Message #464856

[Reuben]

Jimmy...my once in a lifetime dog came early as well...I have had quite a few dogs as good as him...dogs that are as good as they get...but the difference was the brains...the dog just dazzled me with what he could do that the average great dogs don't do...as a little pup I could lay a track down and he led the pack around just like he did all his life...I laid a hard track out for him and he followed it like it was a straight line...once I saw that I just moved on to something else...first time in the woods at 3.5 months old he rolled out and made a good loop and hit the slough like a duck takes to water...and did it in a pitch black night...that pup was striking and trailing hogs at 4 months or so...didn't trail them far but trailed them a quarter mile or so...he was working tracks that the other curs wouldn't take at 5-6 months old...I can write a book on this dog...all my other great dogs did ok as pups but they didn't start doing pretty good until 8-10 months of age...

while the other dogs were working a feeding track he just made a big loop and found the exit tracks and rolled out and was bayed before the other dogs lined it out...he did this at 10-12 months of age...

but a big part of breeding good dogs is starting with a good line and not deviating from it...and another thing is to not let the best pups go...test them and keep the very best...if not sure keep 4 or 5 of what have tested the best and then breed the best one once he or she has proven to be the best...and the cream will rise to the top...

but I can say of many pups I raised that I only had ONE "once in a lifetime dog"...