Interesting thread. It strikes me odd that the guys that are trying to breed for RCD's are trying to breed for the type of dog I am trying to breed AWAY from! I guess none of us are ever 100% satisfied with the dogs we have.
I know there aren't many Fla curs out in TX and you guys may not be that familiar with them, but its hard to find a true Fla cur that WON'T catch a hog when he gets to it. My Monkey dog has more bay than my old line of dogs and I am trying to breed more bay and less catch in my dogs. As I get older it takes me longer to get to the dogs/hog and I don't want a dog that is going to be hanging off a hogs ear 1/4 mile away from me and getting wrecked before I get there. Thats how ALL my old dogs used to be. Catch one hog and be out of commission for 4-6 weeks.
When My Dixie dog came along I started her on cattle (I managed a 500 pair cow/calf operation at the time) and she had plenty of stay, but not a lot of bite which was unusual for my dogs. I switched her to hogs and she still stands as the best find and bay dog I have ever had the pleasure of hunting with. However, her littermate brother Rock, who I turned down big money for as a cow dog, was a lead in catch dog and in 10 years of hunting never ever barked at a hog. He was 100% catch and you better have a break stick or you weren't getting him off the hog.
Most of the Fla curs are medium range, medium nosed dogs. They are not going to leave the tailgate and go a mile to find a hog, but if you put them where there are hogs, they will shine. I wish I could send a train load of good Fla curs to you guys wanting RCD's and see what you thought of them. I bet they would fit the bill!
I still cannot hunt 3 dogs on the ground now or its a caught hog or wrecked dogs...or both. Monkey and Spur will bay a big hog together, but add a third dog and its usually a caught hog. I could not hunt Red and JJ together without them catching, nor could I hunt any dog with Dixie without her catching. All of my older dogs were 1-2 barks then caught hog. Thats why I am trying to cross with Monkey to get more bay.
And that may not be working. cward has a Monkey x JJ pup and last time I talked to him he said the pup was catching about everything he found and they had used him as a lead in catchdog with success. And this was an 11 month old Fla cur! My two pups from this litter are not as catchy, but I have been careful and NOT let them catch yet. There are a couple other guys that have pups from this last litter and they all seem like they are going to have more catch than bay......
Example: Dixie and an 8 month old female Fla cur.... and a soon to be CAUGHT HOG!!
