Good hunt!  How do you like that Ranger Crew?  Ive been going back and forth on whether to go for the 800 crew or the new single cab 900. 

I know this is an old thread, but wanted to bump it back up and see if I could get some more input on the subject.  I'm in the market now for either the new 900 or the 800 crew.  Any more input would be appreciated.   

Very true Reuben.  On that note its important to watch out for those that put a large emphasis on the famous dogs that may be six or seven generations back but make little mention of the quality or work that their own dogs have put in.  Pedigree just says what a dog should be, not what it actually is.  And it only takes a few generations of breeding untested dogs to end up with nothing more than a shell of a dog. 

The genetics will work the same.  Too close though is dependent on the dogs involved.  General rule of thumb is only to do those extremely tight breedings when you have two damn near perfect dogs.  On top of that there needs to be a pedigree of proven dogs.  You could have two litter mates that produce hogs for you even if you dropped em out in the middle of the atlantic, but if they are off of two cull quality dogs you've got a good shot at producing nothing but culls when bred together.  So generally if your gonna breed tight its best off of two near perfect dogs with pedigrees full of near perfect dogs.  You will still likely get some culls, but the ones that do turn out have the potential to go above and beyond their parents and will also have a strong ability to reproduce in their likeness.  

They work well.  Don't own one anymore, but used to use them when conditioning a bulldog for a conformation show.  Slat mills for endurance/lean muscle.  Carpet mills are more of a anaerobic activity, builds bulk muscle quicker. 

http://www.dogtrotter.net/

http://www.grandcarpetmill.com/

Mostly leopard curs, but I keep a plott or two around and a houla.   

Sure do.

peds online is a pay site.  30 bucks a year. 

First thing I would recommend is a true honest evaluation of him.  Grab a pen and pad and list out the good and bad about the dog.  Major and minor.  Breed worthy dog is going to have a larger group of positives than negatives, but no dogs perfect.  Got to be honest about it too, will only hurt your program if you make excuses or overlook the downfalls of a dog, its called kennel blindness and its been the downfall of several programs.  Look back over that list and figure out what traits are most important to you.  Really this process just helps in defining what to you is the perfect dog, how close a current one is to it, and helps set you up for what direction to take.   If a dog is lacking in an important trait for you then it is time for an outcross, find another line thats renowned for what yours is lacking and go from there. If all the most important traits are there then its time to look back into the ped for a line breeding or possibly even an inbreeding.    The goal of any breeding should be maintaining and improving upon what you have.  Linebreeding/inbreeding amplifies all traits, good and bad.  Your not introducing anything new into the gene pool.  Its often a good way to find out what your stock is lacking because it will bring it to the surface any flaws.  Its also the only way you are going to get consistency.  Out crosses bring to the table whats known as "hybrid vigor".  This is why you will often see exceptional dogs from 50/50 crosses.  If you keep doing crosses though you will never have any consistency. This is an extreme simplification of some breeding tactics, but its a start.  And of course there are always exceptions to the rules. 
 
In regards to your dog in particular I can give you plenty of insight and direction on the OFRN side of things, but my first hand experience with those particular garner dogs is limited, so you will be better of searching for someone actively working those dogs to figure out what they bring to the table and what they lack.  Just be be mindful of salesman tactics.  Many will say whatever it takes to sell you what they have.   

Remember
"The only time a Dogman tells the truth is.......when he calls the other Dogman a liar."

-Joe Corvino 

This would be the ped for your dogs sire and dam. 

http://www.apbt.online-pedigrees.com/modules.php?name=Public&file=printPedigree&dog_id=221503
http://www.apbt.online-pedigrees.com/modules.php?name=Public&file=printPedigree&dog_id=275834

I would imagine you do have a very nice dog.  I dont have first hand experience with this exact cross, but have seen good ones down from both sides.  Surprised by his size though.  Wouldn't have expected him to be that large based on the breeding, but every once in a while it seems like any program pops out a big catch weight dog.  Hope this helps some. 

Very possible, apparently its pretty potent for them.   

Its also supposed to be extremely toxic to aquatic life.  So if you have a kennel with run off towards to a pond, might want to consider another option for a perimeter spray.  Neem oil works well for this, all natural.  Just doesnt have the stopping power of perm, its a good safe deterrent though. 

As a precaution you want to spray enough perm solution to get the job done but don't drench a dog in it.  Perm poisoning isnt common but if you overdue it then it can happen.  If so bath the dog immediatly in dawn dish soap and keep them warm.  Perm poinsoning attacks the nervous system and a dog can go into hypothermia.  Siezures can also occur.  Do NOT use perm on cats, its extremely toxic to them.

2-4oz 10% permetherin, 20 oz mineral oil, and 2oz neem oil mixed as a spray. Fine grain Rock salt on kennels/chain spots(this also kills worms in the dirt) and 5% seven dust in bedding.

You can also try termidor sc.  It is 9.1 percent friponal aka the same thing as frontline.  Frontline is just 10%.  Apply the same as you would frontline, drops along the back.  Dosage is .2ml per 5lbs of body weight. so about 2 ml for a 50 pd dog.  This works great for ticks.   

cephellexin for about 10 days.  Keep it clean and wonder dust it.  Be on its way to healing up quick.  Can order  cephellexin as fish flex without a prescription.  Much stronger broad spectrum antibiotic than penn.  Works well for UTIs also. 

The garner HA talk is primarily rooted around chinaman.  My understanding is that he was not in fact tuly HA, but an excite biter.  He would bite to be released into another dog.  Thats not a behavior I would tolerate in a hog dog, but I wouldnt call him a man eater necessarily either.  Morgan is a busy guy and can be difficult to get a hold of sometimes.  What are some names close up in your dogs ped?  Ill see what I can find out. 

And just as a note, when I refer to a hog dog being game it is not in the historical since.  I call  a game cd, just a dog that ive seen take a serious amount of damage on a hog and not quite.  Only one way about testing for true gameness and thats a thing of the past...

Colby line is about like any other well known line.  You have your good and bad.  Colby dogs have a deep history to them and are one of the most well know family of APBT.  Ive seen some on the larger side, not all though.  Most important thing is the source.  There are many "paper breeders" that are breeding colby dogs.  For the best results find a performance breeder of the line, preferably an actual hunter but one involved with wt. pull or shutzhound will also be maintaining working traits and give you a better shot at a cd prospect.  From what ive seen there aren't many, but they are out there.   

Tight breedings, linebreeding/inbreeding, have been common practice with the OFRN strain tracing all the way back to its origins in the old family dogs from Ireland.  These dogs were tightly inbred but renowned for their gameness.  Because of this they were sought after by men such as william j. lightner and con feely.  These men utilized the irish imports in their pit dog programs.  In the states these old family dogs were used to create what we call the Old Family Rednose Strain.  These dogs were made most famous by bob hemphill.  He was a very well respected and active dogman.  Under his hands the ofrn dogs became known as the some of the gamest of their time.  Hemphill listed several open challenges in pit dog gazettes.  Wilder was friends with bob and received the dogs from him..   

Modern times many are still using the the hemphill/wilder ofrn dogs.  You will find them excelling in all aspects of dog sport; conformation, weight pull, shutzhound, hunting, etc..  They tend to be extremely intelligent hard working animals.  The reference to being watered down is likely in regards to the "paper breeders".  The strains popularity has long attracted peddlers looking to cash in on them.  These breeders usually do nothing to prove the dogs before breeding and are only after "pretty papers" with high percents of past famous dogs.  Occasionally even these programs do produce good dogs, but the odds are much lower than from an active performance breeder. 

Morgans dogs are solid straight hemphill/wilder stock.  In the woods they tend to be quick, agile, long winded, game and skilled at avoiding significant damage.  The only downside I have seen is several have been on the small side and don't serve as much of an anchor and while their bite is sufficient to perform the task its certainly not the hardest.  This description stands true for many other straight ofrn dogs produced by other programs.  While I do keep and work the straight stock, the best all around performance stock is with an out.  Ive tried several different crosses, but so far have had the greatest success with OFRN/Chavis.  These crosses tend to carry all the benefits of the OFRN line, but have the added benefit of possessing a bear trap for a mouth.