UKC Forums (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/index.php)
- UKC Coonhounds (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=4)
-- Breeding better dogs-what we believe (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/showthread.php?threadid=928483644)

Here is something I also have learned over the years, the hardest part about breeding is keeping a line of dogs intact or true to the traits.
Many can make a good cross, but try and keep that going for the long haul 😊 Many lines come and go.
One cross into your line can change them forever, this is why you have to be so careful to know the family traits and what that particular dog is throwing.
And why I also like the older stud that has many progeny on the ground, so I can see over time what he has thrown.

Also how many times have we seen the next great stud on this website where guys flock to breed, only to find out that he threw too much tree or ground pounders? Many times 😊
There is no fast track to breeding a line of dogs unless you have a team helping you that are bought in to your process.
Focus on traits, not winners and you will see better dogs.

__________________
Striving to breed balanced Treeing Walkers.

"Life is short boys, Hunt an intelligent hound"

Born in sin, convicted by the Word, saved by Grace.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Surveyor
I'd be worried that pregnant female would catch and eat a possum, then the pups would never be able to be broke off possum!

---

__________________
Home of:
A couple blue haired potlickers

Gone but not forgotten:
Nt Ch Fanny's Midnite Blue Annie - aka Sodie Pop R.I.P. - I will miss you old girl

Nt Ch Becky’s Midnite Blue Hank - R.I.P. Old Boy, thank you for the memories

Gr Nt Ch S&E's Midnite Lite Blue Snow (Co-Owned with my good friend Harry Eidenier) - We had a blast following you ole girl!

?

__________________
Training dogs is not so much about quantity, it's more about timing, and the right situations...After that it's up to the dog....A hunting dog is born...

Better or not?

I believe that in a lot of cases, the best pups in the litter may not have ever been given a chance. We can only judge a dog when it reaches it's full potential and many never reach that point. As far as being as good or better than their parents, if we never thought the offspring from our breeding's were going to be better than what we already have then there would be no point in breeding for better dogs. Dogs don't get better over night, it takes a good trainable dog to start with then take it to it's full potential. Then, and only then, we can see where we are and where we need to go to improve on what we have. Sometimes we just get plain lucky in my honest opinion, LOL!

Ron, i somewhat agree with your statement," being better than there parents" but when i was breeding Liza Jane several years ago, i would go to Big Time studs and there owners would say he ought to cross very well on her you will like them,
and my response would be i just hope he don't bring her down,
because she reproduces
I wanted whole litters of her!

__________________
Striving to breed balanced Treeing Walkers.

"Life is short boys, Hunt an intelligent hound"

Born in sin, convicted by the Word, saved by Grace.

Something i don't hear allot anymore is dogs with grit and drive,
Drive is very important to me, i test pups as they grow to see if scent, blood etc makes them excited, i like those pups!
Example, i had a litter a year or so ago that was running loose,never seen anything about 2.5 months old, my Treeing Feist had a squirrel treed in front of the house so i shot it out to her.
Did not know where pups were? They came running just because they heard me, but when they got there, there was a spot of blood the size of a quarter on the ground,( the feist took the squirrel and ran) The pups started sniffing the blood spot and went into a frenzy, it was crazy to see how it excited them.
They finally found the feist and took her squirrel and ate it. lol

__________________
Striving to breed balanced Treeing Walkers.

"Life is short boys, Hunt an intelligent hound"

Born in sin, convicted by the Word, saved by Grace.

Re: Breeding better dogs-what we believe

quote:

---

Originally posted by Reuben
I once read that the pups can only be as good as the parents...from my experience that is not true. Closer to the truth is, the pups can only be as good as what is in the parents...

I also believe in how the pregnant gyp is handled can change the pups during the gestation period, especially after the 6th week of gestation...if you hunt coon let her bay a coon in a roll cage...take her hunting...feed her coon etc...

Let us hear your thought process on the "outside the box breeding better dogs"...thanks

---

Re: Re: Breeding better dogs-what we believe

quote:

---

Originally posted by daniel urffer
Really???

---

__________________
Training dogs is not so much about quantity, it's more about timing, and the right situations...After that it's up to the dog....A hunting dog is born...

I have had an opinion on what I have seen in the past...I have seen a family of dogs become wider and faster hunters and more grit over 5- 7 generations...at the beginning I thought when looking at the dogs to breed...look at the sire and dam and the family tree for what the pups could be one day...the other thing to consider was puppy selection...we also know environment also plays a role but I always thought the right dogs in the breeding program and proper puppy selection was the most important things and still do...environment is important but that is a variable to a certain extent...

The taming of the foxes video makes me believe it is possible on what I believe...

When breeding for excellent striking abilities it is possible to get faster hunt and wider hunting and desire to the degree one must not turn the dog loose until all is ready to
go...

Selecting for tighter bay....at some point some of the dogs became more aggressive...

It seems it is possible that when breeding for more of this or that that it can actually take us over the edge...even if the previous dogs in the pedigree did not exhibit the extreme traits...It is a personal theory of mine...has anyone else made the same or similar observations?

__________________
Training dogs is not so much about quantity, it's more about timing, and the right situations...After that it's up to the dog....A hunting dog is born...

Definitely some interesting reading and lots of info to get one thinking!
Dave Dean once told me " you can only breed so much of one thing in a dog before you have a problem"
He went on to say you can only breed so much strike into a dog before you get a babbler.

__________________
home of
BLUE GHOST MEMPHIS
BLUE GHOST WHITE TRASH
BLUE GHOST HAUNTED SKY

I never had the pleasure of meeting Dave Dean but I really liked his writings...loved his style and his thinking was unique...I spoke with him on the phone right before he passes and he as not able to purchase his books and articles...

Even though I didn’t know him I looked up to him in that he had some pretty good hammer dogs...

__________________
Training dogs is not so much about quantity, it's more about timing, and the right situations...After that it's up to the dog....A hunting dog is born...

A Wise King...

A wise king once said to his son...it is better to marry a fair maiden from a family known for a long line of many warriors and leaders of men...and of many beautiful and talented maidens than to marry a beautiful maiden from a long line of peasants...

__________________
Training dogs is not so much about quantity, it's more about timing, and the right situations...After that it's up to the dog....A hunting dog is born...

Swimming

I used to test pups for swimming...the idea came to me when I took the pups for a short excursions behind my house and before it got so populated...

During those times I noticed a few pups loved to hit the water on their own without any encouragement...so my reasoning was that it was a natural trait and it was a good trait to breed for...

I noticed that the best swimmers had the body build that I liked best...when swimming all you saw was theit head gliding through the water...these type of dogs when trailing and running a hog and the hog hit the river these dogs were the best in the water...fast swimmers and would porpoise to increase swimming speed...that is the best I can describe it...about 2/3 their body would lunge forward trying to catch up to the hog swimming in the water...

The body build of these type of dogs...
Taller at the withers than the back and muscular...a well muscled top of neck and fairly deep chest with a tight flank...the loin and rear is fairly wide and muscled with plenty of driving power...the front legs and fore arms are powerful and well boned and muscled...the feet are fairly large and toes are strong and never flat footed...

I noticed these type were the strongest swimmers and also the best in defending themselves in a scuffle with another dog...

I see these type of dogs as the best all around and my favorite type...I tried to breed this type of dog...I think of football team players and I consider this type of dog like the middle linebacker...not the biggest but big...not the fastest but fast...not the strongest but strong...but could be the quickest and all around...

I stopped looking for those that loved the water because gators are bad around my part of the country...

__________________
Training dogs is not so much about quantity, it's more about timing, and the right situations...After that it's up to the dog....A hunting dog is born...

Speed

If my odometer was right these dogs ran 27-28 mph at maximum speed and they could hold it for a good bit but I never measured the distance...

__________________
Training dogs is not so much about quantity, it's more about timing, and the right situations...After that it's up to the dog....A hunting dog is born...