The Grade

MAKING THE GRADE...in my opinion we have to make the grade before we can produce dogs that consistently make the grade...

I was pretty hard nosed about culling and breeding...took months and months on deciding who to breed and sometimes it was a minor detail as to why I never bred a certain dog...breeding is half of it and selecting the right pups is the other half...the right selection will give you the best hunting dogs possible from within the line...and then selecting the right dogs to breed...I am one who believes that we can take a line of dogs and breed up and not just maintain...if one breeds sideways or down then the selection process is not at peak performance...

when can we call a bloodline our own???my way of thinking we should try our best to improve every generation and try our best to breed within the line for several generations before we can call it our own...probably 3 generations on one side and 3 or 4 on the other side...if we outcross a little here and there no problem if it is done to freshen up the line on to improve on a trait...but if we keep outcrossing on a regular basis and putting your kennel name on the dogs...does not make them your line of dogs because they are scatter bred...and scatter bred dogs do not produce consistency...

Making the GRADE in my yard started at 8 weeks...I had plenty of time to mess with my dogs and pups because I worked 12 hour shifts and was off quite a bit and the kids were at school and my wife was working...

I tested the pups for winding and tracking and the ability to find...as they got older I took them to the woods and saw which ones just rolled out...also noted who hunted and bayed...what age did they start and at what age when they made the complete race on a hog...also noted at what age they struck their first hog...too open on track...too slow on track...how fast did the pup line the track out...we have to look at all the details...I reckon it is my nature to do these things...

I also took them to the canal to see who hit the water like a lab and who was the fastest and strongest swimmers...I learned what type of body build made the best swimmers...

I also took them for long runs at the beach to see what speed they had...but most important who had the heart to dig deep and try to maintain that all out running...I always let them win the race...I turned the dogs loose to run and when I gunned the truck 3 times the race was on...I used the same trick with my wheeler in the woods once they were tired just to make them get ahead...

I am also a firm believer in selecting for NATURAL ABILITY...if we spend lots of hours trying to get a pup/dog to hunt you can expect the same from the offspring...

I also use my logic as to how much woods time has the pup had and a good dog will hunt but maybe lack experience...no excuses for a dog but sound reasoning a must...

Our logic should tell us if a pup is on the way to making a top dog if we know the line...

there are pups that are laid back and easy going and don't try to act cocky and they tend to stay away from fighting for a spot in the pecking order...yet when they are ten months old they are as rough as a cur dog can get and the billy bad ass pups stand back and bay...I have made that observation...

it is all about common sense logic and we must analyze everything a pup and dog are doing...The Garmin can be a big help...we don't have to tell the story as it is unfolding just see it on the Garmin...

A great hunting dog just knows where to look to find game...some dogs stay busy but don't find much game...

in hog hunting it is my opinion that breeding the perfect stop dog that meets all the above mentioned traits is hard to produce...I am talking about a dog that can stop one in every type of terrain...

when we first start out breeding a line of dogs we might have to accept a few flaws but as we breed the next generations there should be fewer exceptions and then we have to up our standard as we move forward...I have spent many an hour thinking, reading, and analyzing all aspects of hunting/working dogs...don't leave no stone unturned...