When I first started in the sport I was told the most rewarding feeling is get a dog that is lightly started (in the pen) and just work with that dog I was almost to the point of buyin a finished dog but I never did and now that I look back 3 years later I wouldn't have changed a thing it takes a lot of time and patience and we still have the dog that we started with and she will outstrike my brothers finished dogs he bought 9 times out of 10 to me its the best feeling seeing a dog progress from nothing to a damn good dog I'm not saying she's the best but she gets it done I'm not in it for sellin the hogs I got into the sport because I like seeing the dogs progress and I like to see them work don't get me wrong catching hogs is fun but the best part for me is to see them dogs work and progress
x2 on what you said...I always say buy 2 or 3 pups from a good line of dogs and train them and expose them to the game you want...if they have that natural ability and you set them up at the right times (quite a bit of training is timing and the right scenarios to turn them out on), then these pups can go on to be great dogs if they have it in them...because great dogs are not for sale...so might as well take the chance on well bred pups instead of buying a decent dog that will never be great...you can take that decent dog hunting every day and he will never improve...take those pups once or twice a week and they might just show you what a real hunting dog by the time they are one year of age...
