Thread: What do I do?

Originally Posted by Pointer

If it was old-fashioned stockmanship you wouldn't breed from an inferior specimen. However if you had to, you would cull rigorously on its progeny.

Half Sibling mating is one common grandparent... 12.5% - still not large but as big as most would go, including Jim Clarke as you say.

If it was a case of simple mathematics (which it never is) you would put Brick to his daughter! However then you are breeding on Bricks parents and not brick himself.

Please consider my musings as harmless. I'm not out to pick fights, just putting it out there. If you want another brick, you have to inbreed on him

I never have an issue with your posts Jim, I know your intent in good and you are all about better dogs, we have that in common... , the ones that get my back up are where i see agendas.... not for the good of dogs.

Maybe i need to explain a bit deeper.... I don;t think Cheyenne is inferior at all... perhaps the standard i set gives that impression, I guarantee i could sell her as a started dog tomorrow for $5000 but there is a flaw in her nature which stops her being great. Potentially it won't, I think I can train past it, I'll even boldly claim I reckon I'll put a title on her over the next two or three seasons.... BUT knowing the weakness in what i am breeding, I need to compensate for that... Brick is not a dog I would use over a hard bitch, he's enough of a handful, so genetically amplifying that wouldn't make sense... it'd most likely result in "too much dog" to be useful... that doesn't mean he's flawed, just has to be bred with consideration... likewise with Cheyenne, she's not flawed, but I will put to her what i think will compensate for what weaknesses she has... it's not all about breeding hardest and fasted to hardest and fastest or we'd soon have dogs we'd let out and never see again. In Brick's case, most of the bitches I accepted for him were soft, and he produced beautiful temperaments.. FCH Keepersmoor Bracken Ridge is a prime example and his son "FCH Tussock" (Can't remember his proper name)... Cheyenne would have, I am certain, done exactly the same mated with him and produced exactly the type of dog i want to handle, tons of balls, guts, drive, nose, biddibility... that will never happen now, well highly unlikely, and i may be wrong, but hence my angst it hasn't happened... now i will go to his son... the issue there is that a son will only bring 25% of brick to the equation... so it may be culling is required... yes, I can raise the percentage with a brother sister mating, but that then stands to bring genetic issues which need to be culled anyway and I don;t see i have strengthened anything and am still culling, so I'll follow my gut and go with the son and hope it works... At the end of the day, and with several days to think about it.... Cheyenne is my best brood bitch on offer (Did I mention she and brick share grandparents, I'm sure id id, she's 50% Ballyblack... but focus must be to Brick because that is where I want to go.... I think the son which looks like him, and hunts like him is the go... added the dog is the same coloration. I have no scientific proof of this but experience tells me dogs carry genes in packets... a dog with one fault, genetically, has more.... a son of brick with his drive, nature, ability and coloration is likely to carry more of his Dad than say "FCH Keepersmoor bracken Ridge" who is liver and white... about to have a conversation about acquiring a pup which is a brick granddaughter and whose mother was sired by brick's brother... wish me luck