Hardest thing to breed for

[JUDE]

I haven't read through this post although I've glanced at it many times .
I'm sure it probably has been mentioned . I would think the hardest thing
IMO to breed for is CONSISTENCY a dog that is
doing everything right to the best of his or her ability 90 + percent of the
time .

.

[Mapel Valley Kennels LLC.]

Brains , Consistency, Guts In that order

[Casey Harner]

Brains , Consistency, Guts In that order

I'll say this, Brains, Nose, and Consistency.

[da ridgetop]

Better dogs than you already have,consistency to consistently produce as good or better than you already have if breeding and genetics were simple we'd talk about future crosses not try to reach for older bloodlines thar are getting harder to find Donald

[Bobby Vest]

Ed I just breed for the fun of it,

[Salzer mtn]

Back years ago in my youth we had a phrase we used called rabbit wise, maybe people call it brains now. I remember the pack of dogs i was running one time ran a rabbit into a thick briar patch in the edge of a pasture field. All the dogs went into the thicket following the scent. This one male dog i had that was also in the pack that day, i had got from a man that had let him run out all the time. This was back in the early 70's and deer was not over populated then. Well when the pack went into the thicket running the rabbit this one male broke off and started circling the briar thicket as fast as he could. Now this was a very fast dog and when the rabbit bursted from the thicket this dog was on top of him, caught him a rabbit. My question is : Did this dog have brains or was he just rabbit wise ?

[hounddog]

Back years ago in my youth we had a phrase we used called rabbit wise, maybe people call it brains now. I remember the pack of dogs i was running one time ran a rabbit into a thick briar patch in the edge of a pasture field. All the dogs went into the thicket following the scent. This one male dog i had that was also in the pack that day, i had got from a man that had let him run out all the time. This was back in the early 70's and deer was not over populated then. Well when the pack went into the thicket running the rabbit this one male broke off and started circling the briar thicket as fast as he could. Now this was a very fast dog and when the rabbit bursted from the thicket this dog was on top of him, caught him a rabbit. My question is : Did this dog have brains or was he just rabbit wise ?

IMO he learned to cheat!

hounddog
Jim Umbarger

[wvduece]

same term but we always called it rabbit smarts cant be nothing but brains might not be good in a trial but if im gun hunting nothing wrong with that and alot of other things that trialers dont like jb

[Salzer mtn]

Yes he cheated but he had learned that by cheating he could get the rabbit. He took advantage of the situation. by useing the other dogs to put presure on the rabbit in the thicket it worked for his advantage. If i was a man without a gun wanting to eat a rabbit this dog would have been priceless. If i was a man wanting to win a trophy in a field trial this dog would have been worthless.

[hounddog]

same term but we always called it rabbit smarts cant be nothing but brains might not be good in a trial but if im gun hunting nothing wrong with that and alot of other things that trialers dont like jb

That's fine and dandy if you are hunting with a pack but what if he's being hunted by his self. Who's going to flush the rabbit out of the brush while he's running around it? Face it, that dog is a cheater, not wiiling to do his part in a pack. Sorry, just trying to be honest.

hounddog
Jim Umbarger

[Bobby Vest]

They are cheaters when they do that, but I've seen dogs like that if they were ran by themselves that would run it step for step. They cheat because they are overly competetive when they are down with something else.

[Casey Harner]

Back years ago in my youth we had a phrase we used called rabbit wise, maybe people call it brains now. I remember the pack of dogs i was running one time ran a rabbit into a thick briar patch in the edge of a pasture field. All the dogs went into the thicket following the scent. This one male dog i had that was also in the pack that day, i had got from a man that had let him run out all the time. This was back in the early 70's and deer was not over populated then. Well when the pack went into the thicket running the rabbit this one male broke off and started circling the briar thicket as fast as he could. Now this was a very fast dog and when the rabbit bursted from the thicket this dog was on top of him, caught him a rabbit. My question is : Did this dog have brains or was he just rabbit wise ?

IMO he learned to cheat!

hounddog
Jim Umbarger

I agree. The dog is cherry picking. Reminds me of a basketball player on my high school team. Wouldn't play any defense but would always be the only one down on the other end to score the points.

I wouldn't give that dog any praise or credit for catching that rabbit. You call it smarts I call it laziness. Let others do the work for him.

[mobeagle]

I was just wondering what some of you guys think is the hardest thing to breed for. Is it hunt,brains,speed,stamina,mouth,
ect.... just thought it would be intersting to see some of your thoughts on this.If you linebreed or outcross what's the hardest thing to predict.

My reply may be a bit off the question because I'm not sure its the hardest thing to breed for maybe just the hardest thing to find anymore and thats nose. With all the trials and competition hunting nose has been bred out and speed has become the top priority with very little regard to a dogs nose. More attention being paid to a dogs pedigree than the dogs actual ability. If a dog can run a tight track and smell when the conditions are bad I dont care what its pedigree looks like the dogs worth alot.

[mayhem78]

I agree with alot of these post. I will give you my opinion about breeding.

I think these "NEXT LEVEL" dogs can not really be breed. Those "AWESOME" absolute "DOMINATE" dogs just come around every so often. I just dont think you can breed that dog, but I believe you can breed for above average litters though. And I think if you as a breeder can consistantlly produce litters with above average dogs (the whole litter not 2 out of 6) you put the odds in your favor of that "GREAT NEXT LEVEL" dog showing up every once in a while. Those great dogs do have brains. They can go find a rabbit FAST. They can run a rabbit as if it is easy. They rejump that rabbit about the time you think the rabbit race is over. They dont lie. Great dogs have it all!!! And any field champion, grand champion, hall of fame or whatever does not make that dog a great one. THEY ARE VERY FEW AND FAR BETWEEN!!!!!!

I couldn't agree more! Love the last part. I don't know how many times i've went to see a so called great one with a nice title to be somewhat dissapointed.