Conformation

[t-dog]

Y’all been quiet, so I’m going get your thoughts. It’s not the main component but very high on my list, conformation. How much do you think it matters and what do you want conformation wise, find dogs and catch dogs? I have a definite flavor. I talk to hunters and even pet owners that have such a misconception about body types IN MY OPINION. Description is in the eye of the beholder. 3 people look at the same dog and you’ll likely get 3 different descriptions. Much the same as people’s opinion or description of let’s say “long range”. One thing I try to put emphasis on in my breeding is tracking speed. This doesn’t always mean the dog that can out sprint the rest of the pack is going to be able to push the track the fastest. I like both foot speed and tracking speed. Style plays in to effect also. Some dogs are sprinter fast and hunt wide open from start to finish. I’ve seen some of those that were good but not really my favorite. There are also dogs that hunt at a pace but have the jets to turn on when necessary. That’s my favorite style. I want a dog that can go and wants to go everyday even though those days are far behind me lol. In order to do what I like they have to be made a certain way. I like leg under my dogs and maybe just slightly longer than they are tall. In my experience the dogs with a side profile that appears really square, height and body length are the same, usually have that sprinters edge. But the SLIGHTLY longer than tall have more bottom and though they may not be quite as fast, they are still fast enough to stop open field hogs and maybe even better than the sprinter in a long sprint. It’s kinda like running the 100m vs 400m. I like a deep chest in the sense of side profile. I want it to come down to the point of the front elbow at least. The ribs need to be well sprung but not overly. In other words they need to have a nice arch between the back bone and the breast bone. Too much and the dogs front leg travel is altered and causes quicker fatigue. Looking at the dog head on I don’t want their front legs to look like they are coming out of the same hole but I don’t want them 10 or 12 inches wide between the front legs either. One thing that gets overlooked a lot, especially in catch dogs I THINK, is length in the neck. I want length there. A dog with length in the neck is going to be more agile and flexible than a short necked one 9 out of 10 times, just like in horses. I like the head to be broad between the ears and broad be
tween the eyes. That’s  my preference because the more intelligent dogs I’ve been around were this way. It needs to be proportionate to the rest of the dog. My favorite type is the broad, houndy head and ear. You see so many catch dogs these days that make you tired just looking at them. Short leg, compact bodies that are overly muscled with no angulation in their front or back end and a head that came off a dinosaur. The back end should have a slight roach or slope in the hip. If the hip is flat or even overly rotated, it will affect the dogs speed, power, and stamina. Many people don’t realize it but hip angle in females can also have an effect on her ability to conceive, it’s even like this for people. I don’t want cow hocked, where the hocks point inward, or bow legged either. They need to be up on their feet to where they appear to be standing on balls for feet (cat footed). The front shoulder needs to have proper angulation too. If they don’t have it, it will affect their reach and stamina too. Their elbows need to be tight to their body, not bench legged or bowed. Their feet should also be in alignment, not turned in or out. As far as muscle I like the wide receiver body type in my find dogs and a linebacker type in my catch dogs. I like a medium bone size in both.  The dog pictured is what I like. He’s not in my favorite colored wrapper but everything else overrides color. This picture does him no justice but you can get an idea of what I want. He’s out of Amos (my Raylynn gyps litter mate brother) and Reba (out of Raylynn’s half sister and her sire is Raylynn’s cousin a couple of times).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NLAhunter]

He is good looking for sure looks like he is built to go

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[WayOutWest]

Thomas, you know I feel that a well built dog has an easier time doing its job.  That's not to say that a dog that is lacking conformation can't do the job but he's gonna work harder and most likely won't last as long. In the years I have known you, your bay dogs have improved immensely. The quality has gotten better but the consistency is what has gotten better. On catch dogs you have had some crackerjacks but due to circumstances it's been almost a complete starting over. We both believe in the same build for the most part and I have totally come around to your way of thinking on getting the right attitude and mindset in a catchdog.

[t-dog]

I always think about a pair of catch dog gyps I had at the same time. Joel
I know you remember them both. One was Clementine and the other was Diamond. Hands down Diamond was my pick of the two. She was made like I like. She was very athletic and just moved easy. Clementine was a real foggy looking gyp. What I mean by that is everybody that saw her thought she was a male at first. She had that male type head, broader built or a lot of body, not as leggy but just about the same height as Diamond. Both of them were a pleasure to hint in the sense of manners and easy to get along with. Diamond was very accurate and rarely missed. Poor Clementine needed 3 chances nearly every time. Nearly everyone that saw the two liked Clementine the best because she looked impressive. They always talked about how powerful she looked how that bet she could do this or that. One day some buddies were over and we were comparing the two gyps and all of them were saying there was no way Diamond was the dog Clementine was. Finally I told them that she couldn’t carry Diamonds jock. “Oh your crazy” and all that mumbo jumbo was flying around. So, I said I tell you what, let’s hook them up and pull them and I’ll show you. I had a weight sled and a legitimate dog pulling harness that neither had worn over once. We hooked Clementine up and she started walking with it. Got her to a heavier weight and she had started having to lean into pretty good to pull it. It wasn’t far from her max judging by the way she worked it. Then came Diamond’s turn. When we got to the weight Clementine stopped with and had to lean into and struggle with, Diamond was running down the drive way with it. They couldn’t believe it. I said that’s what I mean about build. Diamond was still fresh and usable where Clementine was spent and looked like a big tight body builder walking of stage. Even in the woods, Diamond recovered and was ready for the next hog in a fraction of the time it took Clementine. Both gyps were in the 68-72 lb size range. I don’t want y’all to think I’m saying my mutts are perfect because they are far from it. I just want to know what others like in conformation and why. These reasons and examples are why I like what I like. Joel is right about want to overriding ability. Ole Roscoe was not built real well. He wasn’t ever fast and he labored to run. Sometimes I felt tired watching him. But he was a hunting fool and stay put kind of dog. There were days though after a hard hunt that I would nearly have to help him get up and eat or drink because his body just wasn’t made for the work load he put on it. He didn’t have the years of longevity that the other dogs I hunted him with had. He’s been dead for a few years and was unable to hunt anymore before he died. Yonder that I hunted with him is still alive at about 13 years old or older and was just fully retired in the last year and half or so and that’s due to having a leg amputation due to injury. In my experience, slower dogs often trail bark when they can’t keep up with race. It’s frustration in my opinion. Even with Roscoe, when he got too slow to keep up, he started trail barking and would even do it when he struck a track. I 100% believe it was because he couldn’t move the track as fast as he wanted or was use to. Not saying trail barking is good or bad just that it showed me how much of a struggle was going on with him mentally and even physically and it was because of how he was made to start with.

[WayOutWest]

The other thing with Clementine is the fact that her weakness in the build gave you a lot of experience stitching and stapling cuts.

[The Old Man]

That is a really good  looking young dog. That's the type of conformation I like as well. At the end of the day pretty is as pretty does and desire plays a huge part in the quality of a dogs work so if he's ugly but a good one I'll feed him. To me proper conformation is expressed in stamina, athleticism, and longevity. Rarely does it affect track speed, unless the conformation is poor enough to be debilitating, only in a sight race would conformation  affect speed, a greyhound is gonna out run a bulldog by sight every time.  Form follows function in the real world, and I think you have explained it very well.
As breeders and hunters we should pay attention to what consistently excels for us per the task at hand and let that be the determining factor for what suits us best, rather than what we "think" one should look like, much like the two female catchdogs and your buddies that you used as examples.

[Reuben]

Happiness is when my favorite puppy is the one I decide to keep…he has the right coat and color…the right size…nice head and good length of ear…smart, likes to range, somewhat fearless and calm, uses his nose to wind and trail…with perfect conformation…

That’s what we all strive for…