I'm not so hot on catch dogs cuz they get hurt, and I don't like to see dogs hurt.

But the Black Mouth isn't a catch dog. He'll trail the hog mostly silent, attack the running hog to get him to turn and fight, then stand back and stay clear while baying/barking. That's when you get to bag the hog. Hogs are nuisance animals, not indigenous, and cause various problems to local wildlife habitat and farmers/ranchers.

It's a blast.


Sorry to get off on an tangent.

Ivan, that second link didn't work for me.

Thomas

What you are saying is right, I am a little bias because I love anatolian shepherds. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> This incident happened a while after the dogs were introduced to Nambia.

 Quote:

That seems a bit out of character for a flock dog, you would think a high quality guard dog would return to the flock instead of pursuing a fight.

Totally true, my guess is the reason the dog left the flock was becuse the baboons would not go away, they kept coming back. If the dog growled and the baboons left then the dog would not go after them. Fight or attack is always the last thing these dogs do, Baboons have killed these dogs before so they had the courage to keep pestering the dog until the dog had enough.

Ivan

It'd be a shame if show people get their hands on these dogs. I can see it, they see these lovely black and white dogs all fluffed up and pretty for the show ring with not a second thought to what they were orignally intended for. Geez these people make me so <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

This website has heaps of info on different mastiff breeds and livestock guarding dogs.You will see the Tornjak at the bottom, that picture is of some sort of champion and he is definately a show dog. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
http://www.moloss.com/001/ptxt/breed.html

It seems the more I look into all the breeds in the dog world, I see crippled genetic wrecks, exaggerated features, working ability lost completely and some breeds have a show/working split :rolleyes: If only they kept to the toy poodles <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
I've heard of a sarplainiac aswell, more aggressive than other livestock guarding breeds and used in the military. I know there are some breeders in the US, but they are still a rare breed.

Try this link for photo of sarplaninac
http://www.kinologija.com/images/sarp2.jpg

Robert, there you go taking a perfectly good heroic dog story and explaining it away <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
But yes, I think your assesment is right on the money. That would be the expected behavior out of a good hunting dog, now the fact it was willing to attack something as monsterous as a bull elephant does speak to some atypical courage and the dog's timing and positioning ability also was outstanding.

Megan,

I'm glad you took my assesment the "right way". It is a good story that does give good anticdoetal evidence of behavior, but there is no point in trying to do a full blown indepth analysis of a 4-5th person story. Still, it is a good story; baboons are some nasty fighters.

Hey VC, very funny <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Thanks for the link, your description was sooo on the money!

I've seen a video of the Black Mouth Curs working hogs. Fantastic dogs! For the same reason VC doesn't like catch dogs is the reason I swiched to JRTs for earthwork. My Borders would get trashed and still never back up. A correctly bred JRT is a baying dog underground. People crossed in working Lakeland terriers for more gass. Why can't they leave a good thing alone. :rolleyes:

Kevin,enjoyed reading about the airedale.Mine liked to pick up woodchucks and shake them. one day I found him pulling out racoons from the inside of a hollow tree branch. He liked anything with fur.

Hi, all. I usually post to the PPD and Schutzhund threads, but this one caught my attention. I grew up in a family that riased and trained PPD's and I was the first person in my family to have an interest in herding dogs. In the last ten years I have worked with Great Pyrenees, ACD's (aka blue/red heelers) Border collies, Maremmas, Rottweilers, and Kelpies to achieve some outstanding results in both arena and guardian herding. My experience has been that is you want a herding dog, you buy herding bloodlines. I generally don't buy "champion conformation bloodlines" for herding/guardian dogs (though I do, of course, consider conformation an important priority) because they can't perform. Generally, when I or one of my clients look for a dog, we go out to the boondocks and buy started dogs or puppies from Billy Bob Nobody who has his dogs out working. I live in rural TN, where the coyote problem is huge and the Pyrenees is the most common guardian dog. My Pyrs will defend the flock in any way necessary, up to and including attacking a predator, stray dog, or marauding human being. I have never lost a goat in a sitiation where a herding/guardian dog was used, and I hope to continue this record. Honestly, it's not as much the breed as whether the individual dog was bred for the traits you seek.
And to the person who mentioned the blackmouth cur, aren't they cool! A friend of mine has one, and they are tough stuff!!!
Thanks, All. Didi