Reuben please cite your sources other than your own speculations, I know your thinking I'm picking on you again and again I'm NOT, I'm just trying to make sense of your yearly "breeding better dogs" rants here in ETHD, because most of what you say and speculate contradicts most modern breeding practices, I could be wrong but it sure seems that every year when you make your breeding post all you do is repeat yourself, I've looked into most of what you said and even consulted with full time breeders and even some geneticist from the university of Florida about what you claim, not to be able to get on here and try and prove you wrong and debate back and forth on here but because of sincere legitimate curiosity on my on end because I'm one of the most open minded individuals you'll ever interact with, Reuben folks have been selectively breeding working dogs for hundred of years and everything you've mentioned in all your post has already been tried, if there were any merit to any of it then it would be common practice on just about every successful breeders yards in just about every discipline of dog working, I may not be grasping the concept here so please explain how we can and are going to take dog breeding to the next level by what we feed a pregnant female and she's exposed to during her pregnancy, if there were any concrete hard proof that this was the slightest bit true then we would already have superior dogs and superior humans, I do believe that the quality of the females diet can have an impact on the neurological and physical development of the fetus, and some forms of stimulation during gestation will have an impact on the unborn but nowhere on the scale of what I'm understanding your thoughts on this are, how are you going to improve a dogs genetics and DNA through diet and gestational exposures, before you throw epigenetics out there again please cite your sources on the claims you make it about epigenetics and not what you think or speculates going to happen that modern scientist and biologist haven't figured out, what exactly are these next level breeding dogs going to have that we don't already have, what is going to be improved on so much that the world is going to taken back by its discovery, if your having to go to the lengths to attempt this then I would evaluate the breeding stock because there's already dogs out there that possess all the traits needed to catch whatever game wherever in the world again I'm not here trying to prove you wrong, just trying to understand...
the info is out there...I won't dig it up but I am sure you will see more of it in your future...
Genetics...I don't think much has changed since Gregor Mendel...and just like any other trade there will be good ones bad ones and the average...I do know you are not much into theory as much as you are in actual facts...as per your own admissions...I tend to want to learn the facts but am more interested in experimenting and pushing and seacrching for new ways...I have been involved in major upgrades and building plants as well as starting them up and have worked with the best and brightest engineers...one thing I have learned over the years is that they tend to be book smart but not as many can figure out major problems...the kind that aren't in the books...that is when theory comes into play...sometimes it is process of elimination to get to the root cause...I am talking about engineers that are employed by a company that has over 10,000 employees world wide with countless contractors...
something else about what has been learned years ago like genetics and anything else...there is something that happens on a regular basis...it is called re-inventing the wheel...happens all the time...
I will not change my stance on epigenetics...the changes may seem minute but in reality there are folks who like riding the border line of perfection...if not on it they are constantly working towards it...
no, I am not ranting...yes I do bring certain things up because I only want to share what I believe is important in breeding, selection and training pups and dogs...true I have been writing about the same things ever since I joined this forum...
I have made many good points that I haven't seen made before other than myself....yet it appears that you are only looking for negative things to point out about what I write...
I been hunting with dogs for over 50 years and here lately not as much as I want...I do want to share my learning's with the new dog men and dog women...even if it helps a little here and there...
you probably don't need to read my writings on account you are very experienced and knowledgeable...
I agree with most everything in this post except me picking out the negatives, again this is where your speculation comes into play and I guess you have good reason but anyone who knows me on a personal level knows I stay away from negativity of any kind from anyone, I absolutely will not dwell in nor conjure any sort of negativity, I have not always been this way and was once a negative bitter mad at the world type of guy for things that happened in my life that was beyond my control, after losing nearly everything and everyone in my life that mattered to me because of that attitude it opened my eyes to everything and I've done a complete 180 with my life and the folks I allow in it and the actions I take toward life every single second of every single day, Reuben I ask you the things I do not because I'm trying to point out the negatives and try to prove you wrong, I admire our conversations because we're about the only two on this entire board that will lay it all out there and not worry what people think, and openly discuss things that others often wonder about themselves but are to afraid of ridicule to converse about it, contrary to what you may think we're so much alike it's not even funny, we just have strong differing views on some topics, I'm a limit pusher that loves trying new things and experimenting with different ideas myself, I'm not asking you to cite your sources to call you out, heck I want to go read these articles and studies myself, I wasn't being negative when I said what I did about your yearly breeding post, all I simply want to know us what is this new dimension of breeding going to bring to the table, I'm all ears, I believe if a man wants to take his breeding to the next level then he needs to learn about sex linked traits and what genes our inherited from what parents...