Texashogdogs,
I bred airedales and dobermans and all were outcrosses in my younger days. These dogs were not tested but most were acceptable for their breed. Then I got in to the linebreeding and inbreeding of the mtn cur and raised a high percentage of good dogs. That was fun and I spent many an hour just trying to decide who would get bred and what pups to keep....
I always kept one side open breeding on the sire or dam and the rest was related. The example would be that the sire's sire is related to the said sires dam.
On the dams side the sire would be related to the sire of the pups but the dams dam would be of no or minimal relations...
The biggest problems occurred when I outcrossed to an unrelated dog. I had to cull a whole litter due to me not liking the pups. This happened twice. When outcrossing the line of tight bred dogs to the unrelated dog seemed to give me the most culls. I got dogs that didn't hunt and some that did. I tried using dogs with very little relations but those that looked and hunted the same as the linebred dogs.
I would then breed that dog back into the line and then not breed him any more because did not want my line to become the outcross line. I just tried to freshen the blood without drowning it in the frsh blood.
It might not have been the best way but it worked for me.
I am trying to do it again but this time focusing more on grit.
I sure don't know it all about breeding dogs but I do know one thing for sure. All the dogs involved in breeding have to be of the highest quality, and just because a dog is of the highest quality does not mean it reproduces itself. Like you said...we have to be observant and look and see and listen to what mother nature is telling us.
I also turned over my males for breeding a little on the slow side but turned the females over every 2 years or so that way I could turn over the bloodline at a faster rate... Some folks breed dogs and have a strain going but they basicly have 3 generations in almost 20 years which to me is real slow progress...
I most definitely respect your knowledge and experience and I enjoy reading your points of view. I also like your blow by blow hog hunting stories...
