What Your Dog Can Teach You About Relationships

As I speak to the old timers about hog dogs, we always seem to discuss the importance of relationship. As I asked them about dogs through the years they told me things I did not believe at first, and later, I observed the dogs doing exactly what they said they would do and then it made sense, in light of my understanding the pack instinct in the dogs. This is especially true about Blair bred catahoulas because they have more wolf in them than most.




This is an article predominately about RELATIONSHIPS and how tracking collars can help you build a stronger relationship with your dog. If your dog knows it can count on you to be there when he bays, he might hunt harder and further out. Not only does a tracking system allow you to know where your dog is at all times, and keep up with your dog when they are on the move, you can find them when they get cut and are bleeding and laydown, and you can intercept them before they get too close to a highway, or property line, and in our case down here in the swamp and marsh, if there is a gator hole that the hog may go to and stop so that gator can get the dog off of him.

Ohhh...you don't think a hog is that smart. OK, guess again.

I will make a number of references to punks, numb nuts, etc in this article and please don't take it personally if you at not a novice hog hunter. There are many people just getting into hog hunting who think they know it all, just like I did when I first got into this. In fact it has only been a couple of years that I figuired out the dogs are smarter than me. As yet, I am still struggling with the concept that a hog is smarter than me too. If the shoe fits wear it. But... I am a stand up comedian and to quote Steve Walker: "A natural smart ass."

Here is a point in my case: Have you ever seen a dog or a hog smoke a cigarette?

Well there, who do you think is smarter, us or them?

Not ready to be published yet, but I am also writing an article about a hunt last weekend where Whiteboy, a son of Bob and Angel, fired off on a hog and got lost. I found him about 5 miles away from where he jumped the hog. A lady caught him in her yard, got my cell phone number off the collar and called me. I usually hunt with people who have tracking systems and use one of their collars. I need to get my own tracking system, because I will be on my own too many times in the near future, and these dogs are getting out. Without a tracking system, I may lose my dog. With a tracking system, it is hard to lose a dog and you don't waste time looking for them, you know where they are or better yet, where they are headed so you can get on the move to be at the bay as soon as possible.

It even tells you which road to take to get to them quickest if they are miles away.

In fact, I got a call from Mr. Mike Duggan yesterday about Buster, a son of Jessie and Sweet Peas, at about 18 months old who went and found him a big one and put on a show! Mike has been calling back to me with progress reports periodically, and giving me data like this young dog finding and catching at about 8-9 months and then as Mike broadened the dogs horizons and took him into big piney woods up around Leesville, according to the tracking unit, the puppy was getting out about 1500-2000 yards. That is a mile+ if you don't know your mathematical conversions.

If your dog is getting out and you don't have a GPS tracking system, and know how to use it, you may wonder why the dog is checking back with you. If he has made a round out over a mile or so and there is nothing there, it is time for you and the dog to move up. The dog, especially if it is young dog, may not range out any further, unless you move up too. A GPS tracking system gives you knowledge of where your dog is at all times, and where he has been.

Now why is this young dog of Mike, getting out so far by himself, with no other dog to lead him out and teach him to hunt? Because he was bred to hunt and he knows he can trust Mike to back him up, no matter how far he goes.

I will be talking a lot about the pack instinct in future articles, and a lot of times that is what I am referring to, if I say, "Let's get back to nature".

Here are puppies from four different litters laying down at my feet and being submissive to me as leader of the pack. Does this reward them for being at my feet, and then they won't hunt when we get to the woods? No, just the opposite.

MANY PEOPLE WANT TO BUY A HUNTING DOG AND ARE DISAPPOINTED,
BECAUSE IT WON'T HUNT FOR THEM, OR GET OUT FAR ENOUGH,
AND THEY THINK IT IS THE DOGS FAULT!

They spend a lot of money on a finished dog and expect it to just go and hunt for them the day they buy it and they think if it don't go out and hunt as soon as it hits the ground it ain't no good.

They want to invest money, but not time, and there are other things you need to put into a dog like love, trust and devotion. OK, and you say if it is a good dog it don't matter. Talk trash all you want punk, but dogs are constantly watching and analysing your every move. If they can't count on you to be there when they finally stop these running hogs why should they run their ass off, and
hunt for you? Hunting hogs requires teamwork between you and your dog, and if you think you are such a great hunter, just go try to kill hogs without your dog and lets see how it goes.

You can't buy love, trust and devotion, you have to earn it! Earning your dogs love trust and devotion takes time. And too many of us are like a little baby sucking on his mommy's titty, we want what we want when we want it and if we don't get it now, we get mad! Getting mad at your dog and abusing him will not cause him to trust you. It will cause him to distrust you. And he won't hunt for you if all the elements of the wolf pack are not in place. To understand how a dog thinks, you have to get back to nature, and understand how a wolf pack functions.

A couple of years ago, I watched a young man keep kicking a dog he brought on a hunt because it kept hanging around his feet. He wanted it to go out and hunt for him. The more he kicked it, the more broken hearted the dog became. This was a grandchild of Two Diamonds Cutter. And all of Cutters children, grandchildren, and great grand children hunt, if they are raised properly and allowed to be a puppy, just like descendants of my dog Patch. These are foundation bred dogs and if the right name is on them papers it does mean something.

I could tell by the dogs body language what was on it's mind. If that dog could have shed tears, it would have cried right there, because he loved the boy. Dogs don't talk English, and about 95% of what they communicate to us is being "spoken" in their body language, and can be understood by us, if we want to understand.

I interview a lot of women about their relationship problems with men and almost always ask them why they don't tell men what they tell me. They almost always tell me the same thing: Because men aren't listening.

Let me translate: Men aren't listening, because men do not want to relate and understand what women are thinking. They just want to use them. And this is kind of like they do with their dogs. They want the dog to put out, but don't care about the relationship. And like women, the better the dog, the less likely it is that she will "put out" and your selfish goals be achieved and in the end you will be satisfied. Now is that her fault?

Can I get an Amen?

Men aren't listening because half the equation of communication requires listening. It is a two way street. For two people to communicate, at bare minimum, someone speaks and someone listens. And women are constantly telling me that men are not listening, so why bother telling them? OK, seems logical. Now I am not here to bash men, because I know too many women who are all mouth and no ears! But for a relationship to grow and function there are some elements that are critical. And communication is at the heart of any relationship, or it does not last, meaning it does not work.

This is really interesting to me how relating to dogs and women are so similar.

Thank God, no one has invented a program to stab someone through the Internet as yet, because I am sure as soon as I publish this post the feminists will want to kill me! Ever hear of the Feminazi Gestapo?


So, what does this have to do with hog hunting? Catahoulas are part wolf, and the survival of a wolf pack depends upon relationship and teamwork. Communication builds trust, and you must read your dogs body language to communicate with them. If you don't understand what your dog is thinking, based upon what it is communicating by body language, you don't have a relationship that leads the dog to trust you. And if you are doing things like kicking your dog because it won't hunt for you, I don't blame the dog for not hunting for you, I blame you!

With a tracking system, you don't have to wonder if your dog is hunting if you can't see them visually, you can "see" what they are doing on the tracking system.


I observe many men wanting to have a dog filled with confidence, and be big and proud and tough. It appears most people expect too much from a puppy too soon. And when the dog rolls over and submits to them, they get mad. A dog is a puppy for about two years. And during those early years they are trying to figuire out who they are based upon their place in the hierarchy of the pack. If a dog rolls over and is shy, they are communicating submission to you as the leader of the pack, and bowing down to your dominance, power and authority, and they should be rewarded and encouraged by affection and praised for being submissive. They won't always be that way, especially when someone or something challenges you, like a stranger or a wild boar.


Here is a photo I took of Tanya being submissive to me.



Believe me she was well rewarded for being submissive. And... because I don't kiss and tell, that is as much as I can tell you.

Sometime, I will have to tell you the whole story about Jerry and his puppy, Pork Chop in the bay pen. Neither Jerry nor his dog had ever been in a bay pen with a wild boar, but this dog saved his life that day. And it was the pack instinct that kicking in, and not experience which caused the dog to turn the hog when it charged. And the pack instinct kicked in because Jerry's pet, had a relationship with Jerry, and in spite of no experience with a wild boar, he protected Jerry.

Below this dotted line is an article I found on the Internet in the MSN.com site and it has five lessons. Each of these lessons are so deep as far as I am concerned, I could write a book about each one.

Now this article is written by a lady about learning how to relate to another human being by learning from your dog, and what is really interesting is that I don't see a whole lot of difference.

As I was writing this article, I was trying to help guys relate to their dog and create a relationship whereby the dog would serve them. And I did this by comparing mens relationship difficulties with women as being similar to the difficulties men have with dogs. I am not too proud to admit I am learning about my relationship difficulties by learning from a woman, who I listen to.

Here is an article writen by a woman trying to help people learn from dogs way of relating to us and other dogs.

I am aware that personal growth for most men ended at potty training, but maybe there are some real men out there who like me are still learning and trying to grow. Have you ever noticed, just when we know all the answers they change all the questions? You better be open minded, and quick to learn if you want a Blair bred dog to hunt wild hogs for you, because whether you know it or not they are smarter than you are. I am talking about the dogs and the hogs, numb nuts!

If we are so smart, how come in spite of these smart dogs helping us, the wild boar population continues to grow and is reaching epidemic proportions?


Hmmmm.....

Think about it, and now go pet your dogs head
and praise him for giving you bragging rights.



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Here is Chelsea Kaplan's article.



Love Lessons from Dogs?


Believe it or not, your pet knows the secrets to achieving a successful relationship. Here are five love lessons that man's best friend can share with you.


Though dogs have been labeled man's best friend, when it comes down to it, Fido is probably more the type of buddy you'd seek out for a game of catch, not love advice. According to Harrison Forbes, professional dog trainer and author of "Heart of a Dog: What Challenging Dogs Have Taught Me About Love, Trust and Second Chances", you might want to reconsider the notion that your canine knows nothing about matters of the heart. "Dogs do the types of things we should do more often, and the things they don't get involved in — well, we should really skip them, too, if we're looking for love," he asserts. Puzzled by the notion that you may actually be able to get some romance pointers from your Pointer? Read on for five love lessons you can learn from dogs.

1. The reassurance of forgiveness
In order to have a successful partnership, letting bygones be bygones is crucial. An inability to get over issues and move ahead is a key roadblock to happiness. Dogs, Forbes notes, are always in the moment and therefore don't hold grudges or hang onto resentment. "Dogs wipe the slate clean many times a day," he explains. "If you are grumpy and yell at your dog, but then wait a minute and act like you never did, he will forgive you — many times over. If humans could let the little things go as easily as dogs do, their relationships would be better for it."

2. The security of unconditional love
Forbes says that as a rule, when a dog loves his owner, that bond is lasting and real. "It's interesting to note that celebrities are over-the-top pet lovers," he says. "This is because their dogs really love them for who they are, not their A-list status; a dog will always treat you the same. Dogs offer truly substantive relationships in a way most people don't," he notes. When it comes to romantic relationships, humans should strive to emulate a dog's focus on what a person really offers in terms of love, kindness and warmth, he advises.

3. The comfort of consistency
In a romantic relationship, consistency can be quite comforting. What's not to love about a partner who is never moody or capricious? "We as humans understand there are different types of behavior, yet we crave consistency," Forbes says. "With dogs, regardless of your animal's personality, you pretty much get the same behavior unless he's ill. A lot of people take comfort in that aspect of pet ownership, so you can only imagine how much similar behavior could add to a romantic relationship."

4. The need to be playful
Forbes notes that most dogs want to have a good time, keeping things light and not so serious all of the time. "The easiest way to burn out a working dog is to work him all the time — that pretty much goes for relationships as well," he says. In police-dog training, Forbes explains, training is balanced with play and fun. "The harder you go at it in a training phase, the more you have to counterbalance it," he says. "It's the same with a relationship — you have to relieve the pressure through play and good times."

5. The importance of effective communication
While communicating with your partner is important in a relationship, it's not merely the act of communicating that will ensure your relationship's success, but finding the way to do so that best matches your partner's needs. This is a skill that you can easily learn from working with dogs, Forbes says. "The different ways in which I communicate with my three dogs are suited to what works best for them … and for me with them," he explains.

You have to be willing to experiment and find the best way to communicate with dogs, and the same goes for your romantic interests, he says: "Just as a hot-tempered dog won't respond to yelling and lots of commands, neither will a hot-tempered person. At the same time, some more sensitive types may need a gentler approach. Essentially, no one person or dog communicates the same way — each individual has a unique style, and taking the time to learn about your partner's needs is the key to a strong bond."


Chelsea Kaplan's blog, "The Momtourage" can be found at www.themomtourage.com.

This is a smart lady.

I am not putting a link here, because this is a ladies site, and I assume I have a predominantly male following of readers. Maybe that will change, and hey, my kind of lady puts on hip boots and gets out in the marsh to hunt and help out. Teamwork!

Queen Tanya is back in Belgium, but when she was here she went everywhere I went.