Thanks for the feedback gentlemen, I appreciate y'all taking your time to respond.
Chris, If I am making an unproven cross I always keep all the pups untill they are at least 10 months old. I want to see for myself how they turn out. I want to handel the pups all the same and see how strong the cross is. I will show them hogs at the same time, show them cattle at the same time, start them hunting at the same time...thats the only way I can really tell what's what with a litter. I may cull some along the way, but I want to really see how they compairand see how consistant the litter is when they are being raised and trained the way I want.
Paul,
I am pretty sure that is how we are going to handle this litter if and when it happens. It seems that there is a greater monetary cost, but within the litter the nature and the nurture are the same, so nurture is no longer the variable that it might be sending pups to various homes.
I AM NOT A DOG TRADER OR PUPPY MILL .... i consider myself a dogman ...
Parker,
You must be doing something right, because people seem to know and want your line of dogs.
BigO,
I consider a cross a good one when I don't have go through too many to find some good ones. You need some help in my opinion, to breed hunting dogs. A man can't start more than a couple of pups at a time without having problems. I know some folks that are good dogmen and good hunters that like the same type dogs that I do and will flat hunt the hair off one. I give them all they will take. I have made a couple of mistakes over the years in breeding these dogs and these same people have saved my rear end from loosing it all. I started with dogs from a great cross, so its been hard to improve them and a struggle to mantain them, but they are capable of producing some great dogs. They also produce some junk and more so so dogs than I would like and have found it impossible to produce the percentages Of what I call good dogs that other people claim. It doesn't bother me to cull a whole litter, after trying them, but when you see me unsnap one, it's a good one.
I don't know you, but reading what you typed sure leads me to believe you are a straight shooter. I am not fortunate enough to know very many people that have the same wants in a dog as I might, so sending them to other people to hunt may not get me the type of feedback I am looking for. You are fortunate that you have people that you can send pups to try and that you get honest feedback, and that they look for the same thing you do in a dog.
I think what makes things so difficult in comparing hog dogs, and "testing" a litters success rate, is that there is no "breed standard" per se We know with the aussies we raise, that they can be tested in the performance and show ring, and that there are judged events. It makes it real easy to know if the mating was a success. First did the pups grow and fall within the established breed standard in regards to temperament and conformation. Then, did the pups excel in their particular field, be it trialing, agility, flyball, etc. Going back to the hog dogs, everyone wants a little something different. One person may figure if most of the litter grows up and is capable of finding a hog, then they consider that litter a success. Others, may be looking for something more specific, therefore the same litter may have a smaller percentage turn out to be what they are looking for. At least that is what I have taken from reading this thread and others.
