PICKING YOUR KEEPERS FROM A LITTER

[pegleg]

first i decide what it is i want,need or am thinking of trying. then try to find out who seems to be breeding for that. look at the pups ancestors see if they are dogs that i would enjoy owning. after that i try and pick the dog that appeals to me the most while behaving and showing potential. the odd thing is i like a well rounded pup regardless of what its doing. i don't look for the one showing the most promise in one specific trait. i have once or twice and it hasn't worked well. but a pup who seems to figure things out on its own and shows some instinct but isn't obviously a slave to any one trait, as those have ended up not making a whole package type dog for me. i also look for the type of personality that i find more enjoyable to train/ work with. but as i have avoided them for the most part i may be just as wrong as the next guy.

[cat and bear]

I'm with mike on a line you've been breeding, certain colors, at a young age, its pretty simple, they will turn out, and worth feeding. If I"m trying someone elses, I like to watch for the sharpest, happiest puppy. Of course feet, structure is a factor also. I feel if they have confidence, and are happy puppies, they will be easy to train, to handle, and the confidence factor, easy to get started on game. Its a lot easier to build off a confidence pup then one hidding in the corner. Then they got until seven months to show me, they are what i'm looking for, I spend a lot of times with pups, working, and watching them, I want early starters period. I'm not saying catch and tree everything by 9 months old, but they must have the qualities I'm looking young. Not to say at a year or longer, they wont make fine dogs, but its for someone else, i simply dont wait around to see. LOL.

[retired]

In my opinion we usually pick pups like ones that have turned out like pups before that turned out. Which works if the culling has been done before. Some pups just don't work out. To really be able to tell one needs to keep the hole litter. I feel some of the best pups are being culled to early you can't really tell what a pups going to do until it is done. The pups that show the most early, the child wonders a lot of the times are not as good in the long run as that pup that just is there not saying much but just keeps getting better and better until they are your lead dog. I think the smarter a pup is the slower it starts and the harder to train for most people. For me a smart pup with drive will always wins out. I think I can tell at 6 to 8 weeks old, but in all honesty it is a crap shoot if you don't have a pup out of the best dogs you can get. Some strains of dogs start a lot quicker than others. The running dogs start early, the old walker tree dogs start late. I have heard people say that they cull at 4 months, 6 months or by a year. You will surly never know what that one that you culled would of made in different hands. Good or bad that is just what is so. I have seen young dogs that I have culled make great dogs for other people but usually on different game. A dog that can't cut it for me on bobcat may make a great dog on trash [ lion , bear or coon]. You can usually tell if a dog is good but does not suit what you run or the are that you run in. What ever you believe no one has the breeding figured out as we would like to believe that we have. When you know it all you are kidding your shelf. Dewey

[BEAR HUNTER]

Since my boy is the one that takes care of the dogs he picks the pup. So far the last 3 are turning out so maybe he's got the magic.

[Nolte]

It's pretty easy for me because I go with blind luck. I snag a couple three pups a year, show them a critter, toss them on some runs and keep the ones that work. That's my magic formula. AND get them from guys that hunt and who's main purpose is to get more dogs to hunt not sell.

[blackpaws]

i use to like picking pups and watching them grow and learn. As everyone knows, kids take up a lot of time that a person should be spending with a puppy. so for now i have just been getting dogs that are around 8 months to a year old that have been on some game and so far it has been working for me. i really like not having to spend a year raising a puppy to find out it isn't worth feeding. or, that i didn't spend enough time with it as a puppy during that first year. i will continue to do this until i decide to have a litter myself or find something i really like that would work for me.

[Big Mike]

In litters that i raise, first thing i look at is there paws. I like tight paws that kinda stand on there toes. Then i look for straits,that most resemble the parents and grandparents.

I like to keep them til 16 wks or more before i decide which i want. I cant tell enough about them when they are 6-8 weeks to say Im picking the best ones. If i choose at 6-8 weeks I just go by feet, looks and the most curious/investigative type pups.

I would like to keep them until 6 months then choose but its too hard to put up with ten 4-6 month old pups.

[Dan Edwards]

I just like to pick pups that move active and true and dont spook from every little thing they encounter.

It does not mean that they will be any good at all though but at least I can usually live with that kind.

[sheimer]

Are you guys that cull at a month or two spending a few hours a day with the litter or just a glance over the kennel when you feed the female? I'm pretty sure no pup will tell you everything it knows in a matter of an hour or so. I feel bad for you guys that go to a breeder and try to pick one out without spending several weeks watching and learning which pup has the personality that fits yours. Like Jason said, most all pups that get hunted turn out considerably above average.

Scott

[Dan Edwards]

Are you guys that cull at a month or two spending a few hours a day with the litter or just a glance over the kennel when you feed the female? I'm pretty sure no pup will tell you everything it knows in a matter of an hour or so. I feel bad for you guys that go to a breeder and try to pick one out without spending several weeks watching and learning which pup has the personality that fits yours. Like Jason said, most all pups that get hunted turn out considerably above average.

Scott

Over a few months time watchin them every day, you get a pretty good handle on which one "you" like. As far as it tellin you everything, hell no it cant but at least you like the pup.

As far as "most all pups that get hunted turn out considerable above average." I disagree with that cuz it's impossible. I'm not tryin to be a smart ass here but average is 50% and at least half the litters raised probably should have never been made. You start doin the math and you'd be lucky if you raised 10% of the pups over a lifetime that ever turned out above average.

[Dan Edwards]

I'm being serious here. Think about it right now. How many dogs do you own and how many are above average. I got four grown dogs right now and I'd say that 3 out of the 4 are probably average and one is what I'd consider above average.

[sheimer]

Dan, I'm not arguing with you, I was just looking at the hounds I know of around my area. If you look at the average of all of them, 75% or so get off their chain for a weekend or two and then 20% get hunted every weekend and then the other 5% that get hunted a couple times a week throughout the year are "considerably above average". I was just looking at a larger sampling pool. I believe that we are both right.

Scott

[Dan Edwards]

Dan, I'm not arguing with you, I was just looking at the hounds I know of around my area. If you look at the average of all of them, 75% or so get off their chain for a weekend or two and then 20% get hunted every weekend and then the other 5% that get hunted a couple times a week throughout the year are "considerably above average". I was just looking at a larger sampling pool. I believe that we are both right.

Scott

KOOL! I love being right, dont you?


I agree that exposure is most definately the secret but like the old sayin goes, "you cant make chicken salad out of chicken shit." I recently made a great breeding in my opinion with my male dog an anotehr guy's gyp. There were 8 pups and I really think possibley that 6 out of the 8 have a descent chance of makin average dogs at least. I think thats outstanding. I'm hoping that one of them that I got will make above average but time will tell.

[slowandeasy]

dan, i believe your on to something, the truth hang on to it and don't let it get away.

catch ya later!

[Nolte]

If you look at the average of all of them, 75% or so get off their chain for a weekend or two and then 20% get hunted every weekend and then the other 5% that get hunted a couple times a week throughout the year are "considerably above average". I was just looking at a larger sampling pool. I believe that we are both right.

Scott,
I think you are right but your sampling pool is a little biased. It's a prett short list of guys who hunt all the time that go to the woods with junk. They just don't keep it around for long and why would they. A weekend warrior like myself usually takes a little longer to figure out one is junk, so it probably sticks around longer than it should.

Now if these guys get a pup that doesn't have the right stuff in it, it doesn't matter how many times it gets put out. It's not going to turn out. It's a two-part deal. They need the right makeup and then it's all exposure.