Hoosier Outlaw
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Jun 2010
Location: Marion, Indiana
Posts: 4280 |
quote: Originally posted by Richard Lambert
Now these are just my thoughts and I for sure don't really know what I am doing. I change my mind daily or weekly about what to do. So I don't think that anyone else should do what I do. Everyone should have their own plan. And sometimes no plan is a plan.
Be careful what you ask for, you might get it. Why do y'all think that so many walker dog guys want a Redbone? The walkers became dominate in the comp hunts because that is what they bred for. They gave up brains, sense, looks, pleasure to hunt, handling, personality and disposition, accuracy and mouth. They only bred for speed, drive and tree. So be careful if you only want a red colored walker dog you might get one.
But it might be useful to stop and think just why you wanted and loved Redbones to begin with. And what besides just color separated them from walker dogs.
I can't speak for everyone....but I can say I don't want a red colored walker....I want a redbone that can beat walkers most of the time. Walkers have their own set of problems brought on by a few breeders starting in the late 90's. Their problems are not really the same as redbone problems and their strengths are not really the same as redbone strengths. We are in a unique position to learn from their mistakes and not make them ourselves as we go forward. We do need to strengthen many of the same traits that are dominant in big winning walkers in our redbones...but we can do without some of the collateral damage they caused themselves along the way. Every redbone breeder should sit down and list out the top five best things they have ever seen out of the best competition dogs they have ever seen perform...then break it down into what traits were responsible for those things. Now compare those things with what you have seen from the average redbone in competition. Not the very best one hit wonder dog...just the average redbone who has done some winning in competition.
Granted, you are comparing best of the best to the average of the redbone breed at this point...but that will give you the yardstick to measure against. If the best of the best you have ever seen go in competition are redbones...then you probably haven't been in many top level hunts and need to get out more. There are good redbones out there...a few are really good...but they are very rare as you know if you hunt much at that level.
But once you compare those top five dogs you ever seen perform...against the average redbone you are going to see in competition ....the weaknesses in terms of competition traits will become clear.
Then list out those glaring weaknesses you have identified in the average redbone and compare those with the average walker or English dog you see in competition. You will see a difference.
This is why I say there is more than a color difference between breeds.
The average walker has more drive than the average redbone.
The average walker has more volume than the average redbone.
There are several other differences but you get the point.
Now....you will also see a few things where redbones will rank higher...such as accuracy and maybe independence and lay up ability.
If everyone would list this all out and be honest with themselves...what you end up with is a road map of where we have been as a breed, where we are now and where we need go from here.
Not every trait we see in walkers helps them win in competition and not every trait we see in redbones holds us back from winning. But there is no doubt that more walkers have more of the traits needed to win in competition than the average redbone does....that's a fact we need to admit...and accept...and correct!
It's getting the right combination that is specific and targeted to win in competition that is the key.
A lot of walkers win by being automatic strike dogs and will run anything and fall off on a coon and beat you because your straight redbone won't run that junk. I don't want a redbone like that...I want something better.
You don't have to breed for redbones that do the same to beat that walker...ask yourself what can a dog do to beat a dog like that?
Well, a straight accurate dog with more drive than most redbones who isn't afraid to get by itself can tree two coons while that walker is running trash and beat that walker dog. There are always ways to counter another's strengths....without copying them....or stealing from them.
Too many redbone people seem to be giving up and saying..."if you can't beat em join em"
Well you will always be behind the curve doing that...playing follow the leader. We need to take what we know we have, be honest about what we don't have, and educate ourselves and find the solutions to the question of how do we breed redbones that have all or most of what we need to beat the best out there WITHOUT TURNING OUR BREED INTO A RED VERSION OF THEIR BREED!
I believe it's possible to create a redbone someday that has what we want and do it in a predictable and repeatable way. It's not going to happen tomorrow...it's not going to happen with one lucky, (or we'll planned) cross. It will come over several years when more and more people start getting on the same page and work together towards the same common goal.
__________________
Shane Maxey
Proud lifetime member of the NRA
Banshee Wildlife Products
Hoosier Outlaw / Moonlight Redbones
1994 American Redbone Coonhound Association Hunter of the Year
My first 3 redbones raised from pup's were:
Dual Gr.Ch. Outlaw Billy the Kid
Dual Gr.Ch.- PKC Ch. Outlaw Timber Girl
Dual Gr.Ch. Outlaw Scarlett Fever
(((( Current Favorites ))))
2013 AKC Ladies World Champion
Gr.Nt.Ch.- PKC Ch- AKC Ladies World Ch Ky Moonlight Breanna
Gr.Nt.Ch. - PKC Ch. Ky Moonlight Woody
Dual Grand Moonlight Deana
Dual Grand Ch.- PKC Ch. Moonlight AfterShock
Dual Grand Nighty Night Amber
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Big Time Britt
Gr.Nt.Ch Outlaw Billy Jean
Gr.Nt.Ch-PKC Ch.-2015 PKC Red Days Champ Outlaw Cherry Bomb
Gr.Nt.Ch Outlaw Breeze
Gr.Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch. All Grand Outlaw G-Man (over $20.000 won in PKC & CHKC) 2019 Southern Redbone Days Overall Champion
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Outlaw Mac
Gr.Nt.Ch. Classy Cali (Heavy Outlaw bred)
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Cat Scratch Fever
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Addiction
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Overdose
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Jinx
Gr.Nt.Ch. Moonlight Banshee
"Always outnumbered...Never outgunned!"
To enjoy lots of pics and videos of out redbones, find me on Facebook
as Shenandoah Maxey
Last edited by Hoosier Outlaw on 03-28-2017 at 08:28 PM
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