The American Beagler Forum

when you are looking to breed dogs what is the number 1 thing you look for? i know you want the total package but what is the number one thing you have to have.i used to say hunt or desire to find a rabbit but i had a dog a few back that was smart hunted hard but just rarely jumped a rabbit. he is the only dog that ive had that lacked nose power. ive had dogs that lacked all sorts of things but never solely nose power.so what would you not want to go without?

HOF breeder Owen Arnold told me a ways back that he breeds for hunt. If a dog wont hunt, how can you talk about him being a jump dog or how he is in check. I breed for hunt first and formost.

Dave

Defintley hunt and drive then mouth if a dog wont hunt how can you even find a rabbit if a dog dont have drive how can it even run one if it does find one

I will breed for hunt before anything else. Like you guys said... how can you run a rabbit if you cant find one. I have a dog that is great on the trailing,nose power and check work but he sucks at jumping rabbits and it drives me crazy

i will be the odd ball and say nose. hunt is a very close second but where and when i hunt, the scenting conditions can be poor at best. i have owned dogs that just could not smell a track when others could run. if they can't smell the track you may as well put them back in the box. it doesn't matter how much hunt your dog has, if they can't smell it they can't run it. but hunt is right up there at the top of the list and if they don't have it they don't stay. i will add that i think my conditions are a little odd ball as well and i just need a little more nose than most.

i agree with harehound, nose because i think a good jump dog always has a good nose. i think nose has more to do with jumping a rabbit than how hard they hunt. jmo

Lee, we all feed what we like. That big nose dog wont be much help to you, sitting at your feet. Good luck to you.


Dave

I like a dog that will hunt when he or she does not smell.I could always come up with an above average track dog.In over 35 yrs of beagling I have only owned 2 outstanding jump and track dogs. Owning those 2 dogs ruined me.LOL I am always trying to get the next one.It will not happen for me.I must now learn to be satisfied with decent dogs.

The absolute most important trait to me is desire. I hate dogs that quit. I want dogs that are insane to run and will keep working until I make them get in the truck. I look for the kind of dog that keeps hunting when it is tired.

They all hunt for the first 2 or 3 hours. I want to have the dog that jumps the last rabbit of the day. I want to have the dog that is still going strong on the last day of the hunting trip. I want to breed for dogs that will make your dog walk out of the race and come crawling back to the truck. Then I will be the one that goes home happy with a smile on my face.

A dog better have the BRAINS to know how to use all this hunt, desire, nose, etc...

MURL-BEAGLER wrote:A dog better have the BRAINS to know how to use all this hunt, desire, nose, etc...

+1

i breed for the total dog .........some have great hunt, check,brains,nose ,whatever,,

i breed to get the most of all that in the pups ....i like speed ,thats is the easest thing to breed in,,

but the post topic is what do you want ina dog ..
1-endurance
2=hunt
3-nose power,with brians
4-easily broke off the wrong game ..
5- no shyness at all.....
6- obey me very well.

preacher i think you summed it up very well. i look for hunt 1st but i think nose gets over looked. thanks for the replies. by the way the only thing that stands by me while running is gonna be on 2 legs period

mine is more a question. Does hunt have to be bred into em or is that in the training. Whereas their nose is bred in?

I want whatever trait in which my bitch has a weakness.

You can't IMO, teach them to hunt if they don't have the desire.