Hello Andy,

  Thanks so much for writing.  If Im not mistaken, you and I have a mutual friend, Mr. Orval.  Hope Im correct in saying that.  I seem to remember him talking about you a a friend of his.   Your Question is basically "I have a catch dog that catches, but lets go when I get to the bayed hog"  and "Is there anything I can do to get her to stay caught?"

 

Well,  I've been sitting here thinking and thinking if I have ever run across this problem before.  And I havent.  The only thing Ive had to deal with that was anything similar was a pit gyp that wouldnt catch hard.  What I did with her was tease her by NOT LETTING HER CATCH.   I did this under controlled circumstances with the use of a bay pen.  I simply tied her to the fence when ever I worked the young dogs and she went absolutely nuts wanting to catch the hog.  I did this for about 10 different days of baying pups over about a month and low and behold, I had no more problems with her not catching hard.   What you might try is taking her along on hunts, but using other catch dogs and not letting her catch but tie her when you get the hog.  Im sure this would be a pain in the rear to do since you have other things on your mind besides worrying about this dog at that time.  But it could possibly help.

 

Another suggestion would be to use her as a back up dog and not the main catch dog.

 

I do know this tho,   I probably as you do, have a little place in the back of my brain called fear.  And whether we want to admit it or not, when we go to a caught hog, and reach down behind him to grab those back legs,  AT THAT MOMENT, that little gene pops up and says to me  "I sure hope that dog doesnt let go since im so vulnerable at this moment".  

 

The one dog I must have complete confidence in is the catch dog.  If for any reason I dont trust that the dog will hold on till the bitter end if need be, I just  dont feel right.   A catch dog has but one job to do and that is catch the hog. I want one that will hold on until i have to take the breaking stick and open his mouth.  Some people want them to turn loose on command, not me!!!   Im scared to death that I will say something in the excitement that might some how sound like the "let go" word to the dog and off he goes. 

 

  I truely dont know if the suggestions I mentioned above will work for you other than using her as a back up.  I personally would probably look for another catch dog that I could develop full confidence in.

 

Good luck in your hunting, and if you are Orval's buddy, maybe we can meet sometime at orvals for a hunt together.

 

Jim