Hunting with "Green dogs"

[lahistoriadogo]

I am starting this thread in order to keep another one on track. Norman, you were saying..."i use to say i would never sell to a hunter because of the nuts i seen (dogos dying for no reason) but once you get away from retards that dont train their dogs, hunt green dogs....there are real and legitimate hunters... "

Well I don't call myself a hunter, nor will I ever. I have hunted my dogos, and will continue to do so, when I feel it necessary or the dogs need to blow off some steam. But I feel as if you and I are on completely different ends of the spectrum here. I have a strong opinion that the Dogo Argentino needs NO training to hunt wild game. The only training I feel necessary is that of breaking the Dogo from unwanted game(ie. deer, raccoons, coyotes, etc). I have proven to myself that my ideas are not without merit. I have hunted dogos that have never seen a wild boar in their life, and those dogos had success finding, catching, and holding boar until I got to them. The reason for their success is pure instinct. Training too much, in my opinion, takes away ones ability to objectively decide whether or not the Dogo has what it takes.

I know that you were probably referencing a specific situation that makes you upset, and knowing a little about the dogo you were talking about, I understand. But, I love my dogos, I would never put a dogo that I know and love in a situation they can't get themselves out of. I have put 6 year old dogos on wild boar, 6 year olds that have never seen or heard or smelled a wild boar before the time when they lifted their nose up and started running toward that Rank odor. I have put 2yr old and 4 yr old dogos in the same situation. And one thing was common with all three of these, they all caught like they'd been doing it their whole life. Full mouths, and fury that was unparalleled.

I am merely a Dogo owner, nothing more nothing less. Those are my experiences with this breed.

[rick]

going to my Uncles land to hunt my Green Dogs today ;D.

Just the whites today, walk in through a foot of water and we will see what happens.

[lahistoriadogo]

Howd it go today Rick?

[ladycazadores]

When hunting, there is ALWAYS the risks of things you just cannot plan for. Thats a fact of hunting.

We've had Dogos drown, we've had a few get seriously cut...but we haven't lost many. Primarily because we provide them with protective gear, we always try to have a green dog teamed up with experienced dogs, and we do eveything we can to get to the dogs when they are on a hog, as FAST as humanly possible. We keep 2 stocked cut boxes on hand, and we've learned how to administer first aid in the field...and a few of us can do some pretty complicated procedures on the tailgate of a truck, to save our dogs, when we are in the middle of no where...because the dog would die before it got to a vets office.

It's all about how you prepare...training is important, providing dogs with gear is important (also a personal decision on HOW MUCH gear, some people believe in full vests and collars, others believe in just collars, and other believe protective gear is for "Chickens." I can say we run vests and collars 95% of the time and we lose VERY VERY few dogs...far less than those who run no protective gear. BUT to each, his/her own...)You are also wise to hunt your dogs with experienced dogs, because the experienced dogs will handle the hog and lessen the risk to the green dogs, AND the green dog will learn SO MUCH from the experienced dogs, that you just cannot teach in controlled environments.

But no matter what...there is a certain amount of "pucker factor" each time you let your dogs loose for a hunt...you don't know if they'll get a fatal cut, be gutted, get lost, drown, break a leg, get run over, etc...BUT at the end of a good night, with pork in your truck, and happy healthy dogs headed towards their nice comfy houses...THAT is an awesome feeling.

Conversely...the night you lose a god dog to hunting...its sadder than you can imagine. (at least for me.)

So MY suggestion...if your hunting a green dog, have him/her backed up by 2 experienced dogs whenever possible. This way the green dog doesn't risk the life of the experienced dog, because a green dog MIGHT just leave your experienced dog unaided on a bad a$$ boar...and then your green dog, just got your experienced dog killed...two solid dogos can handle most hogs, and the third is "insurance." If the green dog get on the scene and fails to engage, for whatever reason, at least your 2 experienced dogs can "get er done."

And each person needs to decide how many tries your willing to give a green dog...But at some point you have to weigh the risk to your experienced pack...if a new/green dog isn't pulling it's weight, it's taking up room in the dog box and should be replaced with a dog who WILL pull its weight.

So anyhow, I'm sorta rambling...but alot of thinking goes into everything, on your part...you can set your dogs up to succeed, or you can insure their failure, based upon what YOU do...and you CANNOT plan for everything.

I know the dogs Norm is referring to as well... I also know the hunter who had them...and he's hard core, and old school. (and if you'd have seen those Dogos in question during training and hunting, you would have known they LOVED ever minute of it! truly, you would, because seeing is believing...its easy to talk...) Yep dogs get killed...he's had lots of Dogos die in the field...he also hunts almost every night, and catches more big boar then most hunters...so the law of averages catch up with you...but EVERY HUNTER will eventually have" one of those nights from hell." We have...we almost lost 4 Dogos, and 4 curdogs...thats when I learned ALOT of the tricks I've learned to save dogs...at 3 or 4 am in the morning assisting a vet that was nice enough to open his doors...I was level headed, highly instruct able...and we save ALL the dogs... (Collapsed lung, slashed artery in throat, HUGE and deep cuts.)

So if you hunt, prepare yourself, it MIGHT happen...or you might get lucky...but in over 15 years of hunting (knock on wood) we've had very few deaths, several serious injuries that were reparable, and tons of minor cuts and pokes...and THOUSANDS of dead hogs...thats just PART of hunting.

[rick]

Thanks for the advise Lady C.

I had one experienced dog with me today, got into a real thick palmetto patch with hog sign everywhere - all 3 dogs split up and we were standing there listening. Than there it was - a pig squealing. Lucho and Bruno run past us towards the squealing, Nicholas and I both looked at each other - It was Luna she found her first pig ;D. When we got to her there was no pig - but her mouth was all bloody ( not her Blood ) . I dont know what happened she was acting all funny, ears flat, head hung low.

So I dont know, I didnt look around for long enough to see if she had killed a shoat because Lucho took off like a bat out of hell shortly after we got to her.
I was a little disapointed to say the least until I talked to a few people that said to me - Your dog has only been on 3 or 4 hogs and you dont know what happened because you werent there - be happy she found her own hog, and engaged it. You dont know what kind of hold she had or if it was big enough to toss her off and take off through brush that is so thick most animals couldnt get through it.
So it was alright - I have land I can hunt on now, that I know has hogs on it. Just have to give my girl some more exposer to hogs and actually see if shes doing something wrong or if that was a fluke.
She has a GREAT nose on her and works her ass off to find the hogs. Im happy with my girl and had a great day watching the dogs work.

[stevecaldwell44]

I live in an urban environment ...are there any people you could talk to out there that would allow you to hunt with them? Its one of the things on my bucket list..."hunt with my dogo"

[lahistoriadogo]

Maybe your breeder can take you and your dogo out on a hunt.

[terik]

wel, we live in Pa and now also have wild boar here. Josh, we were talking to a game commison fellow that Robert knows and he knew right away what a dogo was! AND, then asked if we were thinking of using her for hunting boar. I just looked at him and shrugged my shoulders. I have NO clue on hunting with these dogs!! Is there anywhere I can research on this more,actually go and see a boar hunt?? If its that dangerous, Im not putting Tegan in that kind of situation. Teri