Hogs are not native to the American south. In fact, they are a nuisance species. They trample and eat crops, and root through the earth damaging it further. There is no legislation against the hunting and killing of hogs in many states as they are such troublesome creatures. Since people have hunted hogs, boars or pigs, they have used dogs to help them. Hog Dog Rodeos sprang out of this tradition. As with calf roping or any sort of field trial, or test of animal husbandry, hog dogging began as a competition to test the skill of both man and beast.
Hog dogging is different from a sheep dog field trial in that the dogs involved don't just chase a pig into a pen, they chase a pig around a pen and eventually leap upon it dragging it down with tooth and claw. It also may have moved away from its origins as a field trial, and become more of a spectacle, with crowds forming weekly across the rural south to place bets and see a bloody spectacle.
Hog dogging is different from a sheep dog field trial in that the dogs involved don't just chase a pig into a pen, they chase a pig around a pen and eventually leap upon it dragging it down with tooth and claw. It also may have moved away from its origins as a field trial, and become more of a spectacle, with crowds forming weekly across the rural south to place bets and see a bloody spectacle.
