Want to get started hog hunting
 

I want to get started hog hunting with dogs. What dogs should I use,What gear should I use, and how should I train my dogs. And can I train my golden retriever and Brittany to hunt them. And do you know any good hog dog breeders in Missouri and Arkansas.

While no you can't be taught the specifics of running hogs with dogs, you can get some general information to get started with. There are several types of dogs that are fantastic bay hounds for trailing, chasing, and baying up a hog. Then you have other breeds that are specific for "catching" and holding a hog for either live capture "hog tying" or dispatching with a knife or handgun. There are several Cur breeds that are good for both actually but primarily a good Cur hound is a bay hound. Pit Bulls are by far the absolute best breed for a catch dog one can find. They are reasonably fast on foot and when they latch on to a hog they are there till you call or pull them off. They suck at baying or tracking but when you have your bay hounds on a hog and they are bayed up, you let your pit go into the mix and it will take care of business.

I wouldn't use just my dogs I was just curious if they could be trained to hunt them with help from another dog or dogs. And dog breeders?

what dog will do both track and catch a hog. I want to hunt with as little dogs as possible And what gear should I get. So I will need a dog that will get it done.

You never want to hunt hogs with a single dog. Not unless you have no feelings for dogs because that will get your dog killed more than likely. I never hunt with less than 3 bayers and one catch dog. As far as equipment, I always kevlar vest my dogs. The vests aren't cheap but they aren't expensive in comparison to the cost of a good hound as well as the time to train one. The cutters on a big boar can and have killed many dogs. I also use GPS collars on my dogs. Well, "used", since I sold all mine. I just don't use dogs enough to justify the expense of upkeep of them as well as my rabbit hounds and my 2 guard dogs. 10 dogs is a hell of a feed and vet bill yearly :D I just had to sell my hog dogs. They weren't getting used enough and the poor things were getting restless all the time.

What state are you in Kai and I can probably direct you do a good breeder/trainer for a few good Cur dogs. You don't HAVE to have a catch dog as you can shoot a bayed hog fairly easily. I like to have a catcher to pin the hog down and make sure my other dogs don't get cut up. But you can get away without one.

thanks I wasn't planing to use only one dog I want to three or four dogs I just think any more than that would be over whelming. And I have been looking for a vest and a gps coller. I live in Missouri but I am really close to Arkansas. Do you think I could train and use the dogs I have if I get a couple more dogs that are meant for hogs.

If you have a couple of well trained dogs that have a good disposition towards pups that are in the 1 1/2 to 2 year old range then yep you will have the starting of a good set. You will need to teach the pups basic obedience commands and such to establish Alpha but other than that run one of the pups with the 2 experienced hounds and they will teach the pup well if they are any good themselves. But honestly you can get dogs already started for not a whole lot more than just unstarted pups. Search around your area to see if there is anyone around with Catahoula Cur or Blackmouth Cur dogs. I'm not all that familiar with hogging in Missouri. My primary states are Texas, Georgia, and Florida. But the Cat and Black are both fantastic dogs that are great around family and kids (and protective as hell of the kids) and make good multipurpose hounds.

I thank there is a catahoula breeder near me but I need to get in touch with him. If I get an experienced dog or hunt with one could I train the dogs I have even if they are not meant for hogs

Cross training dogs can be done but I can tell you from experience it's difficult at best. Your dogs have to be pretty high on the intelligence scale. Reason being, if say you have a good red bone coon hound and want to cross train him for hog, you will have the problem of him crossing a coon scent and hitting hot on it rather than staying on a hog scent. I tried cross training a couple of my walker dogs which were prize winning coon hounds and it just didn't work out well. Now if you cross train them from pups it's MUCH easier.

As far as "meant for hogs" goes, the reason Curs are so highly used is their tenacity and strength. They have reasonably good tracking skills, smart, and pretty good foot speed as well as endurance. Just an all around good dog for hogging. There are quite a few other breeds that are okay for hogging such as Walkers (basically a long legged Beagle), Blue Tick, Red Bone, Blue Lacy, Dogo (super strong dog but a bit short on brains), and a few others come to mind but I can't remember the names off hand.

thanks the dogs I have not been trained to hunt anything yet and I need to get there basic training done. My dogs are one and the other is almost two