How to train a pigdog the kiwi way
2005-12-25 von Liam Hoggett-Schnebeck
This young dog learns to keep a pig stayed.
What about kills?
I do what ever it takes to get any young dog keen and enthusiastic which may require giving it the opportunity of a kill, three kills is generally enough. However the main focus of my training is toward encouraging the dogs to develop their own natural hunting instincts out on the hills and to hunt out and bail up on bigger pigs. If a young dog is given too many little pigs they could turn out to prefer them rather than the larger ones.
The Mentor Dog:
The mentor dog has to be totally realiable, stock opposum and goat proof as well as being compatible with any young dog that you intend to break in.
Heres a good Tip. Try to train up or purchase a small dog to mentor. My mentor is a gutsy little foxie who will not back down no matter how vicious a boar is and at the same time, due to its size does not intimidate any of the dogs that I have in training.
A tip about Goat or stock Proofing your Dog:
If you have a dog that chases after goats or livestock and it appears impossible to rid the dog of the habit, then you need to carefully examine your method of correction.
Heres the best way that I have found.
- Don’t bother to reprimand the dog if when you arrive onto the scene find that it has already killed a goat a sheep or any other feral animal. As far as the dog is concerned anything you do to it after the damage has been done will not be aligned with what it has done but will only affect your personal relationship with it, as the dog will be more focussed on you attacking it, so hold off.
- The most effective way to teach your dog is to put time aside to specifically deal with any given problem do one at a time. For example, take the dog to an area that you know to be goat infested and work on it here. Aim to reprimand the dog before it commits the offence. In other words the moment you observe the dog thinking about going down to a goat is the most effective time to reprimand it, whether you use a trainer collar a rope attached to the dog or your voice alone. This is the most effective and crucial time to deal with the problem.
- The next stage is to purposefully take a working sheep dog to the goat area and have it find and bail a goat or even a mob of goats with the young pig dog held steadfastly by your side firmly attached to a leash. Again this is the time to reprimand the dog because although it would be thinking about whether or not it should join in with the other dog you have it under firm control and should be firmly commanding it with a deep sounding, “No!” “Get Out Of It” etc.
Trainer collars are good to begin with but at this stage of training the dog needs to know that its you who is stamping the authrority not an unknown device. So your voice needs to be used meaningfully whilst keeping the dog held under firm control with a leash and a flexible strap to help stamp your authority.
Do this exercise until you can see that the dog has the message firmly engraved in its mind, you’ll be surprised how quickly it takes and how effective it is.
Every top pig dog that I have had were dealt to this way when it was required and looking back I had dogs over the years some who were only a year or so old and I was hunting with absolute confidence in them around goats and livestock.
Remember the golden rule when out pig hunting you are the top dog. A dog does not reach that status until it overcomes all the obstacles, so until then keep a firm grip on authority.
Buying and selling pig dogs
I’ve seen too many hunters stuffing up a good dog and then asking for his money back at the end of say a 4 week trial period. When a pig dog is purchased for say $2000 the buyer automatically assumes that all he needs to do is get the dog out and catch pigs. The reality is that a a large percentage of dogs have to be carefully handled for the first couple of weeks when taken into a new area.
Purchasing a started dog is not a bad idea at least you are getting a dog that has proven itself to have some potential.
“HAVE FUN !”
Wild Goats
Goats (Capra hircus) were introduced to New Zealand in the 1770s. They were first liberated as a food source and to clear weeds, and later to provide fibre for commercial industries. Goats were easily domesticated, and as a result were moved throughout the country as land was cleared for farming and settlement. Populations of wild goats have largely been a result of escapees from farms and deliberate releases.
Goat-Pig hunters would hate there dogs getting onto these Goats, the pigs quite often hang around them so if your dogs track a pig, you wouldn’t want them killing a goat.
Opossum (possum)- you don’t want your dogs getting these pests because they make a lot of noise, and if the pig would here this noise they would very quickly run a long way away, leaving you no chance of getting this or these pigs.
Deer-If your dogs are chasing deer, it is also not good because deer will run a long way and you will lose your dogs, especially if you don’t have tracking gear. (if you don’t know what this is type www.kiwitrack.co.nz)
Liam
