Criteria for breeding dogs

[Cajun]

What traits do ya'll like to see in the dogs you breed.
Mine are:
Nose, speed, stick & I like grit.
I will never breed a dog that cannot find it's own hog & will never breed one that will not stay bayed by theirselves.

[Judge peel]

You said it all right there

[hoghunter71409]

Mike I am with you on all above, but I also look at size.  I prefer medium build dogs and I would not breed a dog that I thought was to large or too small.

[Reuben]

Ditto on all three posts

[Purebreedcolt]

I would add smarts.  A smart dog with a ok nose will out strike a dumb dog with a good nose.  A guy on here has really made me think about dogs in general he breeds for bay I breed for catch but dogs in general have to be smart and be able to think for me

[YELLOWBLACKMASK]

Nose, legs, range, independence, bottom  and articulation on track.

Not it the business of hunting the hogs for my dogs.  

[Shotgun wg]

For me to breed a dog it has to make me go damn now that's a dog. If not I ain't breeding it. At this point none of my dogs make me say that.


Shotgun
Arkansas

[7Mhunter]

I just made a decision on which one of my walker males to breed to my walker gyp. The female has range, speed, bottom, good mouth, nose, stay, independent, drive, and too much tree. Oldest walker male has nose, bottom, hes independent, speed, bottom, decent mouth, stay, tree. The young male has tree, bottom, an amazing mouth drags his screams out, he is starting to be independent, he has stay,tree. All of them have the bloodline but i didnt wanna breed for the papers. I put them in the pen together today and hopfully this will be the cross of the century in these hounds! I chose the big mouth hound because i didnt want to put to much tree into the pups but alot of hunt and drive. My old male and gyp would have put more tree than you can handle. These pups should make hog,bear, coon , cat anything you put to them. Both parents are young. My gyp is 3 and will run and stick with a hog for hours. The male dog stuck with a hog for 2 hours and they bayed him. I could sale the male dog just have to name the price to a rich man that would pay it begs me to sale him but i will not. My gyp has put a spankin on a few cur dogs. Wouldnt take nothing for them. Hopfully she takes i want a pup before something happens!

[Cajun]

7M, U bring up a good point. If one of the dogs you are breeding has a weak point, it is always good to make sure to compensate by having the other dog strong in that department.
  I like a smart dog too, but I dont know how smart these hogdogs are by getting in thickets with these boars.
  Jon, I also look at the size. I like a medium size dog but I have seen good hogdogs in all sizes.

[Easttex91]

My breedings are very methodical my chains or kennels will break at the perfect moment for a gyp to be bred and bam I got pups. And not just 3-4 pups more along the lines of 10-13 pups. Just for plenty of choices ya know.

[7Mhunter]

7M, U bring up a good point. If one of the dogs you are breeding has a weak point, it is always good to make sure to compensate by having the other dog strong in that department.
  I like a smart dog too, but I dont know how smart these hogdogs are by getting in thickets with these boars.
  Jon, I also look at the size. I like a medium size dog but I have seen good hogdogs in all sizes.

I forgot to add size. I have 3 males and 1 is a show dog that i have for sale on here that would make anyone a coon dog who put it to him. He has good qualitys as i stated about my other males. But he is just to big long legged over breed standards. My gyp(treeing walker hog dog) has the smarts. She has all the quality's that you need.  My young male wouldnt even fool with her and the guy that has the male dog i have been wanting to breed to for awhile texted me and said that he would breed for a puppy so she has a date with a dog just like her except the rat attack tree.

[chainrated]

I sure wish it was as easy as just breeding the very best to the very best..
I used to do that and would pass up on a lesser brother or sister  when it came to breeding. But I learned that breeding to a good PRODUCER that's bred the same will get you a lot more hogdogs than breeding to the best hogdog...

[chainrated]

But as far as what traits I look for , Speed, Nose and Brains are the determining factors..

[7Mhunter]

Alot of half brother half sister crosses turn out throwing good dogs but most "young hunters" dont breed to have bottom, stay, hunt, range, anything to a good quality dog. You can't breed a negative and a negative together to get a positive every time. I could name a few people that i know that breed for looks and bloodline. Growing up around working dogs and breeding helps to figure out what i would want to breed to.

[Juan Horton]

Great comments

[TexasHogDogs]

I sure wish it was as easy as just breeding the very best to the very best..
I used to do that and would pass up on a lesser brother or sister  when it came to breeding. But I learned that breeding to a good PRODUCER that's bred the same will get you a lot more hogdogs than breeding to the best hogdog...

You just cant be experience !

Best answer I have seen in a long long time .

[TexasHogDogs]

I don't know how many many times I have seen this .  The very best of the best in the liter and damn great dog could not even come close to producing what his ole just plain Jane honest good brother could.  O plain Jane would smoke his ass when it came to making real dogs. This happens a fair amont of times in very heavy bred family lines of dogs and can happen in crosses to have seen it also .  Been many a great producer just throwed to the side ! 

[Reuben]

best to the best from non related will get lots of variation in hunt and physical appearance...IMO breeding best to the best from a line of close related dogs will eventually produce 100 percent good pups more often than not...I have heard many talk about breeding the lesser of the brothers or sisters and discover that they produce better or at least the same as their better quality sibling...I never went that route because I believe in breeding the best to the best within a line of dogs...I have done it once but now I don't have the time to develop a line because it takes years and money so the quick fix is cross breeding and getting a few good ones with me knowing that they will not produce consistency...just have to make sure to pick the few good ones that are available from each breeding and just slowly move the breeding's in the right direction...the only time I bred a female from my old line of curs that I didn't like was because of her smaller size and lack of grit that I liked in my dogs...but all else like lots of hunt and ability to locate was above average that I considered very strong points and she started ranging out and hunting at 4-5 months of age...but sometimes we have to look past the dog and look at the parents and grandparents and then it becomes a no brainer...she produced good sized dogs with lots of hunt and grit...there was no way I could have chosen a non related top bitch over her for breeding...but I did not surround my breeding's around her...I used her as a stepping stone to get better females from her and she produced some great ones...but all other breeding's were from the best...once the line is established it is hard for one to outcross because it could possibly taint the family of dogs...

turn the line over fast at first to purify the line...meaning cleaning out the negative traits and in with the right traits from within the gene pool...then hold on to them longer so as not to bring in new blood any time soon...once the line is purified meaning the traits are being bred consistently...once we are happy with the dogs produced then it is time to slow down and hold the dogs longer between breeding's so as not to turn the generations too quickly...because too quick of turn overs will get us into that old tired blood syndrome...why move into that zone when we already have the good dogs and they are producing consistency...once we feel it is time to bring in new blood it is done slowly and with lots of caution...bringing in the new blood I did it like this...find the right line of dogs and breed to one of your females...if too much inconsistency then get rid of all the pups and find another male...breed again with the new male and if you like the pups keep the best male and breed him into the line once and then use his offspring as breeders...bring in new blood this way and carefully and slowly add it to the line...otherwise the line isn't yours because it is too much like that dog that was bred in to the line...

IMO...that is the criteria for the foundation to breeding better dogs...this is only half of it...the other half is selecting and keeping the best for hunting and breeding...

[TexasHogDogs]

Reuben,  I will have to agree with you about the old Honest Plain Jane Brother are Sister.   In the way you speak of not having the time to do this.  Most of the time this is done by the breeder that has bred his line of dogs for years and years and knows them inside out and has seen this in his line of dogs.  I agree it is not for someone that does not have the time and that best to the best is the better way if this is the case.  But for someone that has had his line of dogs for years has the whole family on the yard has worked all these dogs threw the years and knows them well then this is when a man may want start experminting with this kind of thing.   I can tell you now from hands on experience is a known fact that this happens and does work and work well.   When you get into heavy family breeding you are stacking great genes on top of great genes and culling out the bad genes this is the process all along the whole time you got this line of dogs.  Well when you stack and stack these genes you are going to get dogs in liters that have taken the little Hybrid Vigor that is in the bloodline and are going to make the super dogs and then you are going to get the dogs in the liter that have taken just a piece of the hybrid vigor that is n the line and they are good good dogs but not super dogs and then you are going to get dogs in the liter that have taken the whole great gene pool and have taken none of the Hybrid Vigor that is in the line are the breeding and these dogs are a little slower , may not have the staminia some of the others have and may some other not so liked effects .   But and I say but these dogs are like this for a reason it is not that they are bad dogs they are good dogs with great great gene pools that are so condensed and stacked and packed with great genes they mother nature will not let them turn out super stars like some of their brothers and sisters but mother nature has given them the blessing of having all the great gene pool that there other super star brothers and sisters did not get and therefore cannot produce a 1/10 of what these old plain jane dogs can if a man knows how to recognize it and use it .  This is not something that happens over nite and it is not something you just learn over nite it takes years of breeding and hands on experience to and knowing one are two lines of dogs that are in your yard.  Other than that it takes somebody there that can school somebody along in their breeding program and still they are going to have to know everything there is to know about the program going on .

Just me man . 

[TexasHogDogs]

For those that might not quite understand what Hybrid Vigor is .  Hybrid Vigor is all the great things in a great great dog speed , staminia, wind , lungs,  Pure Health Wellness, the physical and internal make up of a dog.  Hybrid Vigor is what makes super dogs .

 Where does Hybrid Vigor comes from it comes from the cross blood in a family of tightly bred dogs.  This is why great breeders only have one are two bloods that they will cross their family of dogs into .  This is why they are so strick about which dogs and what blood is bred into their line of dogs and also how much .