Saturday, August 25, 2012

It is cooling off!


My knee is doing much better, and with the help of some new friends, I will be getting down and dirty real soon!

Triple R Kennels Labor Day Bash



Triple R Kennels


FRIDAY AUGUST 31ST BOOKS OPEN AT 5P.M. START BAYING @ 6P.M.
1 DOG AM $30.00 WITH 50% PAYBACK ON ENTRY OPTION $15.00 W/ 100% PAYBACK
2 DOG AM $50.00 W/ 50% PAYBACK, OPTION $25.00 W/100% PAYBACK

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 1ST BOOKS OPEN @ 7A.M. START BAYING @ 8:00A.M.

1 DOG PRO ($300.00 ADDED MONEY) $50.00 W/ 60% PAYBACK, CALCUTTA 80% PAYBACK
PUPPY CLASS $25.00 W/ 50% PAYBACK ON ENTRY, CALCUTTA 80% PAYBACK
YOUTH BAY $25.00 W/ 50% PAYBACK , CALCUTTA 80% PAYBACK
DUE TO THE HEAT WE WILL SHUT DOWN AND REOPEN THE BOOKS AT 4P.M. START BACK BAYING @ 5:00 P.M.
YOUNG & OLD $50.00 W/ 50% PAYBACK , CALCUTTA80% PAYBACK
2 DOG PRO ($700.00 ADDED MONEY) $70.00 WITH $60% PAYBACK, CALCUTTA 80% PAYBACK

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 2ND
1 DOG SHOOT OUT - $50.00 ENTRY WITH 100% PAYBACK ,CALCUTTA 100% PAYBACK

RULES FOR 1 DOG SHOOT OUT: 1. YOU MAY ENTER MORE THAN ONE DOG.
2. DOGS MUST SCORE A PERFECT IN THE 1DOG PRO OR 2 DOG PRO
3.2 FULL ROUNDS, AND TOP FIVE WILL GO TO THE 3RD ROUND
4. TO MAKE THE SECOND ROUND YOUR DOG MUST NOT DQ IN THE FIRST ROUND

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Uncle Earl Word Games

"Vague" was the word used to describe the "new" rules for Uncle Earl's 2012. Another complaint came in as "If I train my dog for Uncle Earl's rules, I couldn't win any where else."

So once again Uncle Earl's has proven to be out of touch with the rest of the industry. But, for the moment, is this the biggest problem we as an industry should be tending to? Could this Uncle Earl's drama of the last three years just be a distraction from a much greater threat?

And believe me I am not finished with UE2011.

At UE 2011, I was advised to go proactive and begin attacking the HSUS, PETA, and ASPCA for crooked advertising practices, presenting misleading information and images, and misappropriation of donated funds. I am busting them real good on those corrupt practices, but how can I clean up that mess and overlook the UE2011 2 dog which was an embarassment as nearly 1/2 the teams were disqualified for catching?

Go to Wikipedia and search for Uncle Earl's Hog Dog Trails, and notice how all the links are to ASPCA and HSUS sites. Also look at the labels: hog-dog baiting(I don't think this is an accidental confusion with a similar word which is what it really is, a baying!) And it has also labeled Uncle Earl's as a catch trail, which is an outright lie. Look at the way the information is presented in this site and consider the design of the wording is to mislead people(like lawmakers)to oppose our sport.

And why is misleading and dishonest information like this out there?

Because we allow it!

If we don't label, identify, define AND police ourselves, the animal rights wackadoos will do it "for" us, and use events like UE2011 2 dog to shut all field trails down. And if they can shut down the trails, the next target is our hunting dogs.

Notice how they claim hog dog trails are illegal in La. and Uncle Earl's is exempt. The biggest lie there is the ASPCA CLAIMING TO HAVE WORKED TO 'MAKE' IT EXEMPT!

Please do not edit the Uncle Earl's Wikipedia site just yet(we can do that later and correct the misnomers). First let's allow a few more people to go to it "as is" and get to analyse the misinformation and how "they" are trying to label and define us and what we are doing.

Look at what was listed as the History of Uncle Earl's: they left out 15 years of it? It looks like whoever wrote the history of the UE was actually never there, they just researched the Internet.

With the power of the Internet behind us, we should be editing and re-editing and linking to positive information sites and videos to resist this deceptive attack against our fine sport. Let's show the good side and tell stories of all the times past sittting around a campfire on a spring morning with family, dogs and friends.

We should publish stories about great dogs of UE past and show the humanity of what we are doing. Like every year, I and my daughter have made new friends from all over the world.

Whether you know it or not, there is a "word game" being played here and it is not limited to Wikipedia. The word game is being played everywhere, such as the media, and the judicial and legislature, and we need to be proactive in it.

If they can get away with this on Wikipedia, it won't belong, and they will be writing these lies into law in Baton Rouge, Austin, and D.C.

I have been fighting the misnomer: "hog-dog rodeo" for years, because no one in the industry calls it that, exept the humaniacs, and it is designed to confuse. Where did they get that from? Because Uncle Earl's is in a rodeo arena? I am winning, by constantly being on watch, ready to defend with the truth, editing, and linking to good information sites, but "we" need to be on guard for their new game, and play on words and make sure that we do not tolerate situations like the UE 2011 2 dog from happening again.

Notice in that Wikipedia site that the person attempts to address the judging and claims the dogs are scored on their voice. Whoever wrote that knows nothing about a baying much less how a dog is scored.

We the competitors AND hunters need to be on guard and we need to be proactive when it comes to labeling, identifying, defineing, promoting, and policing(critizing) our sport. What happens in the woods, is nobodies business but our own for the most part, but what happens in front of an audience like UE or at ANY baying, or what is published in magazines or websites claiming to represent us, is OUR business and we have an obligation to stand up and be heard as subscribers, or attendees.

We really need to watch what other people are saying and doing against us in public information sites like Wikipedia, and maybe even more important: is anyone watching what "our" public servants are doing in Baton Rouge, Austin, and D.C. when it comes to anti-hunting laws? Jimmy Young always seemed to be on watch for anti-hunting legislation, and he passed that information on to us in Bayed Solid, urging us to call the elected lawmakers and protest. Is anyone watching and reporting?

One more thing about the Wikipedia:

Why are they claiming hog dog trails ARE illegal in La?

Because that is their goal!

And for some reason if you tell people a lie long enough, it becomes true.


Here is the very first link on the Uncle Earl's Hog Dog Trails in Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/​wiki/Hog-baiting

Now scroll down to laws, and look "where" they put Uncle Earl's on THAT site.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let me put the whole message together here for you:

Baiting or dog baiting most commonly refers to the act of setting game dogs against a chained or confined animal for sport. The dogs bite, and tear to subdue the opposing animal by incapacitating or killing it. Baiting is a blood sport used for entertainment and gambling. It is illegal in most countries, BUT, an exception has been made in Louisiana for The Uncle Earl's Hog Dog Trials.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now some people think we can protect our sport by banning cameras, but seriously, have they never experienced a smart phone? And if we think banning cameras(or cell phones) at events are all we need to do to defend and protect our sport, then we have already lost it.

What we really need to do is to clean up our act so we have nothing to hide, and when it comes to things like our websites, the UE 2011 2 dog, and being proactive in labeling, defineing, and identifying exactly what we do, and don't do we be very specific, firm, and outspoken, in all social and public information sites like Wikipedia, or Facebook.

Although demanding a better hog, questioning a judge's decision, protesting a run, or challenging the rules, may be unsportsmanlike during the 5 days of Uncle Earl's, it is not, for the other 360 days inbetween. Discussing and demanding a higher level of accountability of the people who host, sponser, promote and publish our annual event is not only completely appropriate, it is our responsibility to preserve and protect our hunting rights.

If we can't get our own house in order,
we will never defend it from outside forces.

Don't let anybody tell you any different.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Frankie's 2nd time in the bay pen

I am having to place my registered catahoula who has been lightly started on hogs due to several reasons: he's a fence jumper and we moved to our house which was supposed to be sold to us only to have the seller find out that he has a lien placed upon the house he's selling to us so we're renting from him for now. Can't make any changes to the yard or fence at all for 3-12 months. My loss your gain. He's UTD on shots and worming. He's housebroke but may hike a leg once and when he's told no, he doesn't do it again. Excellent with kids and other dogs. Here's the video of his 2nd time on a hog. He's the blue leopard. I'm in Wichita, KS, but would consider delivering to Oklahoma and possibly Missouri. ~ Ted Allen Hart 316.285.5685 Mobile tedh71@yahoo.com tedh71@gmail.com

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Illegal To Us GPS On A Hunting Dog?


Say what?

I hate to speculate, but this looks like something PETA or HSUS would come up with: meaning totally ass back wards!

The state of California has banned the use of GPS tracking collars on hunting dogs.

Most states allow hunters to utilize radio tracking systems, and GPS on their hunting dogs. California has a Code of Regulation in place to prohibits the use of such collars. (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 265(d) regarding the use of GPS on dog collars while hunting mammals.)

Contrary to what some would claim, or believe, these collars do not provide "unfair advantage to the hunters." The GPS and other tracking systems, are simply tools, utilized to allow the human hunters to be able to keep up and locate their canine hunting companions more efficiently.

Furthermore, these tracking devises have proven extremely valuable to hunters world wide, in locating a dog that has been injured during a hunt, lost or ensnared in dense brush. Legalizing the use of a GPS tracking system on dog collars, will save lives.

Please help us send a message to the California Dept. of Fish and Game, as well as California Legislators, that you support the legalization of using GPS collars on hunting dogs while hunting mammals, by signing this petition.

http://www.change.org/petitions/california-dept-of-fish-and-game-and-california-legislators-repealabolish-california-code-of-regulations-title-14-section-265d?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=friends_wall

Friday, February 24, 2012

Consumer Alert from HumaneWatch

HSUS raises over $130 million from the public annually, yet gives only 1 percent of that to pet shelters. It doesn’t run any pet shelters. And the animals it does rescue, it dumps off at local shelters?

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Dog Stolen 1/28/2012 In Grosbec, Texas

I hope we find Blue, he is not just a bay pen dog, he is John's daughters' pet!
If you have any information call John (417) 489-3015

This is a puppy photo, the dog is now much larger.


DOG THIEF!!!! We(Marmon Catahoulas) had an 8 month old male Catahoula pup stolen from Skipper Dotsons baying Saturday night while we were baying our older male in the one dog. The theft occurred in Grosbeck, Tx. Please call John Marmon with any info 417-489-3015 Thank you





There is a $ 700.00 reward for the recovery of this dog !

It was taken 2 weeks ago out of Grosbeck Texas.

Notice the patches around the eyes. One goes up, one goes down, and he also has a white patch on the black part of his nose . This dog should be very easy to identify and is presently about 8 months old.

The reward will be paid upon revovery of the dog .

He could be as far as Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, or Mississippi, or still be in Texas.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Too Much Handle?

I am copying and pasting this from a Facebook post by Bridgitte G. Knapp:

Some people in the Catahoula world have said to me that I have too much handle on my dogs or have told others that I have too much handle on my dogs.. I say "screw you" I am sorry to be ugly but I really do not care what these people think any more.

My dogs are the way they are because I spend more time with them then I do my family... I Love My Dogs!!!

I leave my house at 7:20am 5 mornings per week and I get home between 5:30 and 7:00 pm 5 nights a weeks. As soon as I get home, I change clothes and it is out with the dogs. Weekends it is the same thing.. I play, love, feed and clean kennels 7 days a week. I do not care how tired I am because it is not their fault and I always feel better after I came in from being with all of them...

My dogs listen to me and love me and respect me because WE ARE A TEAM and NO OTHER REASON.. Do I scold them and discipline them? You are darn right I do, but for every scold they get for not doing what was asked of them there is way more positive for doing a good job... My dogs get out of their kennels everyday and have free time with me.. Not just every once in a while but EVERYDAY!!!

So again for those who say too much handle... it is love and respect for me that gets the job done. They want to do good for me and I am proud of every dog I have.....

Monday, January 30, 2012

Defend Our Hunting Rights!

Below the dotted line is an excerpt from a veggie blog where a group of us hog hunters attempted to defend hog dog field trails AND hog hunting, on an animal rights blog in 2005. I suggest you familiarize yourself on the terminology used and be ready to defend your right as a hunter in the face of people who attempt to make it into something it is not.

As you will see if you read through the thread in the veg blog. I have for years been defending our rights to hunt and fish by educating people on both sides of the issues, and promoting hunter ethics.

Here is a comment from the thread, where an animal rights activist attempts to compare and connect "hog dog rodeos" to spousal abuse and murder:

"And actually, while we are on the topic, you may be interested in the growing number of studies about the connection between the joy of brutalising animals and the joy of spousal abuse or the joy of homicide. Most serial murderers began torturing/killing animals and later, because that line of “thou shall not kill” was crossed, it was easy to inflict harm and death on humans. Something to think about. Enjoying the suffering/death of anyone or any creature is cause for concern."

I not only defend our sport by confronting the insanity of the humaniacs head on, I also watch to make sure that we do not act the fool on our side, and by behaving in an unethical manner, give these animal rights activists ammo to fire back at us.

To me it is as important to point out when an animal rights activist is wrong in word or deed, as when a hunter is wrong likewise.

I am sharing this here now because it has been suggested by a prominent hunting rights advocate in Texas, that my protests of what happened last year in the two dog bay at Uncle Earl's 2011 were an indication of my turning coat and taking sides with the HSUS or PETA. Well, it is either that, or no one but me had the balls to call out the obvious threat that the Uncle Earl's 2011 two dog is to the hog baying industry as a whole, especially if a repeat of UE2011 ever were allowed to happen again. And if they can ban hog dog field trails, then their next target will be our hog dogs, and hog hunting.

Be it known here and now, that I am adamantly opposed to the HSUS, but I do work with a number of animal shelters, such as the Humane Society of Iberia, which is not funded or affiliated with the HSUS..

I am a fierce advocate of 2nd amendment right to bear arms because if we lose our arms, we are defenseless AND we lose our hunting rights.


Bear in mind, the sole purpose of the annihilation of the American Bison,
was to starve the Indians.

Protecting my dogs and my hunting rights is right up there with defending our 2nd amendment right to bear arms. We can protect our family, land, food, and neighbors, and at the end of the day, my rifle puts meat on the table.



Though out this ordeal since Uncle Earl's 2011, to avoid the questions I presented, I have been falsely accused of a multitude of bullshit such as attacking people.

It has been suggested that I have been attacking Bill Huff, and Jimmy Young.

I do know Jimmy and I never heard a bad word about him or Bill Huff, who I have only spoken to on the phone a couple of times several years ago, so why would I want to attack either of them? They, by all appearances are good men, doing their best. And on that note: anyone trying to cut down or disqualify Bill Huff as a producer of Uncle Earl's simply because he resides in another state besides Louisiana, is being ridiculous.

And it has also been repeatedly suggested that I give the new producers a chance.

Truth be told: I did give Jimmy Young and Bill Huff both a chance to answer the question no one has wanted to answer in the last 10 months: "How many teams were disqualified for catching in the 2 dog?" and it is a very important question that needs to be answered because the truth revealed in an honest answer to that question proves that what happened at Uncle Earl's 2011 is not only a threat to the future of the Uncle Earl's, but the bay dog industry as a whole. I sent both of them emails and left them messages on their voice mail. And I am not gonna attempt to run them down for an answer. If that is a personal attack, so be it. But, it appears to me, that I am and have been attacking an issue, not a person.

I will assume no one wanted to answer "that" question because they knew it was only the first of many tough questions to follow.

And in regard to giving the new producer a chance, he is not alone in producing this years Uncle Earl's, and here is my very real concern: If this has been going on for many years, meaning we could never expect to have an even, and fair set of hogs at Winnfield because it is "too big" or "whatever", why should I assume this year will be any different? We keep hoping it will get better, and yet it always seems to only get worse, and Uncle Earl's 2011 is a prime example.



When an Uncle Earl's judge was confronted with a question about the possibility that the uneven set of hogs made it very easy for the chutes to be loaded and thus to control the winners and losers, I was assured by that Uncle Earl's 2011 judge that the chutes for UE2011 were secure because the pen help in the chute area were all volunteers from the Winn Parish Sheriff's Office jail!

Trustees, who are convicted criminals, are loading the chutes, so we don't have to worry about anything illegal going on! Hhhmmmm?

But, until we start talking to each other and stop talking about other people, nothing will change.

I will not apologize for hurting any one's feelings at this point, because this has gone on for too long, and it looks like everyone except Marcus de la Houssaye is scared to say something!

What are you people scared of?

I am not the only one who sees this.

THIS YEAR, I am already hearing warnings that there is NO WAY that enough quality hogs could be brought to Winnfield 2012 for the 2 dog, and avoid a repeat of 2011, just by upgrading the hogs.

The blame has been put on us, the competitors for registering and having amateur, untrained and aggressive catch dogs that were for some reason winning bay trails all over the country before and after UE 2011, but were mysteriously disqualified for catching at UE 2011. I say give them bay dogs some decent hogs that they can't catch, and let's even the playing field.

And if you can't produce the hogs to do it right, and make it fair, don't do it at all! Don't schedule it in the first place or cancel it, and refund the people their money. I do not resent so much the waste of my money, as I resent the waste of my time. Or is my real irritation that these people think they are going to play us all for fools?

I think a large part of the whole problem stems from the fact that the people judging and producing the Uncle Earl's don't go to any other bayings during the rest of the year to see what the rest of the industry is doing. As a result, the people judging and producing the Uncle Earl's are out of sync and out of step with the rest of the bay dog industry, especially when it comes to producing quality hogs for bayings. And on that note instead of being the standard that every other baying is measured up to, the Uncle Earl's is the shame of the industry after the two dog in 2011.

Regarding the suggestion that I give the new producers a chance, let me be blunt about this:

Here is my current status; If I cannot trust that a repeat of the sort I did not want to witness in the first place last year, is guaranteed NOT to happen, THIS YEAR, I don't want to risk being there. I do not want to associate myself with an event that might be completely out of control, as it was in 2011. And if I can't get an answer to my calls or an honest answer to my questions about Uncle Earl's two dog last year, I don't trust these people. Until they prove themselves otherwise, I will assume nothing has changed.

Now I am sure there is a fair number of people accusing me of being "unsportsmanlike" on account of my questioning the judges about how many catches in the two dog and why? And on that note, my next blog post will be about "The Sportsman's Clause" and a brief history of the evolution of the Uncle Earl's since 1995.


But am I coming as a sore loser and a disgruntled competitor of Uncle Earl's 2011 two dog or someone who loves the Uncle Earl family, has never missed an Uncle Earl's in over a decade and a half and is concerned about the future of this event AND the industry as a whole?

My guess is that the uneven set of hogs is in some way intentional. And why am I guessing and assuming? Because I never got an answer to my first question from any of the sponsors, promoters, judges, etc. And I called repeatedly, left messages, but no one answered or returned my calls. Only one judge responded to email, but did not answer my questions and preferred to attack competitors and throw around false accusations instead.

Now I don't know what is going on here, but I smell a rat in the wood pile.

And if I am going to participate in an event and pay good money for a fair chance to compete, I have the right AFTER the event, to question what in the hell was going on in the two dog last year at Uncle Earl's 2011? Because that question, does not come under the immunity of "the sportsman's clause".

It was not just me who got a substandard hog, it was a majority of all of us who paid good money to register in the two dog at THE WORLD'S LARGEST, The Superbowl of Bayings. Although my well trained dogs didn't catch, "for some reason" about 1/2 the teams in the 2 dog were disqualified for catching. If it was not the pitiful, poor quality hogs, why were so many teams disqualified in the two dog in Winnfield, DOGS who were winning all over the country before and after the Uncle Earl's 2011???

It was not just the amateur, untrained and inexperienced in the pen, dogs that were getting disqualified. It was the elite, high performance, experienced professional athletes that also overwhelmed the undersized, scared, running hogs.

Why? Because it was the hogs were too small!

A hog dog will catch what he can catch!

I'm sure if we, the competitors, demanded that criteria defining this event specified a certain number of large, quality hogs for the two dog, a certain number of large, quality hogs would be found and produced to facilitate the event! Such as: for 150 teams to compete in the two dog, at least 25-30 hogs 200 pounds or larger must be supplied.

Let's just call it "personal and pet security", that I am not attending and instead protesting and boycotting Uncle Earl's 2012. But, I had hoped to be there to witness and possibly defend the Uncle Earl's from a repeat offense of what happened last year. Because it looks like people want to act like it didn't happen last year, and thus my protest is not valid somehow by their simple denial of it. But, it looks like I am just one man. And... like I have been saying all along... if this is going to change, it will take more than just one man to change it.

OK, so we will see how it goes, but I am not the only one who has issues with what happened last year. And I am not the only one who will protest UE2012 by not attending this year, but who will keep an eye on things and do the talking on the fairgrounds in support of the real issue of better quality hogs?

And why aren't the judges, hosts, promoters and producers, asking for our input and listening to the people who bring their dogs, family and MONEY to Winnfield every year??? For instance: I campaigned for years to get Port-o-Lets and thus decent restroom facilities at the fairgrounds for our women and children, and wasn't that nice to see them delivered there last year, right on time?

For years, I asked for consideration of putting Port-o-Lets at Uncle Earl's. Shouldn't we all be demanding decent hogs?

The top of the agenda FOR IMPROVING future Uncle Earl's should be the as yet un-discussed issue of providing a sufficient quantity and, an even set of quality, world class hogs with dubbed teeth for the two dog bay, and while we are on the issue of quality hogs, how about a health certificate on every hog brought into Uncle Earl's and every one of them is wormed, vaccinated, and medicated with antibiotics?

Anyway, here is a link to the veg blog:

http://www.vegblog.org/archive/2004/03/08/dogs-vs-hogs-lose-your-faith-in-humanity/


This is who we should be fighting to defend our right to fish, to hunt and bay dogs, and not be fighting each other. I hope people realize that if we are fighting among ourselves about something like the shame of Uncle Earl's 2011, it will be real easy for them to come in and shut us down.

And I pasted an excerpt below, but you might want to click on the link and read the whole thread and please note how the animal rights activists are trying to compare hog dog field trails to fighting pitbulls and cockfighting. Meaning they want to ban Uncle Earl's! And they are comparing us to serial killers, and I quote: "Most serial murderers began torturing/killing animals."

What I want you to notice is how these same people are attempting to "label" and "define" what we are doing at a hog dog field trail, thousands of miles away from where they live, AND it is obvious that they have never been there. We must be proactive in defending our sport by being the creator of it's labels and definition.

And if we are charged with defining a hog dog, a field trail, and hog hunting for what it is, then we are clearly able to defend our sport for what it is NOT!

From what I can tell most of the animal rights activists in this thread are vegetarians from Alaska who are attempting to restrict and diminish our cultural heritage here in the Gulf south, by attempting to ban something they know nothing about and have never attended and only heard about through some TV news media, which was being reported by somebody else who actually never attended an event.

Here is an excerpt from the veg blog below, or click on the link above for the whole thread.
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Okay, first of all, thanks to all of you that wrote coherent blog entries. It would be wonderful if we could actually discuss the moral implications of this issue – rather then a couple people signing on to an animal rights blog and poorly articulating their reasoning behind these practices. This makes for very boring and frustrating conversation.

I would suggest that Ryan is responding as he is because

a) it’s extremely hard to have any intelligent exchange of ideas with comments like the “hog hunters/rodeo goers” have put forth;
and b) slinging insults around and making absurd assumptions never got anywhere.

Animal ethical issues are a hot topic to debate, everyone would agree. But it’s vital we discuss them.

So, I would suggest that anyone willing to revert back to the idiotic response of “i can do want i want and i’m going to kill something right now and it’s going to be great so take that you fucking veggie freaks !!!!” would do better to reflect on what’s making them so ridiculous. Cut out the shit and post something meaningful.

And I’m going to address the “cityslicker” comment, just because this is so indicative of our cultural biases.
Please don’t assume that if you live out in rural areas, your moral arguments are indefensible. So often the “cultural difference” or “you couldn’t possibly understand me” trumps any argument, and that’s extremely unfortunate.
We need to be sensitive to cultural differences and respectful of differing views, but they should never automatically shut down a debate.
Don’t assume that anyone who advocates for animal rights/welfare is obviously a city-slicker. That’s insane to suggest.
I come from a tiny town in Alaska, so don’t go there.

Please everyone, let’s have some good, honest thoughts thrown out there.


05/11/05 at 22:01 Marcus de la Houssaye wrote:
I believe this writer has captured the essence of a hog dog trail, and we have it at a rodeo arena every year. It is the high light of my daughters yearly travels.

WINNFIELD, La. � The unearthly yowl rattling the swing gate out at the fairgrounds offends the eardrums in almost unimaginable ways. It crosses from a squeal to a grunt and back again, a blaring, impossibly awful incantation.
The gate cracks only an inch or so before the beast shoots out, all 250 pounds of snorting, speeding, sharp-tusked meanness. The bogs where Louisiana’s peerless political scamp, Earl K. Long, once hunted can’t offer up a creature surlier than this one: a fully grown, fully cranky wild boar.

Junior Toler waits, squatting behind a splintery wooden box and holding back a yapping Catahoula so eager to chase the pig that it has stretched its collar to a windpipe-crimping tension point. Toler is a bit of a scamp himself. He runs a boar-hunting excursion business as far south as you can go in Georgia, and he boasts that he’ll let you kill those hogs any way you want: bow, gun, knife � heck, bare hands, if you’re in the mood.

“Y’all don’t take away points if we get to bein’ a lil’ crazy?” Toler asks the judge.

Bill Huff, a ruddy, big-boned man with a clipboard, just smiles. “Y’all do whatever you want.”

And that’s when Toler cuts loose, releasing his dog like a bullet from a rifle and shuffling his rubber shrimping boots as if he were at a hoedown instead of a modified rodeo arena.

“Stop that hog. Talk to him. Talk to him. You better stop that hawwwwwwg. Whoooooo-eeeee!”

The crowd, often as quietly mesmerized as a symphony audience, bursts out laughing. Anything is possible at Uncle Earl’s Hog Dog Trials, even a jig-dancing Georgian, and the observers are on their feet straining to catch a glimpse.

Westminster, it’s not

Just about every weekend in the South, such audiences are lining up to watch dogs chase hogs. The events � part obsessively tracked competition, part southern-fried festival � play out like down-home antidotes to the manicured rigidity of the Westminster Dog Show.

No hog-dog trial is bigger than Uncle Earl’s, the Super Bowl of hog-dog trialing, which ended Sunday with the crowning of the top dog, Hunter, a yellow black-mouth cur, from Beaumont, Texas. Uncle Earl’s is held not far from the bumpy lane in Winnfield where Long lived in a ramshackle country place called the Pea Patch until he died in 1960. Winnfield, about 100 miles southeast of Shreveport, gave Louisiana three governors: Long; his brother, the Kingfish, Huey P. Long; and their pal O.K. Allen. Now it offers the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame, where the motto is: “We induct ‘em, they indict ‘em.”

Uncle Earl, whose last campaign featured one of the great slogans in U.S. political history � “Vote for Earl Long; I ain’t crazy” � hunted hogs with flair. A few years back, Claude O’Bryan, who used to cure pork to Uncle Earl’s specifications � 25 pounds of sugar, 100 pounds of salt � got to thinking there should be a way to honor the old governor.

A hog-dogging event seemed like a natural, and the inaugural Uncle Earl’s in 1995 coincided with a burst of hog-dog trials across the South. O’Bryan, wearing “Sunday overalls” that barely contain his 305 pounds, presides over his creation from the driver’s seat of a four-wheeler. Lean, sinewy, strong dogs � more than 800, not counting the puppies sleeping everywhere in tangled piles � are tied to trees and fences, curled up in tents next to teenage boys, lounging in horse stalls, crawling out of camper shells. The air fills with deep-throated baying; walking on the grass is, well, inadvisable.

$10,000 and more for champs

If hog-dogging has an 800-pound gorilla, it is Billy Long, 64, whose sun-scorched neck looks like creased leather. When Long’s wife is around, he says he paid $10,000 for his dog Coushatta, a pretty, yellow black-mouth cur, but most everyone knows the price was probably closer to $15,000. When his dogs don’t win, Long � no relation to Uncle Earl � buys the ones that do, hoping to secure thousands more in prize money.

Long’s 12 dogs ride to Uncle Earl’s in a custom-made, stainless-steel trailer with air-conditioned and heated cages.

A good hog dog like Coushatta, a three-time Uncle Earl’s champ, casts a spell. The Catahoulas, Louisiana’s state dog, fix eerily beautiful blue eyes on a snarling pig and stare down the beast until it freezes. It’s a bit of a mind game.

Put two dogs on a pig at once, and the sound is deafening. The dogs don’t wait for their partners to move; they leapfrog each other. But pigs have moves of their own, scampering away and occasionally flipping their yelping pursuers into the air like playthings.

Excessive nipping by the dogs is not allowed. Huff, like a football ref in cowboy boots, calls “unnecessary roughness” if a dog clamps its teeth for too long on the unruly shag of bristly hair that covers the boars or sinks its fangs into their flesh.

Hog-dog trials and their bloody cousins � hog-catching events, which encourage dogs to wrestle hogs to submission, sometimes with deadly consequences � have angered animal-rights groups. But even People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals hasn’t bothered with Uncle Earl’s, saying it’s “mild” by comparison with unsanctioned events being held elsewhere in the South.

In the shade of the announcer’s tent is Sherry Bando, the whiskey-toned voice of the trials.

She ticks off the competitors: There’s “Stupid” and “Trashy” and “Ugly” and “Boudreaux,” those are the dogs, by the way. The handlers come from tiny towns with names like Okolona, Miss., and Telephone, Texas, where the hunting is right out the back door. There was a time competitors went nonstop for 36 hours at Uncle Earl’s; lately, they knock off about midnight before starting again at sunrise.

Off in the distance, Bando’s voice is crackling in the evening air. Junior Toler is handing out fliers for his Broughton Island hunts.

And up on the hillside, a little curl of smoke is tickling the pines. The smell is familiar. It’s the scent of roasting pig.

Well if the veggies are keeping count, it looks like we hog hunters got them outnumbered, and last I checked majority rules.


05/11/05 at 23:07 Anne wrote:
To all the rodeo supporters, how do you feel about the Roman games? What is your position on cockfighting or dog fighting?

Marcus, I was also wondering what impact you think the rodeo’s activities will have on your daughter’s sense of humanity/compassion? Is it possible she will become de-sensitized to suffering in general?
I would also argue that, no, a majority “ruling” doesn’t make anything morally right.


10/11/05 at 02:14 Marcus de la Houssaye wrote:
Anne, my daughter knows that hog dog trails are not like a pitbull or cockfights. She has been there, looks like you only “heard about it”.
Now if you want to really protest suffering, you need to consider what we hunters in general are doing in the woods and on the lake. Like last weekend, my daughter put three live redfish on the ice to die in my boat. Shame on her for wanting to eat that fish! Now let’s see, where can we trim the bloody, suffering that goes on in our world? Hockey, boxing,football,rugby, hey I got it! Let’s ban automobiles, trucks and motorcycles because lot’s of people die and are injured on the highway, not to mention all the poor critters that are victims of the highway.
Or maybe we should ban high speed, because it is not the vehicle, or the highway that is dangerous. How about a nationwide limit of 35! That would end a lot of suffering, but it is as rediculous as comparing a hog dog trail to a pitbull fight. And to address your last comment Anne, “A minority protest doesn’t make something morally wrong, it just makes boring, ignorant, self-righteous people feel like they have something meaningful to live for”. Well you can call me insensitive, inhuman, insane, just make sure you call me in when the barbeque is ready!


11/11/05 at 00:54 Anne wrote:
The argument of ban-cars-to-end-suffering is unoriginal and grows tiresome. I’m sure you would agree, Marcus, there is a large difference between torture or killing someone intentionally, and the accidental suffering (traffic fatalities).

Human sports, bloody or not, require consent of said players. Animal sports do not.

I would encourage you to think more on your comment about “minority protest [s]“. Throughout history, these minority protests are solely responsible for bringing about social / moral changes.

How would spectators feel if the animals in rodeos or hog shows were purely dogs? What is the difference between a dog and a pig? Why is it okay to abuse and eat one species and not the other? Is it intelligence? Pigs are as, if not more, intelligent then our canine compainions. They can reason, have distinct personalities, etc.

Animal lives are not ours to take or control. I do not understand how an otherwise intelligent, feeling person would desire to subject any living being to misery.


14/11/05 at 20:00 Marcus de la Houssaye wrote:
Anne, are you questioning my right to take an animals life? Well God gave me the right to eat them and the laws of the federal and state government gives me the right to exercise my God given right to eat them by “taking their life”.And for the record, wild pork is my favorite and I consider it the best meat out of the woods. And isn’t that really the issue here? Your ultimate goal is to stop people from eating meat. Well real soon with the majority of Americans, I will give thanks for being born into the greatest free country in the world, and specially I will want to thank The Lord Jesus for assigning me to Louisiana, the greatest pantry of wild foods in North America. So there, I confessed to intentionally killing animals for food, but are you also accusing me of torturing animals because I support the fine art of hog baying by attending a hog dog field trail? And where is the evidence that supports these accusations of torture? I sure am glad I live in a country that presumes innocence until “proven” guilty. Because you make it sound like I am a convicted hardened offender of some kind. I think all of us hunters are being tried, convicted and sentenced in veggie court. And then we get charged with contempt for failure to appear, but hell, it was openning day of squirrel season, and we had took our kids out of school to take them hunting! Thank God, frogging season coincides with summer vacation, so our kids don’t have to miss so much schooling. Now if you think you can keep a Cajun from the delight of torturing live crawfish in boiling water, and then eating them, well get a grip, I also torture oysters everytime I eat one raw! But the real torture is not in chewing ‘um up live,I burn them in lemon juice before I stab them with a fork. Ouch! Is it just me or does it seem that veggie people are just not happy and don’t know how to have fun?


15/11/05 at 19:29 Anne wrote:
Are you for real, Marcus?
When I read posts like this, and the many above, I have a difficult time discerning if the blogger is intentionally trying to mimic “a moronic redneck hick” or if it’s just coming across that way by accident.
Please write coherently and thoughtfully.

And to answer your closing question “Is it just me or does it seem that veggie people are just not happy and don’t know how to have fun?” :
Yes. It is just you. And I think most humans find it repulsive when killing/maiming/torturing is required for someone (such as yourself it seems) to “have fun.” Quite disturbing on a number of levels.
People who get their kicks from entertainment of this nature are often struggling with personal insecurities. The idea is to exert tremendous power over those who are less able to defended themselves, proving that “you’re a man.” However, all that is really proven is that they do in fact have a small dick. It’s a familiar phenomenon with a long and glorious tradition.

And actually, while we are on the topic, you may be interested in the growing number of studies about the connection between the joy of brutalising animals and the joy of spousal abuse or the joy of homicide. Most serial murderers began torturing/killing animals and later, because that line of “thou shall not kill” was crossed, it was easy to inflict harm and death on humans. Something to think about. Enjoying the suffering/death of anyone or any creature is cause for concern.


16/11/05 at 08:26
Didn’t this all start with this woman saying the pigs were mean and could defend themselves? And then she stated she let her kids chase the young pigs and they love it. Something wrong with the mentality here.

Ryan I love your comebacks.

FYI I have 6 dogs and none are permitted to show aggression towards each other or other animals. A dog that is permitted to show aggression towards one animal may mistake your child for one of the hogs one day. They are animals after all unable to think or feel yet authorities will have him PTS for a mistake you as a human created and trained him to do to make yourself happy.


17/11/05 at 16:05 Marcus de la Houssaye wrote:
Once again, confusing the difference between a big boar(who can defend himself) and a young piglet being chased by little children coming from someone who has never been there. And this comes from someone who questions “our” hunter mentality. And before that it was not enough for Anne to assume she knew the proportions of my penis(and like a hog dog trail, she never been there), but then go on to suggest that my comedy and making fun of her was evidence of animal brutality, spousal abuse and homicidal tendencies. Well people, we have entered the twilight zone! Do do do do, do do do do. Good thing I know who I am and don’t need a woman to define what I should be doing, saying and thinking. Well Anne, if you have a problem with the fact that you can’t control me, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM! But at least I am having some fun, if you haven’t figured that out yet. Now seriously, are you so desperate to appear to be superior to me as to question the size of of my penis as having something to do with my mental health or the lack of it? Have you examined yourself lately? No, not there, I meant mentally. It sounds like you are not only, not having fun, you are not having sex either! And if you are, maybe your partner is not satisfying you. Now lighten up, try to enjoy yourself and consider that you cannot discern when an enlightened, intelligent, caring, sensitive, confident, well-endowed man is having a good laugh at your expense. In case you haven’t noticed women really aren’t looking for size in a man. But go ahead and abuse, insult, humiliate, and inflict all your feminine sufferings and rage toward me and my armor-plated ego. I can take it! In fact, is trying to insult my penis the best you can do? The least you could do is check it out before criticizing. It’s like hog dog field trails, you like to pass judgement without examining the evidence. Now I don’t care what you may think of me, but I will defend your right to think it even if you are wrong. And if you are entertaining the possibility of examining the evidence regarding my penis. All I can say is “In your dreams, baby!”

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Red Stag and Fallow Deer

For Sale: 25-50 Trophy Stags and Fallow bucks as well as hundreds of yearlings, does and hinds.



A game preserve operator has lost his exotic permit due to new laws, and needs our help to move forward.



He has a herd of 400 exotics in a game preserve that must be transported live or culled.





Does anyone know of a large or small preserve interested in buying Red Stag and Fallow deer breeding stock?




Culling is a last option. My hope is this is a win, win, win situation.




Of course my young blood tracking dogs will get amazing opportunity to learn to track in this preserve,



but we want to make every effort to find a new home for the stags, bucks, does and hinds if at all possible.


The Whitetail deer can stay, but the exotics have to go.

My cell phone is 337 298 2630

My email is: catahoula1@gmail.com

I am Marcus de la Houssaye a breeder and trainer of Louisiana Catahoulas, and a professional blood tracker.


Welcome to My Wild Louisiana!


Should you be coming to south Louisiana for a visit, I would be glad to guide you on a Louisiana swamp tour. You click the link here for more info.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Genetics And Socialization Is More Important Than Training



I just got a call from someone who I gave a puppy to a couple of years ago. I won't mention his name for privacy and security reasons. This customer was impressed with the puppy from the get go.

But let me tell you what is happening now.

He got this daughter of C Arrow Patch and Scarlet O'Hara to be a family pet,



and with three young boys, and horses, and a rural lifestyle, the puppy was well raised and properly socialized.

My friend also had a hunting lease with wild hogs, and this is where it is getting interesting.

He got her to be a family pet and a blood tracking dog on the lease.



At 12 months old she found her first deer.



She is doing well in both areas, as a family pet and a blood dog, but her natural hunting abilities are kicking in and he is worried that she is going to turn into a hog dog. I advised him not to worry, because she was born a hog dog, and he can't change that.

Right at two years old, without any training or desire on the deer hunters part, his family pet wants to hunt wild hogs. She is fast, fearless, gritty, long range, and long winded. As a young puppy, she liked to ride the ATV, now she wants to run!

I am mentioning two years old because I hear a lot of hog hunters tell me if a dog is not hunting and baying by 8 or 9 months old, they are "getting rid of it".

But what if it is a "late bloomer" which is typical of the breed? Starting to hunt at 2 or 3 years old is not uncommon for Catahoulas. Ohhh, we are impatient?

Now to the issue of it being a family pet.

Many people believe if a dog is made or allowed to be a pet, it won't hunt.
Now where are they getting this, I don't know, but it appears to be a common myth.

Here is a puppy I sent to a man in Florida last year to work as a blood dog on a large deer hunting lease. as you can see in the photo below, it may well grow up to be a lot more than just a blood dog.

A Catahoula is a social animal and if you don't allow them to bond with you early on, they may never be your friend and hunting buddy. If they are not your hunting buddy and part of the team(or family), they won't hunt for you and I don't care how well bred the dog is.



I have a lot to say about the importance of socialization, but right now, I am thinking of all the well bred dogs that I watched get screwed up by hog hunters through the years, and I will leave it at this.

If you are interested in my dogs and would like to call and qualify to buy one of my pups, I can be reached at 337 298 2630

www.catahoula.ws


To see a litter of puppies just born from a litter mate sister of the dog in this post click here: http://catahoulapuppies.blogspot.com/2012/01/little-ann-and-cutty-dark.html

Monday, January 2, 2012

Sometimes You Got To Move On...

After attending and supporting Uncle Earl's since I first heard about it in 1995, I will not be there this year. I had hoped to work with everyone there and give the new management a chance.

Sorry, I can't do it.




I cannot continue to participate in something I cherished and looked forward to every year for a decade and a half, because it is not gonna change.

I proposed to delete the last post regarding the boycott, but have changed my mind, instead, I am moving on.

I have made a lot of friends there, but most of them don't go anymore for the same reason I am not going to associate myself with it.

Good luck to all of you who keep hoping it will be better.

Personally, I have no hope for change in Winnfield.

Therefore, I chose to change my plans for the end of March 2012.

I wish I had not witnessed the 2 dog last year, and worse, I regret participating in it, but I will never make that mistake again.

My mission to open a discussion about the real issues and challenges we face as competitors and producer/sponsers/hosts of this sport has been accomplished. I apologize for any hurt feelings or misquotes, insults, personal attacks, false accusations, etc, that have arose from the s*** I have stirred up. We are all for the most part good people trying to make the world a better place. Almost 2 years ago someone proposed that our greatest threat was not the HSUS, but the lack of unity in the sport. And that comment was made due to the cancellation of UE 2010.