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I have seen a few hunting shows from your guys part of the world were heading dogs were used for tracking pigs
My questions are is that a common thing? And is it just pigs or other things as well?


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Whats a 'heading' dog?


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My bad I meant herding dogs


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Ok. thats different....

Yeah herding dogs are great at tracking wounded game, I used one for years on our North American stuff...


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Well this was not blood tracking but tracking free running pigs and baying them up until the catch dogs got there. I ask about because after I saw that I run into a guy with a big male blue heeler that was pretty good at catching anything he came across.


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Most hog and bear hunters around here use Black mouth curs, fiest, Blue lacy, or walkers. Most are mixed to some degree it seems.

Not sure the other breeds, but the black mouth cur is a herding dog originally.

My neighbor runs 2 parsons terriers with his bear dogs( Rhodesian black Mouth cur mixes. The parsons are ferocious little beasts when hunting, and are always first to the tree.

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Wow rhodesian rideg back x with black mouth cur that would be something to see. Do you know were he got them


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I have seen Laceys, Australian shepherds, blue healers, Border collies and a lot of mixes used for tracking and some retrieving. Some can air scent well others are ground scent mostly. I think it is the real herding dogs were bred to be versatile and tractable. The Lacey was bred to be a tracker as well as a versatile ranch dog. Mostly I have seen these used for game recovery. For hog running it is a mix of hounds and then the pit bull crosses for holding dogs.

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Not all that common. From what I've heard about heavy set dogs are used, like bull terriers - a dog with strong jaws that will latch on to a pig and not let go, until someone steps in to slash the pigs throat with a "pig sticker" (knife). You can buy leather neck protectors for the dogs.

Probably still goes on today. In many states here hunting is not allowed in state forrests so some people will use dogs like this to minimise any noise and chances of getting caught. I came across one of these hunting parties while 4 wheel driving through a state forest in Western Australia many years ago - their 4wd ute with dog cage was parked off the side of a track.


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The guys around here use dogs to run and bay up the pig, and different dogs to catch( actually go bite the pig and hold it) a lot of times. He has 3 cane corso( I believe)mixes for catch dogs.



He bred the Rhodesian black mouth curs. He would Kill me if he knew I told someone what he was using. Super weird about it. Acts like no one else has ever done it before LOL


The little parsons are fugging terrorists though. Anything not twice their size is dead if they catch up! Yet at home lap dogs and sweet as pie. They play fetch with my kids

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it is the same here .people think their dog breeding is top secret

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Back when I was very young, we had free range here. Most pigs were were castrated and ear marked and turned loose to eat acorns and such. Lots of woods here then. Most farmers had a dog that would catch pigs, and hold them by the ears. Most were mixed breeds but heavy on the herding dog because they were used for that too. miles


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I think herding type dogs are more commonly used in NZ than Oz for dogging pigs. Here you might see the odd blue heeler, or more often a cross with something to give them a bit more size and muscle, and you'll see some dog packs that have smaller or lighter dogs as finders, but the preference here seems to be to have dogs in the pack which will go in and get a good hold on the pig, by an ear or something, so that you can walk up behind it and stick it (not slash its throat, stick it in the heart). I've done it myself, and it has always been with a couple of well-built dogs to hold the pig. There are any number of bull terriers, pitbulls, mastiffs and the like used for this.

There's also one breed developed locally especially for finding, running down and holding pigs, the Bull Arab, which was developed by combining GSP (for a good nose), deerhound (for long legs and speed) and mastiff or something similar for size and strength. They were also bred to be trainable and reliable with kids and other dogs, and if the one sitting panting at my feet (we just got back from a run) is any guide they meet that too. He's bloody huge, but the most easygoing of dogs. Some of the other dogs used on pigs can be a bit too aggro to have around.

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Originally Posted by dan_oz
I think herding type dogs are more commonly used in NZ than Oz for dogging pigs. Here you might see the odd blue heeler, or more often a cross with something to give them a bit more size and muscle, and you'll see some dog packs that have smaller or lighter dogs as finders, but the preference here seems to be to have dogs in the pack which will go in and get a good hold on the pig, by an ear or something, so that you can walk up behind it and stick it (not slash its throat, stick it in the heart). I've done it myself, and it has always been with a couple of well-built dogs to hold the pig. There are any number of bull terriers, pitbulls, mastiffs and the like used for this.

There's also one breed developed locally especially for finding, running down and holding pigs, the Bull Arab, which was developed by combining GSP (for a good nose), deerhound (for long legs and speed) and mastiff or something similar for size and strength. They were also bred to be trainable and reliable with kids and other dogs, and if the one sitting panting at my feet (we just got back from a run) is any guide they meet that too. He's bloody huge, but the most easygoing of dogs. Some of the other dogs used on pigs can be a bit too aggro to have around.


cool thank you i was just curiose looking to add some speed and brains for my fox and coyote pack. i have to ask i have heard of the bull arab are they just pig dogs or were they ever used to deal with the wild dogs you guys have like our coyotes


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I don't know that anyone uses dogs to catch wild dogs here. They are often baited, or shot, but I've never heard of anyone running them with dogs. There are fox hunt clubs, English style.

Time was that people would run dogs on roos, and there were dogs bred for the purpose (mostly greyhound cross), but it has long been illegal. There are also those who use hounds to push deer out towards posted shooters, which is pretty popular in Victoria.

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In some regions its extremely popular and herding dogs still seen, not as popular as once though. My state has the worlds largest population of wild pigs, they outnumber people 2-1. The two types of dog or method are bailers and luggers. Bailer is anything that finds and bails the pig up(rounds it up), aka keeps it in position so you can shoot it. Luggers are dogs big and strong enough to hang on aka lug on to the pig so you can shoot/knife it. Both dog types can technically do either, a lot are crosses these days.Knifing pigs once lugged is very common in tropical rainfoirest as you often need dogs to find the pigs and there is little room to manouvere anyway. In the day lighter 'working dog' breeds ( heelers, herders etc) were more common as most people didnt have access to the heavier breeds , or the affordability to feed 3-4 of them, also the potential vet bills as big lugging dogs take the pig on directly. Smarter money back in the day was on smart bailing dogs that took less risks, didnt cost an arm and a leg to feed and got stiched up less. A lot of dogs these days are wearing sheilds, aka leather or synthetic neck and shoulder protectors. Various businesses and custom makers do a a roaring trade selling them. If you want some more info get a subscription to bacon busters magazine here.

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Heelers were the ones I was interested in. Was it common back then to use them to find pigs or anything else


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Yes and it is still done now. I have some buddies into the game using them.

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I'll get some input from them for you

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cool thank you if they use heelers i would love to know how they start a young on hunting.


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