Starting your own breeding

[BlueJack]

If you folks were to start a breeding program of your own, how many hounds of each sex would it take to line breed without being considered inbred. I think somewhere down the road when my factory days finally come to an end I would like to have a VERY small breeding program of my own so I have a better idea of what I'm getting. I absolutely do not want multiple litters every year or even every other year but when I have a solid male and female that hunts the way I like, then I would like to be able to get some offspring. And if by chance a few years down the road and the pups turn out I may want to get a litter from them too. I hope my question make sense and I don't come across as being irresponsible. I just wanted an idea of what some of you that breed for yourself do. I have ran off several different kennel designs and whelping pen designs in the past and put them in a folder that I keep all my hound information in. I have spent a lot of time reading what some breeders do and go through with each litter and, as mentioned above, I absolutely don't want the responsibility of trying to raise multiple litter in a year or at the same time for that matter but possibly every 2-4 years I could handle, if and only if both hounds are solid hunters. Since I'll probably get heat for the last statement I may as well get some heat for the next one too. Along with not wanting pups on the ground every year I also don't believe in a brood dog...let me explain. I see all the time on other boards (mostly coonhound) that a female is being sold as a brood dog and she is only 2 or 3 years old and has a "GREAT" set of papers. I'm sorry but IMO papers don't make a dog hunt no better and if the female wont hunt then why should I believe her offspring will. So she wont stay at my house very long. The ONLY exception is if I have a female that is getting on up in years and has nothing else to prove to me in the field then she will always have a home and that special place in my heart for the rest of her life but not to be "used" just for breeding. When my wife gets too old to work I don't expect her to lay around spitting out babies so why should a dog when she gets old. Could care less about making the almightly dollar because I have enough family and friends that hunt and have helped me out in the past that giving them a pup or two would only repay part of what they have done for me. Hope I didn't offend anyone with my comments, but its just my opinion of what I would like to have in the future.