The American Beagler Forum

I am looking at two dogs that are littermate brothers. The one brother is a Field Champion and a proven producer. The other brother is not a FC but has done well in trials and is the better all around dog and he has never been bred. He has more hunt, speed and desire than the FC brother. Many times the FC is left home for hunts and the brother is a dog you that can't afford to have out of the pack.

The FC is not a bad dog by any means but dog for dog the brother in our opinion is better. If you had to look at both dogs without knowing which was the FC you would think the non titled dog was.

I have always felt that you better the breed by breeding to the best dog that represents what you think the breed should be. In this case since the blood is 100 percent the same of the stud. The only difference is the title. I don't want to be stuck with a lot pups and breeding to a FC who has produced well help sell what I do not want to keep. What do you all think?

Thanks Ken

Sounds like you answered your own question. For what it is worth I would breed to the better dog but titles do help move pups.....just my opinion.

You have to decide what is more important.......pups out of the dog you like best or being able to quickly sell pups. If you breed to the untitled dog you can always give the extra pups away to good homes. If making a few $$$ on the litter is more important than breed to the FC.

"The one brother is a Field Champion and a proven producer."

That end of that statement answered the question.

If the FC gets left at home when gone gun hunting, then that gives me a red light on breeding to him. A gun dog is always in need!!!

I agree with john. Go with the proven producer FC or not.

Thanks for the replies. I am not trying to breed to make money so that's not an issue. I will only keep one or two out of the litter and I don't want to be stuck with pups that are hard to move. The FC does fine under the gun but there is a noticeable difference in the performance between the two. We run a 6 dog pack mostly so when we mix and match dogs many times the FC is left behind. Thanks again for the replies..

Has the more talented brother been bred? I would go with proven results unless you have time to put in a whole litter to find out if the stronger hound is a reproducer. JMO.

If I saw hounds out of the FC that fit my needs I would breed to him, if indeed he is proven over multiple females.

My whole kennel is heavily baised on a male that wasn't a field champion.The cross that produced him was done twice and there were at least 3 AKC-Midwest FC's that I know of and a few did well in the ARHA.He was never trialed,but just about everyone that saw the dogs from that cross run agreed that he was the best of the whole bunch.Except the ones that owned the others. And he was a producer of rabbit dogs.Some of the others produced good dogs when bred to really good females.It didn't matter much with him I don't know of anything out of him that wouldn't run a decent rabbit.The better the female the better the results though.He never would have gotten a chance to prove his self if the stud fee on one of his FC brothers wasn't so high.He got bred quite a bit early on for a pup.I'ed go with the best dog.It's a gamble the first time anyway.

you say the champ is a reproducer are all the pups out of him what you want? how many different females has he bred? hard to beat proven results but if some of pups are good and some are not roll the dice and go with the best dog. good luck and let us know how it turns out for you. if you dont pay a stud fee and keep two and give the rest away you will not hurt yourselves and might make a kid very happy.

I will always pick the better dog,they are borthers.Does the non titled dog get his fair share of trials or is he more of a gun dog.When i frist started looking for beagles i was FC blind could not see pass that.But now iam getting into it i can see pass that,it is in all what you want.I think it is always a gamble on either dog.My good buddy toby has a male dog Jake that is not titled but i would bet my last dollar he could of been and ran with the best of them in his younger days,I wish i had 6 of him.JMO

I would breed to the better dog without a doubt. You can only expect the best if you breed to the best. After all, I'm sure you are not breeding to get pups that you leave behind most the time.

All these guys can say what they want but gamble

Breed to the better dog as he obviously has the better traits. He will more than likely thow the better dog

Jmo

breed to the FC. you said hes a proven producer. Even though you like the other dog better, he may not be a producer. Id go with a known producer any day, especially if he has the title.

I would breed to the better dog. He may produce better than his FC brother. Only way to find out is to try it. I have a male that I love but I do not trial. I bred him to one of my females this past summer and yes I did have a little trouble getting rid of the three I sold. But the people who bought them are happy with them and I will probably breed him a few more times to try and get more like him before he is gone. You can probably advertise on other sites and get more interest as it seems FC titles are over rated on this site at times.