[blutik72]

Just curious how many of you guys raise your own as in breeding and raising your own pups? I raised my first litter last year , sold 4 kept 3 its was alot of work with my long hrs I put in at work but fortunate enough my wife works from home and is a huge help , I am nowhere as experienced as alot of you all here on this forum as far as what you look for but I feel the stock I am working with will be pretty good, mine are mixed with grade and registered fyi I am not breeding to make any money its for just for myself for hunting

 

[davtracy]

I raise my own. On my third generation at this current time.

 

[Ken's Kennels]

I raise my own deer beagles. Still working on getting 2 rabbit dogs good enough to breed. Puppies are alot of work but I've been having a litter every late winter except a few for 20 years

 

[Gene Fedor]

Alot of work and time, especially if you work full time. Did it back in the 1990s, couldn't do it now , with work, family obligations etc

 

[Circle4p]

I have and had good look. I bred 3 females last year and lost every pup. Sometimes it just don’t work out

 

[rogerblankenship]

I have raised few in last 30 yrs. or so. To me it starts with a good bitch that hunts, then I don’t mind putting in the time.

 

[marshall dillon]

My nephew does and I get my dogs from him . They should be coming in soon . I told him that I want to keep the whole litter this time until I start them . He might breed 2 litters , all 3 usually come in around the same time .

 

[TJRANGER]

I try to raise my own! I have added different blood over the last 4-5,yrs. have 2 gyps bred this year. I like to fool with pups so I will probably keep a couple and sell the rest.

 

[Spini Boys]

I started to in 2019, now I am retired I will be raising my own. Had one litter in 2019, kept a female.
But before that I had to find what I liked both in the field and on paper. So technicaly I started back in 2016 when I found a male pup bred the way I like and then ran him and hunted him. Then in 2017 found another male. Took 5 years and a trip to Arkansas to find a bitch I liked. Once all that was done, we finally had our first litter in years.
At this time I have a gype bred, in April I will breed my bitch again.

I like big male dogs, all my buddies like big females and would travel the country breeding to nice stud dogs. They would never keep male pups. So for years I never had to raise my own I had an endless supply of big male pups.

 

[KyBrushBuster]

I'm getting ready to start my first crop of homegrown puppies. Hoping to start a female line I can pass on to my kids someday. We'll see how it goes!

 

[Zach L]

Not me. I got my two girls as pups. My dogs have always been house dogs when we aren’t in the woods so I’m not ready to deal with an unfixed female inside

-Z

 

[HQB]

Most all the dogs i own, I have raised from puppies out of my own stuff, occasionally buy a dog from outside my kennel but not often. Every breeding i make is out of a cross Im wanting something from going on 5 generations for some of the dogs have

 

[jeffro]

I usually raise a litter or two every year but i also will go outside when i see a chance to make mine better

 

[AJ Johnson]

I am raising my 1st litter now
They are 10 weeks and doing well.

 

[blutik72]

I'm getting ready to start my first crop of homegrown puppies. Hoping to start a female line I can pass on to my kids someday. We'll see how it goes!

I am in this process now, 1 of them is showing signs of light , she got on a chase Saturday the other 2 still needing work but they are still young

 

[blutik72]

The 2 that I did breed last yr really hoping the pups I kept will turn out good, the male is my best dog, he jumps his own and has zero quit has a good nose, the female is a hunting machine, she will go through and crawl through the briars, brush, her name is Suzie, but I should have named her "NOSEY", because thats what she reminds me of,I would be heading back to the truck at end of hunt with all the dogs and if I were walking down a path and if there is only one little pile of brush the size of a large shoebox she will go over there and crawl in it to make sure theres not a rabbit in it , I tell her "you are just as nosey as your human momma!

I was just curious if you veterans bred mostly in house or just purchased when you needed one replaced , if the pups I did have turn out think this is what I will continue to do like I said its alot of work for me with my work schedule but feel I will have more satisfaction raising my own stock

 

[bk]

No agenda or pups to sell. Just my experiences for whatever its worth.

Have raised a litter or 2 every year since the late 80's. Going to check records but think I'm on about 12th generation. Lot of work. But wanted the best and was focused on building my own hunting dog line to some extent. To be successful breeding, you have to know what traits your line is throwing. I keep "traits" report cards on mine and objectively view everything they do focused more on the things I don't like or can't accept. I have to go outside to unrelated studs every 2-3 generations and try hard to find someone who has taken the same approach and will be honest about what traits their studs could use some improvement on. Finding that is the hard part as a bad decision going out just brings in more surprises to cull out or a complete litter culled from future breeding. Had a lot of those the first 6-7 generations while trying to figure things out. I generally raise and start all the females that were not culled out for any early showing extreme physical or mental trait and then sort through that for potential superstar candidates to carry the line forward. I sell all the male pups and track them for future candidates to breed back.

I remember reading in a book on breeding that it will take a min of 10 yrs to build a strain and thought I'd work hard and get it done quicker. LOL Took me about 20 yrs before I could say i'm getting consistent great results / traits without much of the bad stuff popping up. Lots of missteps along the way. Every planned breeding is then another hopeful strategy to keep things going / improving and not bring in any bad stuff. At the same time, you absolutely have to go out on occasion to keep some hybrid vigor (pop) so to speak in the line. Its tough but fun playing with the genetics--- for me anyway.

There is no perfect dog. I usually walk away from the breeder who can't list objective things they wish their stud did better or things they want to improve in their line if they are working on such. So many traits are a borderline asset / detriment level that may vary in opinion from beagler to beagler. I'm not trialing and my interest is in a balanced "whole" package which means I may accept a 8/10 nose to not have extreme cold trailing. A friend told me "to perform at the highest level at nationals or wherever in all weather extremes he has to have an extreme nose and some extra mouth may go with that but no use going without that level of nose power". I want that nose but can't stand extra mouth in the field, so I have to balance all that and obviously brains play a part too. I want high intelligence, independence, and grit but they better handle perfectly, pack well and be my team mate in the field. Just depends on what the breeders priorities are. When you can't get around to watch every prospect run, Its hard not to give the champion bloodlines a first look because they have proven themselves in some format. Some of my criteria would not be of high importance to a trialer who is breeding / selecting solely based on trial performance. Lots of different opinions and every time you excel in a trait it seems there are some detriments that come from having too much of something.

If you choose to try and buy your pups, find someone that makes a similar effort and has a multigeneration line. Then try and buy multiple pups and sort through them. If you want great stuff, you need to raise and train lots of pups to have a chance at the superstars.

Have fun.

 

[smokedawg]

I used to buy a different puppy from a different breeder ever year n try to build a pack. After much hit n miss over the last 35 years about 15 years ago i went n watched all different lines of gun dogs run, when i saw what i was looking for, i watched several young started females run from that family of dogs and i bought 2 of the best i could afford at the time. They both made real good hounds, i then watched plenty males run off that line and bred them both to the dog i saw that complimented them. Since then i breed my own and a high percentage of my pups make rabbit dogs. I try to start them all and place them with running buddies so i can keep up with how many make dogs. Works for me. I dont breed a litter every year, only when i need reinforcements, and i dont sell puppies, i usually give them to friends that i run with so i can keep good breeding stock close at hand. Lotta times we may swap out a pup for a pup, we run similar stuff

 

[smokedawg]

I used to buy a different puppy from a different breeder ever year n try to build a pack. After much hit n miss over the last 35 years about 15 years ago i went n watched all different lines of gun dogs run, when i saw what i was looking for, i watched several young started females run from that family of dogs and i bought 2 of the best i could afford at the time. They both made real good hounds, i then watched plenty makes run off that line and bred them both to the make i saw that complimented them. Since then i breed my own and a high percentage of my pus make rabbit dogs. I try to start them all and place them with running buddies so i can keep up with how many make dogs. Works for me. I dont breed a litter every year, only when i need reinforcements, and i dont sell puppies, i usually give them to friends that i run with so i can keep good breeding stock close at hand. Lotta times we may swap out a pup for a pup, we run similar stuff

 

[mitch huguet]

I leave the breeding to the pros.

I have ordered all of mine out of Hounds and Hunting Magazine my entire life.

They deliver right to the front door. All the hard work has been done for me.

All are out of FC sires and dams and all the pups I get are always the total package in trial dogs and especially gundogs.

No need to go anywhere else. Why would anyone want to?