Dogos on Bear?

[Gary Roberson]

Anyone have any experience using Dogos on bear? I know that they are big, strong dogs but don't seem to be as quick as some of the smaller breeds.
Adios,
Gary

[Dan Edwards]

What other breeds are you referring to?

[pegleg]

I don't. However I've been able to hunt some dogos and these are agile enough but their Gameness varies from wise enough to work to not sure theyd live very long . however I've only hunted with a very limited number. In much better comditions then I normally hunt. Good drive from all dogs though.

[Gary Roberson]

I am talking about cur dogs, BMC and Catahoulas. Breeds that we use for working cattle and hunting wild hogs. The dogos that I have seen here will weigh over 100 pounds and some of the males over 120.
Adios,
Gary

[Dan Edwards]

Wow! Ya them "dogos" are not anything at all like the ones that I seen used. The ones I seen were more like 65-75 pounds Id say and fairly athletic. Ive only seen a few. I did see 1 that was big and tall and just overly huge like you say but he was only on the chain. Looked a like a mini white great dane almost. The ones I seen were "NOT" catch dogs. They thought they were though for a few seconds then thought better.

[pegleg]

It depends on the breeding I suppose some catahoulas I've seen working cattle weren't built like most of what you see in other states although some are smaller more atheletic built but most seem to be stouter built dogs for trailing and holding cattle. Not much experience with cattle working bmc. I like smaller dogs 45-55 lb for working cattle and more brains then brawn . just works better for us. As far as trailing cattle even the hottest nosed cattle breeds seem more then able to locate them in big rough country. Two issues I see with dogos on bear is wisdom and endurance on runners

[Gary Roberson]

Dan, you are correct these look more like Great Danes and I am not sure how they will handle getting slapped around because it's going to happen. They are a mighty big white target.
Adios,
Gary

[Dan Edwards]

Do yall find that the cur dogs used on cattle are usually quite a bit bigger than the curs used on hogs? The fellas I hunted with had some fine cur dogs but they were all smaller types. Males prolly goin 45 and the females prolly 35 or so. Real quick natured hard huntin type dogs but they sure weren't real big. I liked em a lot.

Gary you'd be better off breeding 1 of the bull greyhound types into a good hound bear dog and then evaluating and moving forwards from there. I feel that baby steps will get ya further than drastic breed changes.

[Cajun]

Why would you want too? The only thing a Dogo would bring to the table would be on a bayed up bear & he is only going to get your good hounds hurt. They do not have the nose a good hound has, & while they might have some stick, they sure are not going to run 4-6 hours. I really do not know if they tree but would be worried about them at the tree. While some people do use them for catchdogs, they certainly were not bred for it. They were bred to hunt with 3 or 4 loose on the ranches in Argentina & would catch hogs in the fields. They also say they were bred to catch Mtn. lions also.

[Gary Roberson]

I have no desire to hunt or much less own one of the Dogos. Since there is a young man here that breeds them and uses them as a catch dog on hogs (smaller hogs) and now tells me that he is going to try to use them on bear, I was wondering if anyone had this experience with them. I do not think they will work for all of the reasons that you gents have cited above but wanted to hear from someone else. I will keep you posted if he ever follows through with his plan.
We used the smaller cur dogs and when I say cur dogs, I mean catahoulas, BMC and Lacy dogs and primarily crosses of all the above. Females would average about 40 pounds and males close to 50. We used them on cattle only and they were very gritty. We stayed away from the blue eyed dogs as it was rare to see a good one. Today I see all of the Cats bred for color and blue eyes and believe that the dogs are not nearly as good as they used to be.
The Lacy dogs originated just east of me. The old Lacy dogs that we used to buy up here were gritty 50 pound males. Now, there are a couple of breeders here and the dogs are less than 40 pounds and have no bone under them. They don't have any stamina and very little grit. Seems most of them are being used to blood trail or at least that is what the breeders say.
Adios,
Gary

[Cajun]

Gary, I find the exact same thing when talking about Catahoulas not being as good as they used to be. I believe the baying contests & show people have about ruined the breed. When they start calling these dogs hog dog champions & they could no more go out in the woods & find their own hog, that is a problem & the show dog people almost have them looking like 1/2 bulldogs. Back when I was younger most of the Catahoulas were a 40-55# dog that were very streamlined but they could go all day. I'm sure I will get called out on this but it is JMO. That being said, there are some hunters spread out thru the South that have hard hunting Catahoulas & some good ones but they are much harder to find then they used to be. There are still some cowboys who make their living with them & BMC curs that are sure enough good cowdogs. They have even specialized them breeding up Hanging tree dogs are crosses of Cats with Border Collie in them.

[SASS]

I don't think you would want to use any dog that locks on like a good dogo or bulldog would, they wouldn't live very long at all. With bear unlike hogs you want a quick dog with brains that will stick and move for lack of better terms.

Dogo on bear definitely sounds like a train wreck to me. Just my thoughts.

[Gary Roberson]

I think that you are spot on, SASS. I would like to be a fly on the wall the first time "Old Casper" runs in and locks onto a spoiled bear...may be a little stitching and stapling.
Adios,
Gary

[CHERNANDEZ]

I use dogos and curs on hogs and I would think they offer no value running bears. As Cajun said they do not have the nose or stamina a hound has and any dogo worth his feed will probably get itself killed and your hounds wrecked once you caught a bear on the ground.

I do like using them on hogs but like anything else there are good and bad in every breed. I have also seen videos sent to me from friends in Argentina of them on mountain lions which was impressive to see but again due to lack of nose a hound will put more in the truck.

[SASS]