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Not sure what kind of disscusion this will bring but, I am just curious what gritt means to your cat pack? Where you hunt, is it important to have or not so much? I've got my own opinions and preference on this, we catch half our cats on the ground.

We don't catch many on the ground here, but I think its important to have enough grit to keep them bayed until you get there if it happens.

I've only heard of 3 ever on the ground here. Of those one was bayed, the other two got stretched.

3 words! . Track Driven Aggression. John.

It all depends on what one calls gritt. If it is determination and endurance it is a must but fearless and aggressive no to me that is not needed. Andy

BlazeNBratt, like you, I also catch about 1/2 mine on the ground. I like my dogs to have enough grit to the point of, they are not scared to put their mouth on the cat. In other words, they are running to catch. They WANT to catch. Just my opinion, but I think if a dog isn't running to catch the game they are after, they don't have their heart in it. Robbie

They gotta run to catch. Not Chase. End of story.

enough grit to catch . Hey tom-tom hows that dog doing her sister caught a rank wild cow
last week LOL

Grit means different things to different people. To me grit means aggression. I feel that when people breed for aggression they get dog fights and dead dogs. I breed for quite easy going dogs. To answer the question my dogs will kill a bobcat on the ground in minutes. The only place that they will not is if they can not get to it. I have had the jump race end right in front of me and not hear one growl out of the cat before it would be over. Its drive and ability to move a track hot or cold to catch a cat. If one dog catches ahead of the others it might not be able to get the job done. If grit is the ability to stay on a track and complete it or be hunted 10 or 12 days in a row then yes they need grit for me to hunt them. Dewey

Mr. Dewey, I guess the first thing that popped in my mind when I read the title to this thread "grit in your cat dogs" is the wolf hunters of today that run in the wolf pens. If their dogs catch and kill the coyote they are barred from running in the pen, so...their breeding program has turned to dogs that will run along side of a coyote and bark but they want put their mouth on him. Also seems like these dogs don't have the heart, drive, desire, or stamina that it takes to get the job done like I want it done. They have bred the grit (desire to catch) plum out of the dog.

But...like you said, I guess grit means different things to different people. I'm like you, if grit means aggression between the dogs, it is something that I want tolerate.

Just for curiosity, I looked up the definition of grit. It says "Fortitude and determination. Strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity with courage."

Now that's the kind of grit I would like to have in my dogs. Robbie

Do you guys think that aggression towards game vs other dogs are two separate traits? To me grit is the drive to get the job done, kinda like saying tough enough and has the stuff. And I'm talking from truck to cat in mouth. Another question too... What do you guys think about game crazy tuff dogs vs thinking dogs? I've seen a few that are both at the same time or at least can throw the switch when needed. Probably a good balance either within each dog or within a pack is best. I guess it really depends on the situation and how the styles pan out.

It takes a smart dog to be a top cat dog for me. Some of the best cat dogs that I have seen have quit bear and are smart. I have seen some that were good at both but not many. Dewey

Most aggresive hounds dont seem to be real thinkers. The real thinkers seem to make better cat dogs and just want to end the track to me that is determination, not worried about eating what they treed. jmo Andy

For out here I know exactly what i want. The balance is so sensitive and everything depended on pairing the right dogs and not upsetting that by adding the wrong dog.

I want bobcats bayed solid and not slipping away and moving the bay. I want them bayed but not killed. I want to be the one to decide which cats die and which ones don't. I do not want the dogs deciding that for me. We have achieved this with the right two dogs. Any more than that and the cat has died when we did not want it to. This is the kind of balance a guide needs also. Hunters are paying you for a live cat that they can harvest. They are not paying you to carry your dog's dead cat out.

OLDB&T this long eared dog is doing just fine. It's me who is in bad shape I have 2 weeks left to go in outage and then it's back to normal life. I have managed to get her out a few times in the last couple months though. I gave that Duncan pup to a guy in deep south Texas. He says that's the best dog he's ever had and he's only about 9 months old. I know he has to be wondering what I kept if I gave that dog away!

Folks,

Mr. Dewey is right that "GRIT" means different things to different people! Thanks South Texan for looking up the diffinition!

"It says "Fortitude and determination. Strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity with courage."

The part about ENDURING ADVERSITY with COURAGE...now that is something that we want in each and every Hound that Dad raises! Overcoming ADVERSITY is a must in almost every Cat Race that we have....there are very few "Gimmes" where we hunt.

Finding the Cat after a BAD Check, dealing with the BAD terrain, Bad Scenting, Dry to no Moisture at all Conditions, sorting out the Bobcat's many Tricks, just finding where a Cat has been....all are the types of ADVERSITY that our Hounds deal with each time they are in the Woods. Perseviering enough to be successful in ending the Race takes "GRIT" as defined above!

Wanting to go every time we back up to the Kennels, even after having been unloaded 6 hours before after a 5 hour Race. Being not only able to go, but havingevery fiber in their body wanting to go again....now that is the kind of GRIT that we want!

Being AGGRESSIVE in the Drive and The Style with which a Hound runs a Cat is very desireable! Being AGGRESSIVE towards other Hounds or People is not allowed, stopped quickly and a Trait which is closely viewed in selecting Hounds for mating.

David writes: "I want bobcats bayed solid and not slipping away and moving the bay. I want them bayed but not killed. I want to be the one to decide which cats die and which ones don't. I do not want the dogs deciding that for me."

This is what we want in our Hounds. They will stretch one if given time and permission, but will give me enough time "Usually" to get there and decide if this is a Cat we want to Harvest or not. Our Treedogs are coming along, Glen Rybard's littermates to ours very seldom miss a Tree; this is allowing he and his Dad to be selective in which Cats they harvest.

Not putting their Mouths on a Cat in NO WAY effects how hard these Hounds run or Tree a Cat, they are "Running to Catch" each Cat that they jump. They do enjoy "Wooling" one around after I apply a Hickory Whack to one, but are just as happy to answer the Horn or my call to follow out to the truck. If they want to persist in baying, a Telephone call from Tri-tronics (not a Shock) in most cases bring them right on. This is the same with a Tree I can not get to or one we decide to leave and not Paintball out, the Hounds are not Aggressive in wanting to Tree or Bay, they are SMART enough to answer when called.

This is not the only way that works for Cat Hounds, just what works for the Style and Manner in which we hunt!