What makes a good reproducer, a good reproducer??

[Casey Harner]

Is it the amount of offspring champions that it has produced over the years, the amount of litters on the ground, the popularity of a stud dog or flavor of the month, the amount of rabbits you kill with the offspring of your particular stud dog. This reproducer is also can be the dam of the litter. What makes you believe a reproducer is a good reproducer. We all are beaglers in some way or somehow, we all think differently and have different styles and blood lines we love, we all do different things, trials, pleasure run, and rabbit hunting.....so what makes a good reproducer, a good reproducer female or male???? Is it the amount of offspring it can produce that makes field champion or is it the stlye it produces over and over with the qualities you want and like, or is amount of rabbit dogs it produces to fill the tailgate.....???


hope this makes sense, its almost confusing me!!! lol

[BradWV]

A good reproducer is a dog that consistently reproduces dogs that satisfy the customers.

[warddog]

A good reproducer is one that consistently reproduces a quaility of hound as good as or better than themselves. Has nothing to do with numbers of anything be it breedings, litters, pups or even bunnies on the tail gate as that can be done without a dog if in the right spot!

[billi]

My 2 cents is this i like a male that puts hisself on the ground regardless of what he breeds. I do think be it horse , dog or what ever they do exist. The color the head the hunt you name it they come out like the ol man. Then it sure helps to have a nice female just in case lol. I also believe the same is true with some females ...boy its hot outside be glad when this is over...just seen a rabbit out the window but its to hot to turn em loose.

[Newt]

A good reproducer is a dog that consistently reproduces dogs that satisfy the customers.

That is the correct answer!

[tommyg]

A good female.Wouldn't breed a female that was not just as good in the field as the male I'm breeding her to.JMO

[S.R.Patch]

I will catch heck for this, but it is the pedigree.
When I visited Mr. Capozzi, he let me read Willet's little pocket books. In the books were crosses and results of litters. By certain hounds names, there was the capital letter P for producer I believe of what Willet wanted in his hounds. Willet said, the more you can get these hounds in a pedigree the better the odds for your pups.
Many subscribe to the theory of breeding best to best, others have tried the method of "Red Letter" breeding where the pedigree is loaded with Field Champeen hounds, but still, consistency or ability to reproduce what is hoped for is always a fleeting phantom, just out of grasp.
It is the pedigree of family breeding that rewards the faithful . The path is not always a straight line, but knowing the hounds involved along with the producing ability of what they've come from seems key to being above the average success of any other method I've tried.
Words mean little without the experience to back it up, so I recommend finding a family of hounds you like and give it a try. Stick with the breeder who's producing what you like and listen to all he will tell you, for his experience will save you many years of trial and error. jmho
Good luck with your venture.

[bill huttozac]

This question gives rise to a wide varity of opinions and answers, some formed by theory and others by experience. My opinion came by experience and has proven itself to be "tried and true" about 80 percent of the time.
A good producer is only a good producer when it (he or she) is bred to another "good producer" of like or better qualities. It would foolish to think that a good producing Stud or Bitch, when bred to a "good producer" with dis-simular or unknown abilities, may produce a litter equal to, or better than, either of the parents. The odds are stacked against that happening since that would amount to "hope so, maybe so" breeding.
Contrary to the belief of some, neither the Sire or Dam determine the potential of the offspring. This is because neither the Sire or Dam selects their mate. Man is the architect, he or she selects the dog for the mateing. Successful Breeders are those who consistantly produce pups that have well above average potential. This requires honest evaluation of abilities of both Sire and Dam as well as several generations of each's ancesters. The objective here is to clone the near identical qualities of the Sire and Dam.
Some folks wrongfully give all the credit to the Stud dog, ignoring the fact that the Dam contributes equally to the pups. Perhaps they are attempting to build a reputation for their dog and a market for pups.

[rabbitsmoker]

I totally agree Bill alot of Studs are run to the top of the totem pole when the female is 50% of the pups I consider a reproducer when the pups are better than the stud and female

[BCBeagles]

How do you measure up or should you measure up "if" the male or female in the mating is an exceptional hound that possesses exceptional skill in many areas? Some studs can and do overcome the weak areas in females that are bred to them, and this to me is the dog I am breeding to, if I like there traits. If that "special" male or female produces 75% of themselves in a pup or pups is that okay? That is an based in the eyes of the beholder, IMO. There are many variables to breeding and we can never, IMO, get them all in a line. To say there are not studs who would throw a rabbit dog out of a worthless female is false in my eyes. I would bet you could breed a worthless, no hunting, couch sitting beagle(no offense to couch beagles intended!! LOL) to several studs of today and get some average dogs out of each litter with some above average in each as well. Would they be exactly like the stud, I don't think, but I bet they would hunt, jump, and run a rabbit to the gun. Again, these are only my opinions.

[bill huttozac]

BCBeagles - You are right on the point about some Studs over riding both the strong and weak points of a female. AND.... the same is true of some females. IMO, neither the Sire or Dam of average dogs are considered to be producers. The pups must be equal as good, and hopefully better than, the Sire and Dam. Line breeding is a common practice used to accomplish this end which often does not work because the Breeder does not know thw strong and weak points of his family of hounds. I believe that to perpetuate a line of "Producers", dogs could not be bred to sell pups. Most Beaglers do not have the patience or expertise to breed for "Producers".

[BCBeagles]

Agreed on that Bill. Knowing the background of both is paramount in producing quality in every litter. I hope to get to that point someday. Time will tell.

[rabbitsmoker]

I have seen it work both ways sorry females bred to good males and have good pups sorry males bred to good females and have good pups and both sorry and have good pups I like to have the best of both myself I know a guy that has a wild no good for noyhing female running around in his yard When she comes in he turns his male loose when he breeds her he catches her puts her up she has pups and they are outstandin pups to she is 12 years old now and he still breeds her just for the pups And doesnt matter which male he breeds her to the pups are the same Before i went to akc i had a pack of her pups nice rabbit dogs all the way around

[warddog]

Patch,
Why would you catch heck for what you stated as I believe that minus any way of knowing the ancestry of a breeding pair would be a roll of the dice as to what you would whelp. In my statement that the repreducer would be one that CONSISTANTLY reproduced their lieness or better woul never be done without the breeder having some knowledge of what was going into what. I'm no breeder by any means but I would never breed a female that I didn't know could do what she was bred to do nor would I use a male that I didn't know would do the same. How would I know that as I certainly do not know nor have I seen every dog out there run a rabbit. I may not know nor have seen every dog but if I have a bloodline I like and I cross that with dogs of the same ancestry then in my opinion I have just stacked the odds a little more in my favor to reproduce more of what I like. Is that going to be 100%, no, as there are no guarantees of how the genes will match up in every offspring but by loading that gene pool on the heavy side of what I'm looking for in a hound just gives me a little better statistical advantage in the number of those I'm wanting in the combination of the two parents. To me you can call that breeding by pedigree or by name don't matter but the facts are you have increased your odds by knowing that each dog at least carries the traits of what you are looking for where in best to best you may or may not have a clue. I've always rermembered a famous quote that seems to pop imnto my head whenever such topics come up. That being
"Love is blind and lovers cannot see the pretty follies themselves commit" I know dogs don't love but as someone has already stated above they don't but man is not only their eyes but their heart as well.

[rabbitsmoker]

Even tho they are the same bloodline as what i run i still dont trust thier ability because of the varibilty of the way they perform I had 4 linebred hounds and thier speed was not even the same or the way they exploded out of a check IMO you still got to siff thru the same bloodline to breed and get what you like I want just breed just because the same bloodline even some of those dont look like the same dogs sometimes