In regard to pig dogs most hunters here run finder/holders or finder/bailers, they can be split into ute (pickup) finders and ground finders. Ute finders scent the pig whilst travelling around on the back of a vehicle/atv they then either signal with a bark or whimper when they detect a scent and are released and they find and hold or find and bail (bay) until the hunter gets there, some bailers will also lug on command or the pig is shot, in a rare instance a "catch dog" is used.Ground finders are exactly that, usually hunted on the ground walking with the hunter. Very few hunters here run finding dogs and a bulldog to do the catching like you may have seen in America, we expect our dogs to do the finding and the catching. Most local councils only allow people to have 2 dogs in a standard house yard so they need 2 dogs to do it all, hunting pressure in most areas also has the pigs extremely flighty, the slightest hint of a hunter and they are on the run, so fast dogs that can find and hit hard in a lug or put on a real strong bay are usually essential, add to that a lot of our hunting is done at night the need for fit hard dogs becomes even more essential. Pig dogs are prey specific, we want them to catch pigs and pigs alone the chasing/scenting of any other game is severly frowned upon and will result in the dog removed from the pack until properly trained or possibly removed from hunting all together if retraining is not possible. Fighting or human aggression is also severly frowned upon, most hunters head out with their mates so the dogs are constantly being introduced to new animals and people and their is no room on a hunt for fighting or biting dogs, bringing a dog like this will result in you going home and not being invited again until the problem is solved in most cases. Sizes vary on breed and terrain hunted, most in the thick or mountain country like dogs in the 28 to 35 kg bracket and 24 to 26 inches at the shoulder, hunters in more open country 35 to 45 kg and 26 inches and upwards at the shoulder, there are of course exceptions to these sizes in all country but this is a general sizing to give an example.
Roodogs and longdogs are a versitile breed and yes they are extremely fit toned animals, incredibly fast and agile for their size. As the name suggests their original purpose was to catch roos and other meat for the table for their families so naturally any dog incapable of this was not kept for very long. The catching of roos with dogs was made illegal quite some years ago so nobody does that anymore but enthusiasts of the breed have kept them alive and well and have used them on a variety of feral game from rabbits, hares, foxes, cats and pigs to great effect. There are very few sights as spectacular as a longdog in full flight their speed and agility is amazing. A lot of the pigdog breeds also have the blood of these dogs in their make up to add height and agility to the bull blood, eg bully x staghound, bully x greyhound etc etc.
I hope this gives you a basic insight into some of our hunting dogs, enjoy the site. cheers