EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I have a really tight bred gyp that is young and coming along great. If she proved herself to breed one day would you breed to a close related dog, or breed to the best dog you've ever hunted behind that hunts in a similar way, but isn't related. 

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Depends on how well the other dog is bred. Traits skips generations.

There are different avenues you could go, but 1st make sure the dog you go to is a good dog. Good dog meaning fits what you like. I like to use a breeding to add things I don't have enough of and/or reinforce things I have and want to keep. You say the gyp is tightly bred 1) does the closely related dog have all the same ancestors or 2) does it have some unrelated ancestors in there? Since you say she is tightly bred I would probably look into #2 if there is a good dog that fits that.

Now the unrelated one is it 3) scatterbred or is it 4) tightly bred for its own family? Scatterbred would be harder for you to match up the hunting style. So I would look into #4 here. Keep in mind this only works if the dogs are good at what they do and healthy.

close related can mean several things...if both pedigrees are almost the same then you could be breeding yourself in to a corner very quick...if there are some dogs on one side that are related and not so much on the other then I would breed to the relative if they both hunt like you like...the chances of you getting what you want are in your favor...

 I would rather breed an average dog from a "great" family than I would breed to a great dog from and "average" family.   IMO  

I agree...have done it in the past with excellent results...but I wouldn't make it a habit...only do this when there are no other options...breeding to a great dog from average dogs is not an option when a good bloodline is at stake...

I think a lot of folks don't understand this. I have a female that is really well bred but has never been to a bay. She throws fire into whatever u breed her too.

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This is #2 in the post I made.

I have one at the house alot like the female you speak of, she hasn't hunted much but her littermates are all dogs I would be happy to own, she throws great pups for me, out of 6 so far only one was a "cull" with the rest all doing well at under a year old. It has been pretty much decided that she will be a brood gyp for me for the rest of her days.

Find a sire that is a proven producer. Some dogs are great but do not produce.

A dog that does not hunt but produces a high percentage of hunting dogs is great to have...but in my minds eye I wouldn't want to build a breeding program around said dog...I see it as a stepping stone in using a son or grandson for that...one that has all of the above and has one or both grandparents that are as good...

if we make exceptions too often then we wouldn't be breeding the best...I realize we have to start somewhere and sometimes it takes 2 or 3 generations to get close to what we want unless we are lucky in finding a line of dogs that we are very happy with...that would save lots of time and money...

right now I ask myself how well I like my dogs and my answer to that is that I like them well enough but they are not an established line...but it is a starting point...took 3 or 4 years to get a starting point...

Mine will hunt if I let her but I put her up after one or hunts. Speaking to several people that knew of her breeding, parents and littermates, I realized she was a valuable brood dog.