how old do u cull pups?

I have been doing this over 35 years and about the time you think you know it all, if you are honest with yourself, all you actually know is what you do not know.

I used to cull my lines (hounds, curs, jagdterriers) at 12 weeks, based on prey drive. Then held on to them a little longer. Then at about my 15th year of hunting hard, I met a man with a dog that beat all other dogs to the strike, a dog you could hunt alone and he would find only the biggest russin boar and bay them until you came with a catch dog. The owner said the dog would not even look at a hog until he was a year old!!!!!

I have sold puppies that do not turn on for the new owners until they get to 12 months, and then they are as good as any. Those I would have culled 15 years ago!

A track dog needs to focus calmly to ground trail effectively, especially a cold trail. I think most of the early bloomers are to hyper to focus, become just pack dogs and catchy. The late bloomers tend to be the better first strike (lead locators) and the type that roll out after the catch or shot is made after another hog, then another and another.

Many good lines hunt effectively as early as 6-7 months in the woods. All my pups ae in the woods and doing well by then. But that being said, they never reach there full potential until they are about 3 years old, regardless of breed or bloodlines. I had a conversation with Larry Parker and he said he same thing is true of the Parker Curs. I had cow-hog dogs from the N.B. Hunt ranch 25 years ago and it was the same with that line.

The big challenge is to weed out the dead-beats from the late-bloomer super dogs. When someone finds out how, let me know!