Living in New York, the last thing I ever figured I’d do with my American bulldogs is hunt boar.  Even when Lem Miller created his Utility Catch Dog Association, catch dog titles seemed to be such a foreign concept to me.  In 1998, at the ABA Nationals down in Ocala, Florida, Toro completed his ABA championship and won the Nationals at only 13 months of age.  We were invited to Lem’s place afterward to watch some CD1 titles.  We could see how excited the spectators were and how happy many of the dogs were in the work.  I got caught up in the adrenaline and decided to put Toro in the ring for a temperament test.  Eileen, however, was not too keen on the idea.  She didn’t want to take a chance on her Toro getting nicked and cut.  That changed abruptly, however, when someone challenged us by saying, “That’s okay.  He’s just a pretty boy.  He’s not expected to do the work of a real bulldog.”  Eileen heard that and her Irish temper flared.  Next thing I know, I was being handed a leash and off I went into the arena with Toro.  There were several other young dogs with us as well in the pen and the goal was to let them see the boar and tap into their basic instinct to “ketch it”!  While the boar was held, we brought our dogs up and let them smell it.  That’s where you could see if the bulldog had drive for the boar or not.  Some of the dogs just sniffed it and looked confused.  Others, like Toro, warmed up right away and tried to grip and hold the pig.  I was very happy and satisfied with Toro that day, especially after both Lem Miller and Bill Eckles told me afterward that Toro definitely would catch.  Everyone that was there had a great time and it was a really fun experience.

The next couple of years went by quickly and Eileen and I didn’t give much more thought to boar hunting unless we were at a Bulldog show in the South.  But when we would go to those shows, people that we respect in the breed like Lem, Bill and Don Matthews kept saying to me, “With everything that dog has accomplished, you should get that CD1 title on him.”  Now I had never taken the time to get educated on the subject of wild boar hunting, so last year in Alabama when it was time for the CD1 titles to take place, I said, “What the heck” and decided to put Toro in the ring.  Unfortunately, as fate, the luck of the draw, or some other force would have it, when a very large and mean sow came out of the trailer was when Toro’s name was called.  That sow had already had her ear ripped off by a dog before this day and wasn’t going to take any garbage from some novice New York Bulldog.  I was not allowed in the ring with Toro who was Schutzhund trained from birth and taught to work as a team.  Despite that, Toro ran in and tried to grip the sow.  He got tossed six feet in the air for his effort.  He tried again from another angle and got tossed again.  Toro ran around the ring, tail up and wagging, with no clue as to how a city slicker such as himself could catch an ornery wild sow.  I pushed my way into the ring and got my dog out of there.  Later, when I asked why I was the only handler not allowed in the ring I was told it was for my own safety as this sow was so mean.    One thing that I found very disturbing about this whole event was the total cruel nature of many of the spectators around the ring.  These were not the happy, encouraging, friendly people that I remembered from the CD event in Florida.  These people were booing and name-calling.  It was nightmarish.  The worst of this was when a guy with a big name and tiny heart loudly announced as I left the ring with my dog, “Well, I guess the cream rises to the top and the shit falls to the bottom, don’t it!!”  I was angry by all the hostility, but I was proud of my dog.  Regardless of what those people had to say, my dog tried.  That’s all I could ask of him.  And I knew that what had happened was my fault.  I put my dog into a situation that I knew nothing about.  Now I knew that I had to have that title for Toro.  I couldn’t let those idiots dishonor Toro’s name.  Bill Eckles recommended that I go to Don Matthews for assistance.  I called Don  and made arrangements to take Toro down to Florida the following fall for training.

At the end of November 2000 I loaded Toro into my truck and me and my buddy made our way down to Fort Pierce to train with Don.  A CD1 title was my goal and I truthfully didn’t have any worry that Toro wouldn’t be able to achieve it.  I had spent the last several months talking to everyone I knew who had knowledge about boar hunting and I came to several conclusions:
1. Most serious hunters start their pups at a very young age on piglets, teaching them to target and building skill and confidence in the dog.
2. The CD1 title is supposed to be a temperament test that was designed to show the dog would chase and catch the prey.  A sow that charges a dog is not a good choice for this temperament test.
3. If the sow had behaved like typical prey does, my novice dog might have caught it.
4. Toro was taught his whole life to look toward me for guidance if he didn’t know what to do.  I had put him in a strange situation to work without me for the first time in his life.
With these things in mind, I knew that with me by his side and Don Matthews’ assurance that Toro’s first days of training would be with normal boar that would behave like the prey they are, I was very confident.

The first day Toro and I spent with Don, I knew I was right.  The first thing we did was go into the barn.  We brought Toro up to the pen holding wild boar that Don had caught the day before.  Don had heard all kinds of things about Toro and he wanted to see what was true and what wasn’t true.  He wanted to see if Toro showed any interest in the penned boar.  It was very dark and dank in the barn and Toro didn’t even see the boar at first.  They were huddled in the back of the pen.  Then they started shifting about and Toro spotted them and started barking at them.  Don said that was good.  Then we went outside and Don brought out a small hog with a rope around its leg and did a sort of a run by with it.  Toro saw that small hog and went through the motions of a catch.  But he was very unenthusiastic and Don didn’t seem too impressed.  I told Don that Toro didn’t seem too impressed either with that little boar.  So Don said, “Let’s try him on something that’ll give him a little fight, but not kick his butt.”  I agreed that that would probably interest Toro more.  So Don sent out a larger boar for Toro to try.  Well that one went over a lot better with my dog.  I was standing in the middle of the ring with the dog between my legs and the hog came running out into the pen.  Don told me to send the dog as the hog passed the dog.  As the hog went into the corner, Toro ran in.  The hog turned and Toro turned on.  To my surprise he grabbed that one by the side of the head by the ear and pushed the hogs’ head into the dirt.  Don came in and I could tell by the look on his face that he was surprised and happy at how well Toro had done.

Next morning we got the job done.  By this time Toro was showing that he was a true catch dog at heart and took that big bad boar down in record time!  Unfortunately, as we broke Toro off the boar, we realized that the cameraman, in his excitement, didn’t catch the catch.  So, we turned that boar loose and Toro caught it again!!  He was having too much fun!  We ended the morning with the CD1 catch and went scouting for boar in the swamps.  See, by this time, Toro was doing so well that both Don and I were figuring that he had a good chance of going home with a CD2.

Next morning, before we went out for his CD2, Don and I wanted to see how Toro would work with other dogs while we were still in a controlled atmosphere.  We turned a boar loose and let the bay dogs in to do their job.  Now, I was a little nervous about this because Toro had never worked with another dog before in any capacity.  The closest he ever got to another dog was either in the show ring or breeding.  I held Toro’s collar, but when that hog came running into the pen, it was all I could do to hold him while the bay dogs worked.  Just as I was loosing feeling in my fingers, Don called, “Turn him loose!”  I let Toro go and he ran in at 100 miles per hour.  I caught my breath when I saw Toro turn the brakes on as he came up on the bay dogs.  He looked at them, and then looked at the boar.  I swear I saw that dog shrug his big bulldog shoulders and then he plowed that hog!

We headed out into the brush for his CD 2.  Toro, my brother Gregory and I rode on the back of the truck.  We were in some light woods, so visibility was good.  The bay dogs were turned loose to kick up the hogs at the feeder, which is kept in the woods to attract a steady supply of fresh prey.  The bay dogs got one boar cornered and it was beating the hell out of those dogs.  Don started yelling, “Let the dog loose!”  I released Toro.  He ran in and got that boar by the ear and did what he had now become real good at, pushed that boar into the ground.  Don and his son ran in and got control of the boar and I broke Toro off.  I was exhilarated.  I can’t believe how exciting this was.  The job was done and we headed back to the house.  I wanted to rest.  This northern body wasn’t holding up so well after four days in the hot Florida sun!  Toro looked like he could keep going though!  When we got back to the house Don seemed really happy with Toro.  I was floored though when he turned to me and said, “We’ll start his CD3 tonight.”  CD3?  YES!!!!!!!  Why not?  My goal for this trip was a CD1 and Toro already did his CD2 and showed no signs of wear and tear!  CD3 here we come!

That evening we got ready.  Eileen’s words were ringing in my ears, “If that dog gets hurt, YOUR DEAD…now go get ‘em!”  We loaded up Toro, the bay dogs, and my brother into the pick-up.  We headed out into the brush.  Toro caught one more hog that night.  We kept the evening short as I was exhausted and wanted to savor my day while I still had some energy left.  The next couple of days were a blur of activity.  We went on several more hunts and most were successful.  I got a little worried at one point because we were having trouble locating boar.  But the next trip out was fruitful and I didn’t have to worry.  It felt like each catch blended into the next. The one I’ll always remember the most though, was Toro’s final catch to earn his CD 3 title.   I knew I was going to be in hot water when I got home, but I wanted that trophy.  This was a big one that the bay dogs had cornered.  I got ready and sent Toro in.  Toro and I worked together as a team, with Toro, for the final time pushing another boar’s head into the ground.  I got my trophy.  I looked up at Don and was surprised to see a very serious look on his face.  He turned to me and said, in complete deadpan, “Well, Rick, are you ready to go get his Alligator 1 now?”  I took a look at Toro’s cut vest, which was brand new when we started with his CD 1 and saw how sliced and diced it was now.  Picturing Eileen’s stern expression she was going to have when she saw all the nicks and cuts on my dog, I replied, “I’m going to have to pass on that one Don; maybe the next trip.”
Don is a good man and a great teacher.  He took a couple of Yankees who knew nothing of the sport of boar hunting and helped us learn.  He was patient with me and careful to make sure that Toro knew his job before putting him in harms way.   Toro’s vest was sliced and diced, but my dog wasn’t.  A couple of nick’s and cuts proved to me three things:  Toro and I were blessed with good luck, good equipment and most of all superior training.  In closing, of course, I must say again, “Thank you Don Matthews.”
For more information on Boar hunting, please contact Don Matthews at  561-460-1415.
 
 

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