I would think it impossible to breed a top-notch all around dog that excels at any given task. Reason being, what is desired in one task might be unnecessary in another. For instance...pen dogs are bred to work tight and close...a trait not so much desired in woods dogs. Perhaps cow dogs are not bred specifically with so much hunting drive.
In a perfect world, I too would like to breed all around working dogs but I'm sure not going to start culling my hog dog pups because they won't tree.
I see your point YBM...perhaps some of the pups that don't make the cut due to lack of hunting drive could end up making nice cow dogs. The problem as I see it is that same dog gets in the wrong hands and someone starts trying to breed the hog dogs carrying your name.
x2 lots of cow dogs have been culled as hog dogs because they don't have the hunt to make hog dogs... was not required as a pasture cow dog trait. Matter of fact if the dog ranged out to the next ranchers herd it was a cull because it did not work closely with the cowboy working the herd.
I am not saying that some of these dogs won't work as hog dogs but they were selected for cow work and not for hog hunting.
I have seen some squirrel bred dogs that make awesome hog dogs. I guess if the dog gets excited for a small rodent in a tree that sometimes he can't see then he will go nuts on a hog. The question here...does the dog have the bottom to run a hog for 3 or 4 hours???
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