EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

 I have a litter of pups and i want to just keep the best of the best out of the litter when they get older. So when is the age to start culling?

That would depend on your expectations. You could cull right out the gate for color or after 6 weeks for lack of interest.

Has anyone ever cull at 6 weeks for lack of interest? That seems real early.

I have personally known one person on here that has. 

The only thing I would expect a 6wk old pup to be interested in is his momma's teet.

I meant lack of interest in you or the other dogs. My pups don't see a piglet until 4 months old.

To each his own but i personally like to see some good things out of a pup by 10 to 14 mo.'s, then i expect alot of them to act like a teenager and regress, or not perform to there capability they have previously shown on a regular basis. Then by two they should be coming on strong or cull.

With that said my cur was kicking up dirt and finding a good bit of hogs for me since he turned 2 in july of last yr until about 6 wks ago and has regressed alot this past month and he just turned 3  >:( I am hoping he just hit a short term slump, he also lost wt and had blood in his stool so i switched his wormer last wk but if he has not got back to his old self by october at the latest....cull.

I wonder what most people would do in that situation? I saw this dog do great for a yr then has had a 6 wk hiatus of doing nothing but honoring bays....cull immediatly or see if he gets back to his old self!  ???

Make em Squeel- I would put that on a health slump and keep him around and see how it goes.

Cull Buck that is what i was thinking

MAN I NORMALLY LOOK AT THE PUPPIES AT SIX WEEKS OLD AN KEEP WAT I WANT AN GET RID OF THE REST

Thanks, thats what i am doing, at least until sept. oct. Surely a dog will not go from making a hand to sh!t eater at age 3.....Thats also about the time i bragged on him to daisydog, and they always make me a liar  :-[

What breed!!

Cward they are Cur dogs. They are only 5 weeks old. They are out of my gyp stirke dog and my brother has a male dog that is out of the old "Rowdy 1" Parker cur dog.

Then yes I would wait too cull them!As my least favorite pup out of the 14 month litter I have is makeing the best dog!!

I have a six year old dog that is hard to out hunt, out find and out stay. He had two hunts in a row where he wasn't up to par, so I took him and had blood pulled on him. We did the heart worm and the tick born diseas test and sent the rest to the lab. We also checked him for worms. The only thig that showed up was a low blood count.I put him on blood builder and vitamins and gave him a couple of weeks off. He was better the next hunt but still not up to his usual self. I took him back and pulled blood again and told them to check his thyroids and for bruccelosis. The bruccelosis came back positive. When a good dog starts not performing its time to look at health issues.

You know that is a million dollar ?  When to Cull... I think it comes with about a million answers too. So many variables that play into that decision that a man would need to way out very good, so he dont shoot himself in the foot and cull when not needed or to end up feedin a dog that will never be what he wants.. In my neck of the woods there is not tons of hogs, so that being said, dont expect every puppy that is 10 months old to run out in the woods and find hogs like that of  the same dog put into a situation where there are plenty of hogs and you can put him in them every time you take him out the kennels... That being said I try to look at what kind of hunt the dog has in him at that age, and that means he might not know what he is lookin for when I let him out the box but he aint tryint to find it in my feet...In a situation like mine I could cull 80% of 10month old dogs cause they didnt FIND a hog , but I would be a fool to think that they are suppose to hit a track and put something at the end of it on their own without the leadership of ole dogs showin em..If you belive in your Line of dogs, then give their offspring a little time cause they will usually all produce some kind of hog dog, just some longer than others..

If you have not raised many litters out of this line of dogs I would say wait and give them a little time. But keep note on all the pups the good and the bad. I have been around my dogs long enough to know them very well. I start culling the minute they are born. Good luck with them.

when to cull yep thats tough, if i have the room i will keep them all till they are big enough to start following me around the barn and thru the pasture usually 3 mo or so,  then i start picking the most out going pups, seems like the lazy one that stays behind will always be that way.
they will change some with time but those out going pups have always been my choice.  if im in need of dogs i will keep 5 or 6 till they get 8 or 9 mo and i start taking them hunting then at about a year old you should be able to make some good decisions..

i have 4 now out of a litter of 6 that is about 6mo old, i couldnt pick them so i let waylon have 2 but i think he got the best ones  ;D

If this dog was kicking up dirt on his way to hunt and striking hogs then more than like he is having some issues with health or something that is causing him not to hunt.  ???

I would be patient and hold on to him and work on getting him back to hunting again.

I was going to stay out on this one: BUT cward is write If you talk to the man the dogs came from and ask how the parents started out. I got dog @ 2 year old and he was a OK dog nothing to brage on,I started to float him but did not have the money for more dogs.  6mon. later he turned it on and there was no better dog around.I had 11 more year hunting with is dog.I breed him about 4 time the pups would not start untill 12mon . THAT IS TO LONG FOR ME. So I did not breed him anymore.I have my own opinion on this PM me your phone # and lets talk. I hate to type.

X2, Culling is a progression, as the pups grow, they are on a point system which means that all pups in the litter are getting tested in all the things they do or don't do.  If you are a breeder you should know how the pups develop and what is a cull. I have culled pups at 4 months that turned out great. When I cull young pups it only means that they are not good enough for me at that age but it doen't mean they will not hunt. I want to see a lot of potential at a young age. As the pup gets older he/she should be progressing or will get culled. The older the cull from my yard the better it is because it had to be pretty good to last that long. Serious breeders do it that way.

The way I see it if you pick early starting dogs then those dogs will produce early starting dogs and those percentages will keep increasing in your favor.

Also, I do like outgoing pups but the very best sometimes are laid back easy going, not hyper in any way but when the tailgate drops these dogs will put on a hogdog clinic... :) I am always on the lookout for these types... ;)

Another thing to consider is the strain and breed of dog as to when you cull.

Life is too short to finally cull at 1.5 yrs. or worse at 2 yrs. If the dog finally makes it at 2 yrs. of age I wouldn't breed it and it would be on the replacement list.

Reuben , 10-4 on that