EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

First off good breeding but what are some traits you look for when choosing a potential strike dog  out of  10 litter mates? Also some bad traits to watch for?      Thanks

ex. Size
Demeanor
attitude
anything u think can help

first one to figure its way out of the pen is a keeper

Good ears, long muzzle, knot headed, front and rear dew claws, correctly positioned toes.

I've even heard SOMEBODY on here say where a puppy chooses to poop is important. He doesn't like a pup who steps in his own crap.  ;D

To date I have bought 2 pups and I had pick of the litter both times. The first time I told my wife to pick it out and that was my best one to date. The second I picked out and it did good, but not as good as the first. I think it has alot to do with luck and the breeding

it's best when you have the litter in your yard. This way you can observe every pup every day and socialize them as well as hide pieces of meat in the yard for them. Run drags and see what pup does what...I like and independent and laid back pup...also like the pup to look right physically...and  bang the food pans around and shoot a cap gun and watch them run right up to you while shooting it...

 discipline and correcting the pups... and they don't show any fear because they have learned it is only a correction...focusing and correcting the act and not the pup...

I have to like the pup to give him my best...

raising the litter myself I can evaluate all the pups and cull as I go...the older the cull the better the pup... at that time anyway...

What kinda goofballs you all got around this joint?    rolleyes

 ;D
I ain't naming names, plus, that's a better indicator of intelligence and rational thought in a pup than physical traits

Good Lord just puttem in a Toe Sack shake'em up close your eyes and reach in and pull you a couple out thems the keepers.  I bet I would have just as good percentages as the ones stressing over which pup to keep ahahhahahahahahahahaahha.

http://www.workingdogs.com/testing_volhard.htm

I bought 3 pups last year. 2 came from out of state. The guy was sending me pics of them and asking me which ones I wanted. I just told him to send me the ones no one else wanted. Their both trying to make dogs.

The other I got the pick of the litter. We tired them all out and all of them played but one. She left with her nose on the ground and went and found some chickens and got after them. I took her. She ain't doing half what the other pups are right now.

what's the point in breeding dogs if we don't make every effort in selecting the very best pups from the litter??? it is just as important as selecting who the sire and dam is going to be.

socializing and selecting the pups is probably the best part...especially when that pup turns into a good hog dog...

I look for the one that is out going and when you drop them on the ground the one with its nose to the ground last..confermation is a must but attitude and wanting to work are up there too...I have 2 pups out of my litter(there the ones in my porfile pic) and the red one is a senting hound always has her nose to the ground but the blue one is a girl of action and bays anything with 4 legs...same litter raised and trained together just different personalities

Not all for sure and probably not even most perfect confirmation , prettiest build best attitude best everything as a pup pick of the liters makes a good are even a great dog I would imagine a whole big lot of them don't even make a dog.  Don't get me wrong I love a great good looking dog but when it comes to getting the job done and what I breed to he better have his working boots on his laces tied cause I could give a damn about pretty are best attitude are best this are best that when it comes to getting the job done and breeding dogs.  I don't breed for the build are pretty at all I breed for the desire to work , desire to hunt , and heart and the gene pool if you know your breeding and got the right cross in them dogs and enuff cross the build and all the confirmation and attitude the pretty will take care of itself now I keep it in mind but its on the back shelf but I can dang sure tell you the hunt , the heart, the desire and all the tools that makes a hunting dog other than pretty will NOT take care of itself !  Thats were a breeder comes into play .  Pretty is skin deep untill other proven !

When I am looking at a pup I am looking at him from the inside out !    If you know your dogs and your breedings you know the little things to look for, which ones have the dew claw which ones dont, which ones have the right muzzle build ,  which one has the right bone , which one has the right ear, which one has the right head set these are the things you should look for not just the perfect confermation are the right come out and greet you.  Its not about confermation its about learning and knowing what the pup should have coming from a certain line of dogs its the little things that matter now the ones that hit you right in the face .  U have to know the line of dogs are else it is just a crap shoot in the dark and that is were the Toe Sack Shakem Up Reach In And Pick You Ones comes in handy.

gotta agree totaly with tex on that one till this past couple of litters i never picked or choosed a pup i would keep whatever male and female pup was left . and it allways left me with the uglyiest pups and the runts . and i have no complaints because the runts when they ain't competing with the bigger pups for feed will grow up to be full sized dogs and well you just cain't fix ugly . but they all turned out just fine as far as hunting went .

Halfbreed some may think I am a little bit crazy for saying this but .

I have seen in some lines and breeds of working dogs were it matters most and more of what color of toenails the dog has and how many of a certain color he are she has  rather than how perfect built he are she was and what kind of a attuide he are she had as a pup.  I know men that would select on just this when it comes to their breeds and lines of dogs!

Now people this is the truth !

 ha ha i know what your talking about . i knew an ol greyhound man went strickly by toenails color when lookin at dogs .

  I WANT THE UGLIEST, RUNTIEST ONE IN THE LITTER! THE ONE THAT NOBODY ELSE WANTS.

choose the runt. they have to fight for everything during nursing and even after wheened. its a 50-50 chance of getting a good dog just by the way they look or how the interact with their littermates. confirmation dont make a dog, training and disapline make them work, but they have to have it to begin with. mine aint nowhere, where they should be, but again training and hunting is what makes them into a good dog, but i have to stay in the states long enough to get mine up and going, aint got nobody to blaim but me, but the runts so far have turned out to be as good if not better than some of the others.

If you don't  plan on keeping the whole litter until they are about a year old just close your eyes and grab one..

to improve a line or strain of dogs it is best to keep the whole litter but who can afford it or even have the kennel space???I have had excellent luck picking  the best 4 or 5 pups at 3 months old and then culling down from there...not saying I got the very best but have had excellent luck picking some sure enough keepers...

Not much difference in keeping 4 or 5 pups and keeping the whole litter. You spend that much on gas goin to try all them dogs for sale on the classifieds.

My last litter of pups back in April, I got some real good advise from Reuben in the form of a PM . He explained to me that the longer I could keep the litter the better chance I would have of picking the right pups. He also gave me tips on little "test" I could do with them to see which pups had the noses and which ones did not. He advised me to make drags using raw liver to test their scenting and winding ability. At 4 1/2 months I had it narrowed down to three. I kept 2 for myself and the 3rd one ended up with an experienced hog hunter from Pearl River,La. All 3 were baying pigs at an early age. Had I not kept them for that long I probably would have just picked 2 based on looks alone.  It didn't pay to keep the litter any longer because after all the little "test and trials" , these 3 were clearly the keepers in this
litter.

well guys I've decided to keep em till I feel I can really make the best choice thanks for the input as wild as some were lol

Walk out to the puppy pen and stand in the middle of it. Close your eyes and call the pups. When they get around your feet reach down and pick up how many you plan to keep.

This method is as good as any.

go with yur gut feeling,

Go with your ol ladies gut feeling

If they turn into hog dogs you can blame her for being gone so long, tell her she shouldn't have done such a good job picking the pups, and if they don't turn out, blame her still  ;D

a word from the wise!

The UGLY one!!!!