ABOVE: Bobby being hit in the breastplate by a toothy boar. This is a rare pix for us because you can only grab a photo if someone else is going to roll the boar and the photographer isn't needed. The object is to have the dog on a boar for the least amount of time possible. We don't risk the dogs to get action shots...
CATCHING wild boars with dogs is a risky business. There are a number of variables that come into play at the moment of contact that can dramatically increase that risk to dogs and hunters. Wild boars are observant, quick learners and can be ferocious when caught. And some are a lot worse than others....but the type of dogs and tactics you use can provide a bit more predictability in the encounter.
I like working dogs described in the pig catching world as 'hard finders'. The finder part is self-explanatory, they will find pigs, but what is 'hard'? Defining the term is challenging because although there is some commonality of language in the world of pig catchers, there can be regional or cultural variations that confuse the issue. The best I can do is define the term as it applies to my world. To describe a dog as 'hard' indicates that it is tough but how tough and what tough means to people is all up in the air. Perhaps it's easier to describe what I expect dogs to do at the business end of a hunt.
Sometimes the boars run and sometimes they back up to fight immediately but whatever they do, I expect the dog to grab the boar by the ear. That's the hold that offers the best control of the head in my opinion and the most predictable range of movement by the boar. The dog has to have enough heart to take on a much bigger, better armed opponent and stick until the hunter can get control of the boar's back leg or legs. When that's achieved, the dog is told to let go and it does. That's a basic pigdog but it's not a hard pigdog.
For a dog to be considered 'hard' they have to be prepared to stick to the pig no matter what. Now, the phrase 'no matter what' covers a range of potentially very serious consequences when it is applied to grabbing a wild boar. We have a vet on call 24/7 to back up our treatment of any injuries to dogs in the field but the bottom line is that for a dog to be hard it has to choose to stick to the boar, whatever injuries are sustained. This has nothing to do with ego or anything else. It is actually the safest option we have for the dog and the hunter.
A wild boar knows that the person is the main thing in the encounter. If a dog is attached to a boar and you appear in the midst of that battle of wills, the boar will do its utmost to get you (well that's what they are like around here...). They try to break from the dog to get at you or try to drag the dog to you, all the time spinning and trying to rip dog and hunter both with those tusks. If the dog is hurt and gives up, you are both in serious potential trouble. A man on foot with a knife has to be very quick on his feet to avoid the attention of an angry boar that's already had a win over the dog. If the boar doesn't get you they are then capable of going back to give the injured dog a bit more of a lesson...
However, if the dog has the will to stick, even if injured, the hunter can get to the controlled boar, get the dog off, get the boar on the ground and help the dog. All of this can happen within seconds of the initial grab. In more than 30 years working pigdogs on rough mountain pigs, I have found that this system results in the least possible injuries.
The dogs need to be hard to give the hunter a constant in a sea of variables. The hunter has to back the dog by saddling him up with protective equipment and being prepared to go forward into a spinning mass of teeth, tusks and bristles. If the dog is hurt the pig might be less controlled than normal , so the hunter has to be prepared to now accept a greater risk to themselves in order to complete their part of the contract. Running hard finders can put you in some genuinely frightening positions but if you can rely on the heart of the dogs you bred, the fear of failing the dog overcomes anything else.
