I used to do a lot of duck and goose hunting and sure wanted a top notch labrador to train. I went through I don't know how many labs I got from 'proven hunting' stock out of the San Antonio Express News Classifieds. Some were papered, some weren't. But none of them made the grade. I was taking all of them to a professional retreiver training to train. After I don't know how many culls he finally had the courage to ask me, "If you your goal was to buy a horse so you could win the Kentucky Derby, would you start by looking in the news paper?"
With his help, we found a well bred female in Oklahoma City. The owner had her flown to Lyons, Michigan and bred her to a top male. Both dogs were from proven pedigrees and proven stock. I paid him in advance, $600. I drove to Oklahoma City to pick her and so began our journey. That female was worth every penny, going on to win in hunt trials and never embarassing me in front of friends, family, or professional guides where ever we hunted. Many a guide warned me when I showed up with her, "if she ruins my hunt, it's on you!" Every one of those guides offered to buy her before the hunt was over.
So knock papers all ya want, they there is a place for them and for people that want to know what they are are getting.
Many of you know of my Boo dog that I got from Chris & Brandee 12 years ago. Half Plott, half Mt Cur. A top notch strike dog that has been hunted in just about every environment in Texas, from the panhandle, the big thicket, the rice patties of El Campo, the pines of Tyler area, and the cactus of south Texas. I never bred her and many have asked why not. My question was always the same. Breed her to what? She's already a half breed. Breeding her to anything is a crap shoot, a wild gamble at best. And this world is full of pups from those failed attempts to create the next best dog.
I decided to pass and stick to full blood dogs. Did I do it because papered dogs hunt better? Nope, just that I figured if wanted to breed my own dogs, I'd go with a proven line and start with a solid recipe.
Hog doggers seem to be the only, or at least the leaders of the pack, dog men that love to mix and match when it comes to dogs. Duck hunters don't cross their labs with another breed to improve their retriever ability. Men that work stock don't keep breeding their blue healers to other dogs to make them better herders. Quail hunters don't cross their pointers to make better bird dogs, nor do ropers breed their quarter horses to other breds to make them head and heel better?
But when it comes to hog dogs, burn the papers, muddy the water, and hope for the best.
To each their own, and I wish them the best. But for every $50 dollar dog I've culled, I could have bought fewer papered dogs and probably been way ahead of the game. I know, for me at least, I am culling way less and having far better results. But that's just me and my potlickers.
