I appreciate al the responses and posts. I don't know anyone with running type hounds (trig, etc) and I am afraid any hound cross will be open on track. I know a lot of guys don't mind that but I want a dog that is 100 % silent on track. I only want to hear a dog bark when : A) The dog has a hog stopped and is looking him in the eye, and B) when its a bigger hog. If its a 50 lb hog I want them to have it caught when I get there.
I don't know about where you guys hunt but the hog population has gone way down and the hog hunter population is up about 300 % over what it was 10 years ago. Any dog that barks behind a hog here is at a disadvantage. I am not saying you can't stop hogs with open dogs because you can, you just normally aren't going to do it quickly. At least that is my experience.
You're right...some of them will probably be open, but that's why I said keep the whole litter. I don't care if it's a hound or cur, if you think you're going to make an outcross breeding and any pup out if the litter be as good as the next you should probably re-think that a little bit. Breeding to get what your looking for is going to take some serious evaluating on your part.
By the way...I really like the genetics of that prospect in the pic. GREAT phenotype!
