EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I see less and less people that raise gyps, & even less that raise great hunting and producing gyps!

Erik and I were talking about it the other day. We are constantly breeding our gyps and dealing with puppy's. it may be somewhat of a hassle but its your FUTURE.

There was a quote floating around on this site, I never saw it but was told about it and believe it be so true. It was along the lines

"... If you are not raising and breeding  great gyps, you are out of dogs and don't even know it"

We keep gyps, 9 times out of 10 if given the opportunity on puppy's. lol that being said we do have alot of male dogs as well.

Some of our up and coming gyps

I've taken these two out twice, at 9 months old they'll get out hunting half a mile and ran deer for a good while. The black gyp has more go then any pup I've seen out of this litter

(http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp289/baseball_10_03/C0411985-A62C-4D97-8837-B1F90DE0D46E-6064-000003FFC944BE7E_zpscdde9e40.jpg)


(http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp289/baseball_10_03/060BF79B-E545-48D5-BFFC-87AD2DC27459-6064-000003FFB83E6924_zpsab849e28.jpg)


(http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp289/baseball_10_03/6F1474D3-94E5-47A2-99E8-8B5F912554D4-6064-000003FFAF5FCDCD_zpsc1a4a32b.jpg)

Newest batch

(http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp289/baseball_10_03/A8C97A74-B3C6-49C1-AA6F-D65199E0DC3F-6064-000003FF9186AA3B_zpse392e1de.jpg)

You're exactly right Tony. I've got two young gyps now that I hope to breed real soon out of these black dogs... all the older ones are gone. One thing I've learned is not to wait till the next heat... because there may not be one.

Yessir...I quit hunting a gyp just sow I was positive I'd get a litter out of her.

We were taught that the pick of the litter is the best female. You can always find a good male to breed a good female to! When they were developing the German Shepherd they felt like the female is the most important as far as temperament because she's raising the pups.

Great performace & producing gyps are like gold bars !  I love great gyps .

Great looking pups!
I have a question about what Mike said. How many of y'all wait till a gyp is proven before y'all breed her? I know people that will breed a gyp just BC of the bloodline not BC of the dog?

Just so y'all know I have done this and I'm sure I will again not BC I wanted to but I got to a point where I thought if I didn't do it now I probably would have the chance BC of my male dog being so damn ruff. So I not saying its good or bad just wanted to know who else has done it or does it.

I've done it specifically based off the blood.  I DID NOT like the results whatsoever.  Every pup I kept I ended up not liking.  Maybe it was a bad cross or I wasn't patient enough, but I feel like if I'd have waited for the gyp to mature, I'd have not bred her.

Will I do it again, I doubt it.  Proven gyps is where it's at.  Good male dogs will find you hogs til they die, good gyps will ensure you are finding hogs long after they're gone.

I forgot to add, I've seen it done and the results were great.  Alot depends on the gyp itself, the bloodline, and what kind of bind you are in whether lack of young dogs or fear of losing a known producer.

I've done it.

Ill start the pups in January and see of they work out.

That's about all I keep and prefer for the most part, 9 of my 11 are female.

  my old Catahoula gyp was never hunted on hogs , she had other things to do on the farm . with that being said if the blood and genes are there it doesn't matter if you hunt them or not .  the way I look at life and dogs is just this .  if you don't try don't cry   lol  even them world beaters will throw duds . I wish I had put my old plott gyp up sooner . I lost her and all the future super stars she would have produced . and she would have produced them super stars wether I had hunted her or made a house dog out of her . but on an untried gyp you have to be honest with yourself and everybody else on the out come  .

 with that said I love gyp dogs for hunting all ways have all ways will . I've owned and own some good males but my favorites are my gyps .

  when breeding my game fowl I would sell you a rooster or stag but the only way to get a hen out of me was to steal it  .

"proven" is a matter of personal definition in my opinion, theoretically speaking I would feel comfortable saying that a gyp thats 1.5yrs old, has found 10 hogs and been at the bay anytime another dog has bayed, is "proven" enough to me to breed (also take into account that we are assuming that the gyp in question is out of the individuals same line of dogs with proven parents/background and fits all other aspects as far as conformation/build etc etc are involved)  but to the guys that have the luxury of hunting multiple days a week she may or may not fit the bill.


Hope I didn't get to far off track. I personally have 3 gyps and 3 males at the house not counting a litter of pups out of my oldest "proven to me" gyp bonnie and my male smoke, all are out of the same line as my old male smoke including the momma dog. she had 3 males and 1 female and I plan on keeping the female for 100% sure and 2 of the 3 males, the other will more than likely go to a hunting buddy in the next few weeks. I have a LONG way to go and way to many unknowns along the way to be sure of anything but I feel I am heading in the right direction.........time will tell.

I prefer gyps myself. The way I see it if you got a good one you will always have some good dogs on your yard.

I prefer females...cleaner around the house....produce and keep you in good dogs...

bitches come on heat but males are ALWAYS on heat

I prefer gyps, but seems I always end up with males... You've seen how my luck with them goes Tony!!!  >:(

Hopefully one or two out this last litter will turn out like they're daddy and get a chance to breed back...

Time and hogs will tell....

Tony thats why my gyp ELLY coming your way tomorrow.

I'm keeping almost all gyps out of my latest litters!! 

"Country Bumpkin"

There was a quote on here sometime back, something along the lines of..."a great male will make you famous,  but good females will keep you there"

I use to want only males, just to not have to deal with a gyp being in heat.  Now I am realizing, if you want pups and want to breed outside your yard.  Its much easier to be the man holding the gyp.  Hard to ask even your best hunting buddy to have his best gyp put up for month cuz you want some pups

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Lots of truth to that statement.  

From my personal experience, for every good female I raise that ends up meeting my expectations I can raise 5 males.  Perhaps because I hold the females to a little higher standard.  It's my personal opinion that the female has a greater influence on progeny...and therefore why I'll tend to pick one apart more than I would a male.

As far as breeding only proven dogs (specifically females)...yes, in theory that makes perfect sense.  However, (and speaking solely about a linebred family of dogs) just because a certain female outwardly displays the best qualities doesn't really make a hill of beans when it comes to whether or not she is preponent to pass those qualities to offspring.  I've bred a lesser female at times (although I really wouldn't make a habit of it), and had much better results than some of the crosses I've made using the proven bitches.  It takes knowing the family your working with.  If I bred for the purpose of selling pups, then I might feel differently....however I breed only for my own use so as long as I'm satisfied who's to say if I'm going about it right or wrong.

  X2

Those are some beautiful gyps TShelly. I think your point is spot on. Therefore looks like your future is looking real bright!

when you know your line of dogs and one of the goals is to breed early starters...then as you test the pups from 7 weeks on up and you see one consistently excelling above the rest of the litter in all tests...and one of the bigger test is running off in the woods the first time she is dumped out in the woods with company following or without... even better...and then she is finding hogs and hunting hard before her first heat cycle then I will not hesitate to breed her on her first cycle...have done it regular enough to know it works and haven't had any issues with delivery...I see it like this...if she were running loose she would have been bred so why not take advantage of some good breeding...especially if you are needing a few pups or just cleaning up the gene pool...

Just re-read my post...hope I didn't come off rude

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I sure am not saying that you were wrong at all...and I do believe that waiting until 2.5 to 3 years to know for sure is the best way no doubt...but I knew my dogs well and I knew what they were going to be by 10 months of age or sooner...in some breeds a pup doesn't really show much until 1.5 years of age... but if I don't see what I liked at 6 months I move them on...just my way of doing things...does this mean that they are culls???no...not by a long shot, they are not meeting my personal standards so I move them on...

I judge my pups at all ages past 7 or 8 weeks and it is a progression curve and they need to meet it or better yet stay above it...I am not a hard a$$ just have my standards...

I totally agree, and hope to be to that point one day.   those kindnof standards will save you a lot of money in other wise wasted feed

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The horse boys have known the importance of good females for a long time. The bird dog boys know it for sure. A great producing female is a treasure. The bird dog boys call them "Blue Hens". One female was bred to 6 different males over her lifetime and produced champions  in every litter.

When there were still quail and I had bird dogs I had a string of 6---all female. They are just easier to work with and can find just as many if not more birds than any male.

The problem is guys want to hunt the good ones and breed the sorry ones.