RedScorpion
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Aug 2011
Location: Northern Tier
Posts: 200 |
quote:
Originally posted by pamjohnson
i don't have red dogs but blue dogs and this thread has sparked my interest...most fellows have more common sense than to want a hound like that. yes they can win but most don't want to hunt them or can't handle them if they were real honest...how many want this? yes there are a few handlers that can pass this test but they are fewer than the dogs that can...maybe what i have posted sounds a little on the negative side but its not meant to be i just think most people need to be realistic about what they can handle and enjoy that. great dogs can come with a handle on them and can be extremely enjoyable.
You make some very good points and what you say is true for many people's taste in coonhounds. However, what I and several others are talking about is increasing the average drive in almost all breeds, for the most part. Still others are talking about increasing drive in competition hounds toward the extreme (or towards what it takes to win).
So what does the statement "increasing drive" really mean and what will be the reality of that endeavor. If I understand breeding principles correctly, in order to increase the average performance, one must breed toward the extreme over several generations, and be vigilant to keep out lazy dogs (we are talking about one trait here: drive). What you are describing is tending toward the extreme, and this is something many on here say they want, and more power to them for dealing with it. But what I am saying, if you look toward the AVERAGE performance of our hounds of all breeds, it appears we need to turn up the "drive dial" a little...we need a higher percentage of dogs with more drive from each litter...And in order to do that, we cannot breed the "brood" female that doesn't do anything but stand at your feet. We need to breed the females that get out there, hustle, and hunt (have drive). Every time someone breeds that lazy female and lazy male, he is pulling down the average in the gene pool for that particular trait. If we increase the average in a particular trait, we will get more dogs (a higher percentage) that tend toward the extreme for that trait. Of course, as Mr. Outlaw described, above, you must balance your breeding for all of the other traits that are important, too...and theoretically, if we can move the breed forward in this way, perhaps we can make everybody happy with the final product.
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Last edited by RedScorpion on 11-21-2017 at 08:33 PM
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11-20-2017 10:58 PM
