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Bryant
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Noelle,
First off let me backup and set the record straight. I never in any post stated that I had 6-month old pups that would "go a mile and find hogs." What I DID say, is that I have some 6-month old pups who were specifically bred for independance and will roll out a mile deep given the chance. The intention of my post was simply to point out how training has had no effect on these dogs...they do naturally what they were bred to do. These puppies have not a clue what they're doing in the woods, only that something inside them drives them to want to find something.
In reference to linebreeding, I use the analogy of "mixing paint" for two reasons. First off, mixing paint always produces an exact end product. Secondly, two colors when mixed will always produce something somewhere in between. Neither is true when breeding. It's not as simple as taking nose from this dog, hunting drive from this dog, size from this one, etc. When you make a breeding, you're bringing in everything about that dog (and that dogs parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc) Be nice if we could single out only the good quailities, but that just doesn't happen.
As far as outcrossing an established line...my thoughts are this. First, I will only outcross when totally necessary and mostly for health reasons (inbreeding depression) although there are times when you may want to bring in a desirable trait you find lacking. When an outcross is to be made, I would *ONLY* breed to a dog from an established line who is better or at the very least as good as what you're already working with. Remember, you're bringing in that dogs bad characteristics just as equally as his/her good. That entire litter would be kept and evaluated to find which dog (if any) exhibit the intended trait without loosing whats already been established and that is the dog that will be bred back into the original line.
No form of breeding will produce litters in which all the dogs will be identical or litters that will all make the grade.
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