Breeding Better Dogs 101...

Oconee...we are in agreement...breeding for natural is always the best bet...that has been my reasoning and way of selecting for many years...testing is not so much for training as it is to see which puppy has that natural inclination...natural instinct to bay, trail, range, wind, stop a hog...

However...the better handlers can take those same dogs and get the best out of them...a good dog should be able to wind, be free casted or roaded...he should be able to do all of the above mentioned...

when a breeder has established his kennel with good dogs and he takes a pup to the woods and at six months he goes in that big briar patch after some hogs and he gets run over by a hog and he comes out and wants to give it up for 4-6 months before he starts back up I will cull...it does not matter if he will turn it back on...I see that as a big negative...because he has the potential to reproduce more of the same...

now if that same pup had gone in and then got whipped a little by the hog deep in the briars and that pup went back to baying after a little while I would be very impressed...and even more if he went to hollering and then immediately turned on that raging bawl right in the pigs face...

don't get me wrong...I will not intentionally set a pup up for failure...I like making every move as right as possible so the pups can progress to becoming hog dogs...but I look at every scenario to see whats natural in a pup...