Hello TJ.

  I appreciate you taking the time to write.   Seems your question is, you have a half blackmouth and half bull dog and your wanting to know if he can be trained to hunt on his own.

 

  Hope I'm correct in the way I worded that.  Well, its seems your dog SHOULD have a nose, but hasnt really started using it.  I'm just wondering by the way that you worded this if you bay your dog in the pen quite a bit.  " The reason I say this is because if a person does work his dog in a pen quite a bit, the dogs sense of sight is being worked on and brought out to the surface rather than the splitting it with the other senses such as, smell, sound, taste and touch. If I'm correct, he's not having to use his nose, only his sight. This is one of the downfalls to working dogs in pens too much. Its kinda like eating candy, if you eat to much of it, its not good for ya. "

 

   If Im inaccurate on the way I'm perceiving your question,  I will simply say, use your dog and your by itself as the only  strike/find dog to see if hes got it in him to do it by himself.  Not all dogs no matter what their breeding is guaranteed to be a find dog.  And not all dogs, no matter what their breeding is guaranteed to use its nose.  My brother had a catahoula cur dog for a couple of years that had a similar problem.  We had used several dogs over the years from this line of dogs.  It was a proven line for years and years.   When you turned this dog out of the back of the truck, he was like a bullet, he was off to the races and would hunt his butt off.   I mean go yonder!!!!   But he had one major fault, I dont think he could smell vix vapor rub if it was stuffed in his nose....haha  He did find his self a few hogs by his self, but I truly think to this day the ones he found he just stumbled up on or SAW MOVING in the woods.   Now this was a dog I know for a fact that wasnt over bayed in a pen.   He was a dandy on his willpower and heart once he found one bayed up somewhere,  but.  in the same breath he was really worthless as a find dog.   My brother finally just gave the dog away to another hog hunter that was low on dogs.  The dog was eventually lost on a hunt because the new owner did not have a tracking collar system to find him on one of his "all night, go yonder" cast.   

 

    You dont mention which style of hunting you do, rig, cast, track or what.   But You might try putting that dog and that dog only on a fresh track and see if he can find the hog.  The more they are hunted, the better they should get in most cases.  I dont know if I've given you anywords of wisdom to try, but give the dog some time to prove that he eiether can or cant use his nose and go hunting on his own.

 

Good hunting,

Jim