Building a Big Game Pack

[duck duck goose]

Hey Guys,

I've just bred my 4 yo female Redbone this spring and am working on building my big game pack. The female was my first dog and she has proven to be a very nice dog so far. She has a real taste for running bear and I am planning on keeping two of the pups to add to the pack. My plan was to keep two of the male pups and my thoughts behind doing this was that they would hopefully be able to learn from each other during their training, and have some companionship as they grew up.

I wanted to put this idea out to you more experienced guys to get your take on it. Is this a good idea, or do you see any possible issues that may arise from keeping two males? If you are going to keep litter mates what goes into your decision making process? I look forward to hearing your opinions.

[david]

I don't see any insurmountable problems with your plan.

Two pups are about 200% more likely to get into mischief than one pup. But I always enjoy having two. It is at least twice the entertainment, and my fuel and time to get two trained up is not much more than one.

I don't know your living situation, but for some of us it is A lot fewer headaches if all our dogs are of the same gender. I made the mistake of trying to mix them here on my last attempt and now I am having to hit the re-set button.

If I was wanting to keep the mother, I would probably have to keep two females instead of males.

Breeders have to choose according to their breeding plan and often keep one of each.

[pegleg]

Keep the two you think are best regardless of sex spay or neuter the odd one or both.

[driftwood blue]

in the last 50 years when keeping 2 pups, I kinda feel that almost always one will develop faster than the other.. when you notice that it is time to work them separate.if that works out then you will be ahead in the game. if that one is not working to suit you then you will have the pick for yourself.--- by the way pick yours first---- I learned that the hard way too--- the times I let others pick, a lot of times, those that others picked turned out a bit better.
Good luck

[duck duck goose]

Thanks for the replies guys. My main concern was that as the two aged they might start fighting for the top dog spot around the house. I should have enough room that they will will be able to get into some relatively contained mischief, and I like the idea of them having another dog their own age to hang around. I am hoping that once they get out into the woods they will run like they are tied together, but we will have to wait and see for that.

I did take first pick from the litter as my whole reasoning behind breeding my first dog was to build the pack up. I guess we'll just have to see how things play out over the next couple of months.

[twist]

2x the headache!

[1bludawg]

I like keeping two because i think it's easier on the pups and it ups the odds on getting a good one .
Sometimes i'll keep three out of what i think will be a good cross .It is a pain until you get them weeded out .
I got my Cheyenne gyp by keeping 3. I kept 2 males and her and i kinda figured one of the males would make the cat dog but when all was said and done the little female made the cat catcher and i culled both males .

[david]

"Picking the best pup" is a whole topic in itself.
From what I have seen the best pup usually got picked by the best trainer. You know, that guy who has his dogs in the woods 200 days or so a year. He always seems to end up with the pup that makes the best dog.

It's not fair.

[Jeff Eberle]

I feel that how many a guy can or can't keep should be based of his level off handling/training ability . I've know guys that could raise 4 littermates into top dogs, And on the other hand guys that couldn't raise 1. It's going to be different for every guy and the blood line of the dog will all so come into play. As far as who's top dog that's you not one of them.

[chilcotin hillbilly]

"Picking the best pup" is a whole topic in itself.
From what I have seen the best pup usually got picked by the best trainer. You know, that guy who has his dogs in the woods 200 days or so a year. He always seems to end up with the pup that makes the best dog.

It's not fair.

David I think you nailed it. I have a bunch of no named potlickers that catch a pile of game. Maybe 20 percent of my litters don't turn into top notch dogs. Even the culls are not to bad.They just wouldn't make outfitter grade dogs.
The time put into dogs make a huge difference in hunting and handling.
I don't like to keep more then 5 pups at a time as I like the pups to go truck to tree on 50 big game trees by the time they hit one.

[Kyle D7]

There is not a correct answer here. As individual houndsmen what may work for one person may not work for another. Some guy's like hunting only females and others like only males and others don't care they will hunt bolth. If you want to keep two pup's do it. I think one thing we can all agree on is to hunt them as much as you possibly can. We have all made mistakes building are pack of dog's it's how we learn from those mistakes and build on the knowledge we gain that will help all of us build a pack of game catchers. Good luck on building your pack.

[duck duck goose]

Thanks guys, I think you are right, no breeding program will ever replace time spent in the woods so we'll just have to wait and see what I can turn these boys into. Heeere kitty kitty kitty! lol

[Rshcwisdom]

Keep the whole litter and cull them out yourself. That way your sure to get the best of the litter.

[duck duck goose]

Keep the whole litter and cull them out yourself. That way your sure to get the best of the litter.

That would probably be the best way to get the best dogs out of the pack, but I don't have the capacity to keep that many dogs long enough to find the best ones.

There are two males that I've got my eye on. One of them seems really outgoing and confident. He's like the "boss puppy" or at least he sure walks around like he is. Seems to be pretty smart and isn't afraid of much. He seems to have some very outgoing characteristics that I like, but he is not extremely aggressive, he has a little bit of reservation, say when I put something new in the pen with them. I am going to keep him and another male who is much more aggressive. If I put something new in the pen this pup is right on top of it without hesitation.

My hope is that the first pup will develop to be the brains of the operation, and the second more aggressive pup will deliver the gritty follow through. My hope is that as they develop they will learn to work together. The first pup should be smart enough to think through a tough track while the second pup will be a bit more of a follower, but will be much more driven to get after a track.

I may be overthinking this a bit, but that's where my mind is at right now at least.

[Bon Plott]

Sounds like you could pick the winning lottery numbers this week good luck with your pups

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk