I honestly don’t use it. Mainly because there are variables in the equation that can’t be calculated. I remember Randy Wright always showing me litters and telling this litter is such and such % Ben and this one is such and such % Rodeo. I get why it should be a certain way or adds up a certain way, but the prepotency of a dog that may only be in the pedigree a minimal amount can’t be accounted for. So the math may show that a dog is 75%+ to a particular dog but that dog may actually be more like a completely different dog in the pedigree. Don’t get me wrong, I know you have to try and breed on the higher percentages to increase the odds because you’re not likely to get something that’s more like a particular dog by breeding away from it. I also realize that it’s a lot more useful tool in a family of dogs that are really line bred and consistent in type and style. This is another reason for me not using it. My little family of dogs are the result of cross breeding. They’ve been a work in progress as far trying to establish consistency in type and style. They are getting more consistent all the time but I also have a little different breeding strategy. I try to breed to similar and excessive at the same time. In other words if my female is fast on track and smart and all the other things I look for but lacks bite then I’m going to breed her to a male that has all the same traits except has too much bite. This is the strategy that has worked best for me. There are factors in there that can influence that outcome and I pay attention to them but on average this is my strategy.
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You make some valid points that I honestly didn’t think about, see for me it’s very handy because I came into a already well established line that had been culled hard and built prior to me getting into it 15+ years ago so I know what traits dogs 5+ generations had too
The Randy thing is why I added I studied the dogs in the woods first prior to even putting them in the calculators I think a lot of times people get too focused on the % and leave the dogs themselves out of it…
I’m like you I like to breed to one that is the same caliber same desired traits but one with a little more bite to one that’s a little too loose and try to ride that happy medium which is kind of where typing it all out helps me because I can see it in front of me and say yeah dog x is behind both of these and he had plenty of bite or both dogs are heavy down from dog z and he was really lacking in bite
That being said I’ve seen and owned dogs that were the best in the litter and they didn’t produce and then breed to the less stellar but still solid littermate and they pass on everything you want and more and produce better than they themselves are in which case the calculators are useless on that
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