timber hunter
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Aug 2009
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Posts: 3981 |
Some food for thought
Breeding to a stud dog: When picking a stud dog to breed a top notch female to I believe there are some things we must consider. First most of us want a true 100 percent bonifide coondog. Next, I believe you have to look at how well the dog is bred (bloodline), does he come from a line of reproducers on both sides of his pedigree, does he come from a good litter. Next, if that stud has had enough time to prove himself as a true reproducer, is he reproducing dogs as good or better than himself? What kind of a competition dog is he. Has he won in different places in North America, has he won big hunts. I think that its not that important that he win an exreme amount of hunts as long as that stud has proven he can win in big settings in different locations, for me a dog simply has to prove he can win in those settings. Not all dogs get the opportunity to go everywhere and hunt everywhere.
In competition what type of a dog is he, is the dog a first strike dog, is he honest, how accurate is he, is he a first tree dog, does that dog split a lot. What style of hunting does the dog have. I think we have to be breeding to studs that have a lot of drive that are not afraid of the dark and that will go and get in there with or without help. Other characteristics, what kind of a mouth does he have, (weak-mouths) are not something we should be breeding too. What kind of track mouth does he have, what kind of locate, is he tight on track, is he an opened mouth trailer, how does he tree? Is that dog a hard treedog? What is the temperament of the dog? What faults does that stud have?
I also think that part of choosing a good stud is confirmation, what does he look like and what does he produce as far as looks.
Next, I think that you need to compare the female what are her strengths and good qualities. Does the female add to the qualities of the stud, does the female match up well with the bloodline of the studdog?
A lot of people don't consider many of the things stated above.
If we are going to consider improving the breed we need to think through these things. We really need to do our homework before we choose a stud.
Some people make cross based on winning, based on good/bad talk. We have to be very wise if we want to continue to see improvement in this breed. Just a dog is a winner in competition does not mean he is going to be a winner in the stud pen! You need to do your homework.
I would love to hear from some of you folk on characteristics that we should be working hard to obtain and those that we need to be working hard at getting stronger in.
I like what Tom Solberg used to say: Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give, not by what you wish they'd do.'
Thanks for reading John Dell
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09-07-2017 04:58 AM
