Hello Ryan,
Thank you for taking the time to write. Your question is- " What would you say is the best type of dog for a catch dog? APBT? Am Bulldog? Dogo? any other? If so what are some good breeders you recommend?
Believe it or not, this is a question I get and I see quite often. Problem is, I can't give you a right or wrong answer. If I had to pick one breed, I really would have to say just plain and simply "a bull dog". And I'm not saying pit, or American or what ever kinda breed. Just a bull dog breed of some sort. But understand, the only reason I'm saying that is because where I live, a simple ole bull dog type dog for sale is EASILY within minutes of my house, and they are cheap if not free.
In regards to a breeder, if I really wanted to get a bull dog for catching hogs, I know exactly who I would go to. Im not going to print his name on here, but, you are welcome to contact me directly if you want to know who MY FAVORITE choice of breeders is.
In regards to Pits, American bull dogs, Dogos, and Blackmouth Curs, Ive tried many pure bloodlines of pits, and I do have a favorite bloodline. But its just my opinion, which doesn't mean anything other than to me. The next person might think the one I liked was worthless. For Pits I've had good luck with a Carver Bred dogs. On the American Bull dog, I've had good luck with the Johnson line. On the Dogo, I don't know the lines that well, but I liked the Rankin line, on the blackmouth cur dog breeds, I would probably say Howard (I think Im saying his last name right, he use to write for Full Cry). Bottom line is there are lots of good bred dogs out there, your problem is just finding the one YOU LIKE. Don't forget the hounds. I assure you, there are some hound lines out there that will catch as hard as any bull dog in the land, that same rule applies to the cur breeds also.
Now, after saying that, I recently gave my opinion of this same basic question on a web site message board. The following is what answer I wrote down and how I feel about THE BEST BREED OR TYPE of catch dog. Hope in some way it helps in answering your question.
Here's a short story--a sure nuff good hog hunting friend of mine, a few years back was needing a new catch dog. And he had owned some of the finest catch dogs I had ever seen bar nun. But he was like I am, it's not really the breed, it's the dog. Anyway, a couple of weeks later I was up near Dallas visiting and picked up a news paper and looked in the classifieds. There in the classifieds it basically said "Free to a good home, half bull dog-half cur" I called and went over to look at the dog. I couldn't see him just real good other than his head because he wouldn't come out from under the house. This older lady lived in a Trailer park and the dog had wondered up with no collar and no one claimed him even from the lost and found adds she posted, she started feeding it and the neighbors complained, so she wanted to find a home for it rather than having the dog catcher pick it up and gas the dog. He was a ugly brown brindle cur dog, but had a bull dog head. I called this friend who lived about 4 hours away and told him about it. He was always looking for a little more roughness for his pack. He called the lady, made arrangements for his brother to pick up the dog. A month passed and I get a phone call. He said "Crainer, that's about the ugliest dog I've ever seen, did you see his tail? And I don't think hes half cur, I think he's pit and collie or something" I told him no I hadn't seen its tail, and he went to telling me how much hair was on this dogs tail and that he basically held it up above his back in the air when he walked around. He was kinda upset and griping how I had wasted his time with the idea of this ugly dog. He said, well, since I've got him here, I might as well try him on a hog before I get the 22 out.
About a week later he calls and says "Crainer, you wont believe it, Ole Flag, is a 100% pure catch dog, he's BAD TO THE BONE" "this dang dog HATES (meaning-loves) a hog". About a year later, he told me ole Flag (as he called him because of his ugly tail) was about a good a catch dog as he had ever seen or owned in his life. Moral of the story, it's not the breed or cross, It's the dog itself. Good luck with your search. If I had one word of advice, it would be to have patience in finding one you like.
Good hunting,
Jim
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Heres some web sites that have discussed the best breed or type of hog catch dog to have/get. Just use your cut and paste on your computer to pull up the sites: http://boards.txoutdoors.com/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=3&sortfield=lastpost&sor torder=desc&whichpage=47
http://boards.tx-outdoors.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2297
http://www.faqs.org/qa/qa-21242.html http://www.exit201.com/shadetree/showthread.php?t=4598 http://www.staroutdoors.com/cgibin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=hoghunting_id;acti on=print;num=1105629663
http://www.auspet.com/forum/about10422.html
http://www.hogsanddogs.com/wst_page4.html
All you have to do is just go to http://www.google.com type in
dogo pit catching hogs and over 1000 hits will come up There are lots of pros
and cons of any catch dog breeds. Bottom line is no matter if its a Heinz 57,
it has to please you the owner on how he catches, and if he does, it makes no
difference what anyone else thinks about your discision of a breed. All of the
catch dog breeds will catch. All the breeds have some great ones and all breeds
will have some lemons, all the breeds have some that will let go or chew rather
than locking on like a snapping turtle, all the breeds have some that are aggressive
to other dogs-people-animals. Best catch dog I personally ever saw, a friend
owned him, was a 90# Staffordshire Terrier with 1 1/4" canines. But I've seen
other Staffies, I wouldn't own or give 2 cents for. I've owned pits of many
lines, pit crosses, AM bull dogs, AM/pit crosses, Arkansas giants, hound/bulldog
crosses, Greyhounds, Dogo's, Dogo/crosses, Catahoulas, Blackmouth curs and just
plain ole cur catch dogs. Each and every one of these ones who made catch dogs
were what I felt was a good catch dog or I wouldn't have kenneled it, but I've
also had to cull the exact same thing and it might even have been a littermate.
I've always felt that it was easy to find a catch dog, to me where I live, they
are a dime a dozen. Everybody and their brother has bulldogs where I live. BUT,
to get one that is not aggressive in some way, or wont chew when he's suppose
to be locked on or to be able to find one that is smart and has enough heart
to stay married to that hogs ear till death do we part, makes it a bit more
difficult. In my opinion, it's not the breed or cross its the dog him/her self.
Good luck with what ever dog you choose.