TOUCHSTONE wrote:The current breed standard best describes the physical make-up that would best suit the ideal hunting specimen. That is a fact that some may not yet be ready to acknowledge. This will slow the progress for some. Others will breed with the goal of developing dogs that have structure like Parker combined with excellent hunt characteristics. This is where the breed will reach its full potential. Several breeders must accomplish this or the gene pool of TOTAL DOGS will be too limited. Dan M
Dan,
Exactly, that's why I went to the English packs to gain structure. Structure from hounds that have long been bred to hunt, in the manor the Breed was created for.
It is only my way, but the risk of gaining one(structure) and loosing the other(hunt) is too great a cost, at the risk of breeding from a soft line(show only). It takes 3 generations to prove what you've picked up(gained), is set in the line, along with that time is the threat of poor traits surfacing and a regression of material, back to what you started with.
I ask myself, why go through the time, cost and trouble of reinventing the wheel, when there's already a proper wheel, that has what I need available to draw from, at no risk of loosing what I've already got and also the chance of picking up extra good formal pack qualities. To see 23 1/2 couple of hounds loose and under control is a awsome sight. To watch hounds work at the check in a ever widening cast, feathering out like a flow to cover every inch of ground in search of the line. Then, the cry of the find and the whole pool flows like water to the head and rushes forward. There is real beauty in seeing hounds do what they were bred for.
The gene pool you spoke of is another advantage of bring two long divided hunting hound groups together. Hounds bred seperately along the same line, for the same intent, making the perfect outcross, as many of the old masters have said. Maybe this will create the "perfect storm", I don't know, it's yet to be seen...
I wish everyone the best, on their journey for the perfect hound. Success will write history and add to everyone's benefit...
Best Wishes...Patch
