The Dogo Argentino, like any creature, has a fairly wide variance in rates of maturity from dog to dog, even within the same litter. For this reason, you, the owner must gauge your pup’s level of maturity, and adjust these training methods accordingly. Typically hunters show their pup its first hog at around 4-6 months of age, depending upon the pups’ level of maturity and confidence. This is a basic guideline for training, that we have used with  our dogs and while assisting other people with training their dogs and we’ve had a high degree of success.

What to look for:

You need to wait to do any hunt training until the following has been completed:

• Full course of shots and worming
• Puppy needs to be fully bonded and comfortable in its new home environment
• Showing playful, but obvious desire to engage, “prey creatures” (grasshoppers, birds, etc.)

Then you need to contact a hunter to get a small wild hog, you want the shoat to be roughly the same weight as the puppy, or a little less. The idea behind this is that you are building confidence. You want the puppy to think he/she can overpower any hog…but it’s up to you to insure that they can in fact do so, at least for the first few times.

Ideally, you will want the hunters assistance throughout this process…while keeping in mind each pup has their own “on switch” trigger. For some it’s the first squeal of the hog, for others it’s watching another pup catch hold and then they follow suit. Sometimes you just have to think outside the box, but regardless, you goal is to do everything in your power to give that pup a positive experience, and a basic idea of what you want it to do.

Place the shoat in a small enclosure, let the puppy run around the outside of the enclosure to investigate the new smells, sights and sounds…most likely the shoat will charge the pup. Gauge the pups response to the charge. If the pup reacts with confidence and doesn’t retreat, then you can be pretty sure what the pup will do& its time to put the pup in there and let it engage the shoat. Usually the first squeal surprises the pup, and they either clamp down hard & give it a shake, knowing they are dominating their opponent, or they let go, thinking they are going to get into trouble for making their opponent “cry” at which point you must verbally encourage the pup to re-engage, and then Praise all successes. NEVER show frustration! Encourage the good responses and be prepared to assist if the pup shows fear or needs assistance. They will feed off of your reaction, if you are excited and proud, they do much better. If you are expecting the worst…they feel that too. Never forget that canines are naturally very intuitive.

For the pup that is running outside the enclosure, that retreats when the shoat charges the fence…gauge the reaction, and decide which course of action is best for your pup. For a pup that seems unsure what you want it to do, having another puppy (or small dog) along to assist helps greatly. Put them in together, and they should gang up on the shoat with confidence. If they are “being pups” and playing rather than pursuing the shoat, then you need to step in and “light the fire” by chasing the shoat, they will see this is great fun, and one will eventually grab hold…producing that first squeal as discussed above.

If you still are unable to produce the desired result of your puppy grabbing hold, then you need to step in, catch the shoat, and then hold its back legs (wheel barrow style) give verbal encouragement to your pup to engage the hog. You can also use this method to encourage your pup to develop a preference for the best places to catch hold. The ears and cheeks provide the best leverage on the hog. You want to keep your pup from catching by the shoulders, side or rear, as this offers less control of their quarry, and provides the quarry ample chance to inflict damage on your dog.

Remember, you are training your pup. You want to give him/her every advantage while they are developing their skills, but there are delicate balances you must strike too…you don’t want to drag the training session out for so long that they get bored. You want to pull them out while they still want to be in there, you want to make sure the session ends in a positive manner, with the puppy having dominated the prey. And you want to wait at least a couple weeks before you show them the shoat again. DO NOT fall into the trap of being excited that your pup did so well, so you want to do it over and over.

Why?

Because the puppy is still developing, you don’t want to stress their jaws, joints or their teeth. And you don’t want to bore the puppy, keep in mind pups have a very short attention span.

You will want to repeat this process 1 to 2 times more at the most, separated by a couple weeks. You are building confidence, teaching them that this is what you wish them to do, and they are establishing their bite location preference.

Then you let them rest while they lose their puppy teeth, and grow in their adult teeth. Feed them the best food you can afford, in the appropriate amounts. (A fat puppy is NOT a healthy pup, it puts unnecessary strain on their joints and ligaments, they need to be well muscled and lean.)

Once their adult teeth are in, give them a couple weeks to set, and then it’s time for the next phase of their training. The pup is now quite a lot bigger, the hog needs to be as well. Stick with quarry that is near the same weight of the pup. You still want hogs that your pup can “dominate” at this point. Your re-awaking their prey drive, and you still want to do so in a positive manner. You can repeat this process one more time a couple weeks later, if you feel your dog would benefit from it. But if he/she is catching consistently in the correct place, with no hesitation, you are good to lay off of the training for a while and let them finish growing, rather than risk injury to growth plates.

At about a year, give or take, (Again depending upon the maturity level of your pup) your pup will be ready for a hog that is a challenge. A hog in the 100-150 pound range (perhaps a bit larger, depending on the current size of your pup) that has plenty of “fire.” Up until now, your pup has learned it can dominate everything it’s gone up against, now it’s time to teach the pup how to handle a hog that fights back. Be ready to jump in and assist, watch carefully everything that happens, because you will need to know how to react. (You are wise to make sure the hogs tusks are short enough to not give more than a skin cut)

If your dog gets flung, rolled, rubbed off or bitten and immediately re-engages, it just learned a lesson in the power of the hog, and thanks to your diligence in building his/her confidence, he didn’t quit, because he believes he can dominate this hog, he just has to try a little harder.

If your dog gets flung, rolled, rubbed off or bitten, and backs up showing fear or runs to you for reassurance, your pup was not ready for this lesson…and now you have to play a little game of “catch up,” and turn this lesson around to a positive one, or risk damaging the pups confidence. You need to put another dog in, to catch the hog, and your pup needs to assist…praise…(you can also repeat the wheelbarrow maneuver you learned earlier, once you remove the other dog from the enclosure) Then give your dog a few weeks more to mature, and try again.

If your dog is not engaging, or is showing fear, or only catching “defensively,” you as the owner needs to decide when you think your dog has shown itself to have no desire to hunt. (Definition of “catching defensively”: When the hog charges the dog, the dog will catch hold, but not stay caught for long, they are in essence defending themselves, but not trying to control their quarry. They let go, back up and either bark at the hog, or they retreat altogether.)

Once you complete this level of training successfully, working in a pen under controlled situations, is over…it’s now time to hit the woods with experienced dogs on a “trial by fire.” Once your dog is dependably doing what’s expected of it out in the field, then it’s time to take on the even harder task of “trash breaking.”

But we’ll save that lesson for later.