OK Reuben now you have a topic I can get excited about. We have had this debate on another site I'm a member of and I can honestly say "I DO NOT believe we can produce 100% litters on a consistent basis. Now before anyone gets mad at me I'll admit it can happen but to do it over and over again is impossible IMO. This all goes back to a couple things IMO and first and foremost I don't think we all are looking for the same kind of dog to call a "keeper". You might cull half my pack and vice-versa. So given the diversity of what each person wants the odds are EXTREMELY long IMO. Now I agree with the tightest breedings producing the most consistent litters and we could expect high % with proper line breeding but the mental toughness aspect is the biggest variable that's hard to breed for. Example, I have a pair of pups right now that are identical in natural ability but one has the mentality that sets him well above the other. Both pups well raised in the same atmosphere and treated the same way but one has the mentality to attack and the other has the mentality to be cautious. That simple difference is all it takes to make my litter 50% instead of 100%. Not to mention half the people on this site might not like either one of them. Its just to far fetched the reasonably think we as breeders can produce 100% litters that suit most folks.
As far as offspring out preforming the parents. Well that's about the craziest thing I've ever heard. I have seen countless pups out preform their sire and dam. In face I have a 12 month old right now that is far superior to his mother and she will die on my place.
Good topic and I look forward to everyone's opinion.
I think you are 100% right on this. But for discussion sake I think I will put some parameters on my answer on who and what is considered. I would say as far as judging the dog, lets say these are for the breeder only and whatever that said breeder considers a hog dog. Also as for what is considered making it and not making it, I would say any one that hunts at the level expected by same said breeder. So not every pup has to be a superstar to make it just good enough that the breeder would be able to use it on its own to hunt the way that breeder hunts. I think if we put those ideas in place we can have a better discussion about actual breeding and not what a hog dog should be or what style is best.
Now with that being said I still agree with Oconee, you can definitely get some 100% litters especially if the litter is smaller but to think you can produce at a 100% is not possible in my opinion, not to say you shouldn't strive for that, but I think there will always be culls. There is no 100% line.
Now in regards to offspring out performing parents, I think that is what everybody should be striving for. Putting two dogs together to make a better dog is what it is all about. I would say look at horse racing they are consistently doing this. Your best bet to doing this obviously is finding prepotent individuals. I know with bulldogs finding a truly prepotent individual is an extremely valuable thing, and they are not always the Ace or superstar. A lot of times they are the Ace's brother or sister who is decent to good and have close to the same genes and just pass them on, on a more consistent basis. I again say go look at horse racing for this too. Horse like mr. prospector is an example of a well bred horse who was a decent race horse but not super stars and produced out of this world. I think that is where generation after generation of breeding only solid individuals within a certain family will allow this.
