t really care what that is.

[thatmoody]

Oh yeah, and as a weird contrast we always had chihuahuas at the same time we had the catahoulas (some 30 years of chi’s and catahoulas!) and they always got along fine. One issue we had was with brother pairs - we couldn’t seem to keep them from fighting. Also goats - I didn’t have good luck keeping them away from my goats, although some of the dogs were fine with them. They didn’t really bother cats but they had been around them since they were puppies. Keep in mind that I raised almost ALL of mine from puppies, so they were around all this stuff (and of course they had to be good with the horses, to work)

[Ms_Red_Britches]

[QUOTE=SouthernYankee;8188584]
Update: Fiancé has finally caved, with the one stipulation that she is not going to be an inside dog… ok :winkgrin:

Daisy comes home tomorrow… today I’m trying to remember everything we need to get to add another dog to the house… food, collar, name tag, flea collar, etc…

And now that it’s really happening I’m beginning to worry about her being a fence climber/jumper, how she’s going to do with the JRT, how she’s going to transition from kennel dog to yard dog, if she will bond with us, how trainable she will be, etc… this is either going to work or it isn’t.

Fingers crossed.[/QUOTE]

Be prepared to make some modifications to your fencing. Both of our Catahoulas will scale a fence in a heartbeat. We fixed that with a strand of small animal hotwire across the top. I think you’ll find she will adapt to yard life very well. Ours really enjoy their outside time.

Definitely be cautious with your small animals. They have an extremely high prey drive…possums, racoons, cats, rabbits, etc. All fair game. Though, shockingly, ours live peacefully with our flock of chickens…

They are extremely smart, but also extremely stubborn. Notoriously difficult to train. Good luck!

[Belmont]

[QUOTE=SouthernYankee;8087966]
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.[/QUOTE]

All my Catahoula’s adjusted well to the indoor life. Potty training was a breeze! Catahoula’s are hard headed, but they aren’t dumb. If you are a Catahoula person, I think you can do it. You shound educated enough, at least.

She will know her job and do it well, because she loves her job. She will tell you if she hates her job… I also worked for a Fox Hunting barn, and though the dogs lived in kennels most of their lives… They adjusted really quickly to the inside life once retirement hit.

[Timex]

we have a guy living on our farm with 2 catahoulas. both males, one neutered, one not. the unneutered male will chase the cats, but only to get them to run. the cat that stands it’s ground is no fun. lol. they’ve both been good with other dogs, and leave the horses, guinea hens, etc alone. good luck with her!

[SouthernYankee]

4 week update:

Daisy has adjusted, quickly and easily. She is VERY SMART. She’s taken everything in and has been almost perfect. We kept her on a leash for the first 1 1/2 weeks and just made her stay close to us when we were outside. Then she met us in the driveway after work one night, somehow she managed to get out of the fenced yard and spent who knows how long hanging out in the front yard. Guess that was her way of telling us she could be trusted off leash.

She has quickly picked up on sit, stay, down, and really really likes truck rides. My JRT is the boss but they run around and play with each other, she shows no interest in the cats, horses, or cows. Chickens are another story. The first 2 days we had her she pooped on the porch (understandable since she’s used to pooping where she eats and sleeps), I scolded her and we have not had any issues since.

We took her camping over the 4th and she did great, was happy to be tethered to the nose of the trailer during the day and in her crate at night. She didn’t excessively bark and was good with everyone coming through camp. And she really really liked the air conditioned truck ride.

She has confidence issues and is starting to work out of them, she is very sensitive and really takes it personally if you get onto her. The ONLY issue we are having is she has figured out how to get out of the yard. She is getting under the deck then going under the lattice, she doesn’t go anywhere once she’s out but we live too close to the highway for her to roam. She’s also unaltered and I’d really prefer not to have mutt puppies. We will be removing the lattice and adding welded wire so she can’t dig under it or break it apart. She’s going to be very angry with us when we get home because we chose to tie her in the yard today…

I’m quickly becoming a Catahoula fan.

A typical greeting when we get home from work

Not so subtly telling us she wanted to go for a ride in the Ranger

The ride home from camping, I think she partied a little too hard

[supaflyskye]

Oh my she’s just so pretty! I love Catahoulas. So when’s your first hog hunt w/ her? =P

[SouthernYankee]

I’ve hunted with her about 5-10 times already this spring. But we are done hunting until September ish, it’s too hot to be running dogs this time of the year. Plus there is an over abundance of stinging bugs and poisonous snakes where we hunt and it’s just not worth the risk.

We did have to agree on the rule that she is allowed off leash at home but must be kept on leash if we take her off property. That way she will be able to distinguish ‘home’ vs ‘hunt’.

Here is a video of her hunting this spring. DISCLAIMER, SOME PEOPLE MAY FIND THIS VIDEO DISTUBING, it contains dogs hunting and a pig is killed. No dogs were injured. Daisy is the blue merle bay dog in the green collar. It’s not very easy to see her because of the shadows but they bayed that boar for a good 45 minutes before we could get to them. You can see me put the leash on her at 2:50 (I’m in the orange toboggan)

[thatmoody]

Ah, she’s one of those really nice old-style smutty colored ones :). I miss my dogs sometimes (not that i don’t have one now, but those are DOGS). They just got a really nice catahoula pup in the shelter where my daughter works - I don’t work cows anymore or I’d snatch him up in a heartbeat…

[Calamber]

Ad me to the list of finding it disturbing that the dogs are just tearing chunks out of the boar, what is the point of that? Can’t you get them to release? We only used dogs to trail rabbits, I never hunted bear, cougar or hog but that seems excessive with 6 - 10 dogs just tearing the hell out of a live downed animal, I am guessing they were worrying it for 45 minutes. I know wild pigs are pretty dangerous animals but why in the heck when everyone finally got there could they not have taken the dogs off and shot the pig?

[jen-s]

Glad things are working out!

My only experience with Catahoulas came from when one of my good friends (and her dog) moved in for a few months. Pics below of how the Sorcha (dog) interacted with my cats. Sorcha was a puppymill breeding bitch until she was ~6 so doubtful that she ever hunted. She was brought north from Louisana with a still-nursing litter of 11. She’s never been outstanding with other dogs, although she and my pibble hike nicely together, but she is a-freaking-mazing with all cats. So wonderful in fact that one of my tuxies had her trained to groom him on command. If she didn’t stop immediately and lick his head, he’s smack the snot outta her–she is thankfully a quick learner! Silly cat. Pics below of the cuteness.

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[SouthernYankee]

I knew there would be one… this is a different way of life for some, these dogs are being used for what the breed was BRED to do. That aren’t fluffy couch potatoes. They have a very specific JOB, if they do that job correctly then no HUMAN gets hurt.

[QUOTE=Calamber;8222328]
Ad me to the list of finding it disturbing that the dogs are just tearing chunks out of the boar, what is the point of that? Can’t you get them to release? We only used dogs to trail rabbits, I never hunted bear, cougar or hog but that seems excessive with 6 - 10 dogs just tearing the hell out of a live downed animal, I am guessing they were worrying it for 45 minutes. I know wild pigs are pretty dangerous animals but why in the heck when everyone finally got there could they not have taken the dogs off and shot the pig?[/QUOTE]

1. They aren’t tearing at the hog, they are baying the hog. The hog is certainly not downed, it is very much on all fours and in a defensive fighting position. It still has the upper hand at this point. Baying = barking. Bay dogs should not make contact with the hog, that’s how they get injured. It’s similar to a heeler working cattle, little nips and jives in all the right places to make the animal react in a desired way.

2. They stop the hog by working as a pack and then hold it by barking at it. Once again they do not tear the hog apart. That would ruin too much meat, and we eat a lot of wild hog meat. In fact I’ve got a ham and butt marinating right now, I can’t wait to get it on the grill tomorrow.

3. You can see us release the catch dogs, they are the ones with the heavy duty vests on so the hog does not kill them. They run in and catch the hog by the ear. They have the dangerous job. They do not have to hold the hog for long before we come in with a knife to kill the hog.

4. We cannot just ‘get the dogs off the hog then shoot it’, that puts the people in too much danger. Not to mention the amount of wasted meat there would be when the hog was shot at point blank range. And a hog will continue charging even after shot, much like a bear will do. Hogs will attack anything in front of them, it is a very dangerous way of hunting. I realize that the thought of killing a hog with a knife seems barbaric, however it’s a quick clean kill and typically is a much cleaner kill than most gunshots. The whole dispatching process takes less than a minute.

5. Once the hog has expired we remove the dogs and gut it right there so the meat does not go bad. Then comes the fun part of getting it out of the woods. It took us 3 hours to get that particular hog out, we have to tote it out on foot.

I’m not trying to start an argument, I put the disclaimer in there so people would be warned. I understand that type of hunting is not for everyone but in my eyes it’s not much different from Foxhunting (which I also do), I love to watch hounds work. It puts food on many peoples table that otherwise would struggle to afford beef at the grocery store, no hog gets left in the woods. The hunting dogs get great care, and in the case of an injury they are attended to immediately. We carry a first aid kit on us.

FYI- in Europe they still hunt stag and boar with hounds and most of the time they allow the hounds to finish the kill…

Thank you everyone else for the words of encouragement. It’s been great having another dog at the house. I’ve been around a lot of heelers and Daisy is similar in a lot of ways but I think she may be a little smarter and easy going…

[supaflyskye]

That sounds so fascinating! I would love to try hog hunting some time, there’s a plethora of them down here; but I don’t know anyone who does it. =/ Do you go on foot or take ATVs or what? How do you keep up w/ the dogs?