What I'm wanting the female for is to cross with my APBT. I have been a breeder of performance APBT's for 25 years. I have been getting a lot of calls from hunters since I posted my APBT AT STUD on this board. Several have inquired about bringing an AB or DOGO gyp to breed to him, and a few folks are just waiting on their gyps to come in heat. So I just thought maybe I should get me a really good bred AB gyp out of tested catch dogs going back for several generations. That way I could make the cross and offer some pups to some good hunters and let them test them out. I would most likely give the pups away to folks who would raise them and train them the right way, just for the feedback on how the cross worked. Or I may let folks name their own price they would be willing to pay for a pup and donate the $$$ to the church or a charity.
I just came up with this figure of 70-85 lbs. because my male is 55 lbs. and hopefully it would give me a pup that would mature in the 60-70 lb. range, as that seems to be what a lot of the fellows are telling me is their ideal weight, as long as the dogs are athletic and have wind and leg. But I wouldn't be opposed to a 50 lb. AB either, just has to be a good dog first . . . above all else.
My male will flat out catch any hog and it takes 2 people to break him off a dead hog, one with a breaking stick and another to choke him out. However, he is a straight kamikaze idiot, and cannot socialize with other dogs because I didn't raise him. He could never function as a working catch dog, but some of his pups are making functional dogs with extreme drive and bite. So my logic is to maybe ad a touch of brains and a dash of self-preservation by crossing him to an AB or DOGO.
Not trying to reinvent the wheel, as this cross has been done thousands of times. I have mainly always used straight game bred APBT's to catch, but I have had 2 good AB's over the years and real good DOGO/PIT cross that was good. Had a Scott gyp that was a great catch dog, and the first AB I ever owned was back in 1990 out of Sure-Grip's Rip-N-Woody and his mother was either Sheena or Jet, I can't remember. His name was "Jack The Gripper" and there is a pic of him in that book "The Working American Bulldog".
So yes, I am looking for one to breed, but she will definitely get tested on hogs first. I don't hunt much anymore, mainly just enjoy breeding and raising a few pups and trying to put some good dogs out there. My focus has always been on performance APBT's, but any insight on AB's is appreciated because I really admire that breed too.
A picture of my Stud can be seen at
www.redrivergamedogs.com 
