Sunday, October 25, 2009

The Ultimate Blood Trail Dog



The old timers who have groomed me to be a hog dog trainer claim that a Catahoula is the ultimate hog dog if properly bred and trained. I am beginning to think this applies to blood trail work as well. The qualities that make a Catahoula an excellent hog dog are ability to scent in the wind, speed, grit, intelligence, ease of handling, when unleashed short range looping and checking back in with the hunter, and adaptability, these qualities also apply to trailing wounded deer.

The first time dogs from my bloodline were ever used for blood trail work started in 1998 when deer hunters from Knight Oil Tools here in Lafayette, bought two puppies from Bob and Desire to raise and train on the company's deer hunting ranch in Texas. The man who bought those dogs is Vic Benoit. I ran into Vic at the Blue Moon Saloon a few weeks ago. He told me stories of how those two dogs went on to become great long distance blood trail dogs and would go a mile or more to locate a wounded or downed deer. If the deer was not dead when they got there and tried to get up, the dogs would catch and hold or bay it into a corner and keep it there until the hunter arrived to finish it off.

I wish I could talk to the man who trained those dogs and follow up on where those two pups are today. It was good to get some praise from a satisfied customer and sure encouraged me to continue hoping I run into some of my dogs from the past blood trail sales I have made.

A few potential prospects have called in to inquire about a Catahoula because they have been using Bloodhounds and feel that it is too much dog. Sounds like the dog is too big to handle in thick brush and at about 120 lbs. I can imagine they can be a handful on a leash not to mention the feed bill for a whole year.

When I thought about it, I wondered what they were thinking, using a bloodhound because it seemed like overkill. Kind of like using a 50 millimeter howitzer to hunt rabbits!

Some of the side benefits of a Catahoula as a blood trail dog are that a Catahoula is a very versatile working dog adapting to a wide variety of services such as livestock control, security, and if they are not engaged as a working dog, is gentle with children so they can make a good family pet for the rest of the year when they are not trailing wounded deer.

I haul my pups around on swamp tours from early on to get them accustomed to people and travelling in boats and trucks.



Catahoulas are very intelligent and eager to please if properly raised and trained. A good Catahoula blood trail dog should have other jobs when not being used during the off season. This allows the dog to be integrated into obedience training early on and being accustomed to a variety of situations creating ease of handling for the hunter during the hunting season and whether in a boat, truck, or ATV the dog is comfortable and focused on the job at hand.



I have been breeding Beagle and Chihuahua into my Catahoulas specifically to make a smaller blood trail dog with ease of handling and not lose any of the best qualities of the Catahoula.

Or you can purchase a purebred Catahoula if you want a medium size dog.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Deer Hunting Season Is Open!

As bow season approaches I always begin to regret that my hog dogs will soon be bored for a few months while the woods are dominated by deer hunters. The reason I keep my hog dogs out of the woods during deer season is due to deer hunters shooting anything that moves, looks or sounds like a deer. And,,, because my dogs are silent on the track, they sound and look too much like a deer moving in the woods, when I hunt hogs.

What fascinates me about deer hunters is how much time and money goes into the preparation for deer hunting and when they actually wound or kill a deer, they have failed to prepare for finding their wounded or dead deer with a blood trail dog.

I hope to educate the public at large regarding the statistics of deer hunters wounding and killing and then losing more deer than they recover.

Deer are very keen at hiding and do so even if they are about to die.

This leaves the deer hunter at a very great risk of losing a dead or wounded deer that could otherwise be found with a good blood trail dog.

In 1997, Vic Benoit with Knight Oil Tools bought 2 Catahoula puppies from me to use on the company ranch in Texas as blood trail dogs. I will post a write up here from Vic as soon as he is finished composing it regarding the performance of those dogs. He still owns a little red leopard colored decendant of those puppies from Bob and Desire.

After that, for over a decade, deer hunters have been coming to me to help them find deer with my Catahoula hog dogs.

Lately, I noticed a lot of people coming to me to buy puppies to raise them up as pets and then planning to use them for blood trail work in the future.

All of the above led to me starting a new business in my Catahoula Kennel breeding and training blood trail dogs.

I breed, train and work some of the hardest working Catahoula blood trail dogs in southern Louisiana. I understand the importance of a well bred and well raised dog with a good handle. I prefer to work a blood trail dog on leash, but my dogs can work either way. An added benefit of Catahoulas are their ability to scent on the wind, enabling them to find downed game in harsh wind and rain conditions.

You work all year to make sure you have the best stand to hunt for those couple of short months. I am here to ensure you get the game home.

Whether you want me to help you find your animal, sell you one of my blood trailing dogs or train your own dog, I can do it all.

Presently I have several dogs of various ages that will work a trail.

I will be posting pictures as soon as we locate this years first kills.

I am at www.bloodtraildogs.com

Marcus de la Houssaye

337 298 2630