Planned crossbreeding & messed up mongrels. by Henry Chein

I would like to add something to the views given in the posting by my college Sally-Wolf. While I agree that purebreds are the best way to go; at times a planned crossbreeding project may be necessary for several reasons. A breed or strain may have become so inbred and reduced in numbers for whatever reason that an outcross to a breed of similar physical type and working style but unrelated line is needed to avoid genetic bottlenecking. There might not be any available breed in the country, that fills your needs as a working animal. These are just some of the reason to get into crossbreeding purebred dogs.

At no point in time would I recommend to anyone to use mongrels of unknown breeding as the main dogs in ones pack. Their pups are worthless and they don't breed true. A pair of mongrels that are firecrackers in the bush have very little chance of producing pups that perform to the same level of excellence as their parents and as I said THEIR PUPS ARE WORTHLESS. Why keep dogs that produce chancy pups and whose excess pups you have to give away. Dogs cost money to maintain properly, if you're gonna keep dogs keep good dogs. The only reason I see to keep a mongrel is if you plan to use it as the foundation sire or damn of a new breed of dog.

If you do plan to start a project of planned crossbreeding, first you must know what you want or have and only use unrelated breeds that are similar in working style. I know this is very over simplified but this is what I would suggest you do. Base the program on a female, that way you can take her to any number of stud bulls, if you base it on a bull you will have to buy several unrelated bitches. A basic breeding plan is as follows, keep only bitches and use bull pups sold as future studs. You will have to keep track of all bull pups sold, so that you can judge them as adults an choose the best for backcrossing.

FIRST BREEDING(OUTCROSS):-

Foundation bitch (A)-x-(B)outcross bull#1=>outcross litter#1=(OCL1)

SECOND BREEDING(OUTCROSS):-

Foundation bitch (A)-x-(C)outcross bull#2=>outcross litter#2=(OCL2)

FIRST LINECROSS:-

(OCL1)bull-x-(OCL2)bitch=>linecross litter#1(LCL#1) ---> half brother & sister cross

SECOND LINECROSS:-

(OCL2)bull-x-(OCL1)bitch=>linecross litter#2(LCL#2) ---> half brother & sister cross

THIRD LINECROSS:-

(LCL#1)bull-x-(LCL#2)bitch=>linecross litter#3(LCL#3) --->cousin & cousin cross

FIRST BACKCROSS:-

(LCL#3)bull-x-foundation bitch(A)=>backcross litter#1(BCL#1)

A good bull from this cross can be used a proponent stud bull on any bitch in this breeding program.

While all of this may look good on paper remember that the true test is in the living flesh, see what the dog looks like and how it hunts before using it in you breeding program. When you linebreed, backbreed and inbreed you are doubling up on the genes of the dogs that you are backbreeding to in varying degrees of severity, so expect very good and very bad pups in a litter. It all depends on what lurks in the genes of the parent stock. Both the cream and scum rises to the top when you backbreed. Ounce you can cull/kill defective pups and not let them survive to further taint the gene pool of your strain and give yourself a bad name as a breeder, the quality of you strain will improve over time. That's the goal of us all, to improve our dogs over time. Just take your time, know what you want, don't lie to yourself when judging dogs and don't be kennel blind. Good luck with breeding your super dog.

Tiger Hunting in Siberia, Rare Footage

Primitive hunting dogs rule.

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Hunting Wolf by dogs

Hunting wolves in mongolia, with banhars (a mongolian primitive hunting breed).

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Golden eagle hunting wolf

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Purebreds, hybrids & mongrels, which is best. by Sally-Wolf

In this article I will state my opinions on what I believe is the best type of dog of the stated three(purebred,hybrid,mongrel)for hunting. This will be based on facts, that can be readily verified by following the supplied links and on common sense. If someone disagrees with any of the points I shall put forth in this article, please feel free to comment and I will answer any disagreement presented.

First let me define the technical terms of my argument. (1) Purebred : an animal, all of whose ancestors derive over many generations from the same breed and whose ancestry can be verified by registered pedigree. (2) Breed : a relatively homogeneous group of animals within a species, developed and maintained by humans. (3) Pedigree : a genealogical table, chart, list, or record, especially of a purebred animal. (4) Registry : a place where a register/records are kept; an office of registration e.g. a breed club, kennel club or studbook. (5) Hybrid : the offspring of two animals of different breeds, especially through human manipulation for specific genetic characteristics. Mongrel : a dog of mixed or indeterminate breed.

Here is what I believe; a purebred dog is the best TYPE of dog that one can keep, followed by a carefully bred hybrid from selected similar stock and lastly a mongrel. Now the reasons for my choice will pertain to all hunters that raise their dogs from pups, if you obtain your dogs as already trained adults and have no interest in producing pups to replace older dogs of for sale, then this does not apply to you.

Now these are my reasons for this choice. Everyone hunts a particular game animal or animals and each in his own style. For example, an agouti hunter that uses a gun might prefer a slow dog that does not push the animal too hard, allowing it to run in tighter circles, thus giving the hunter more chances for shots. A hunter after agouti that only uses a cutlass & luchette would have no use for a medium or slow dog but would want a dog that is fast and could put pressure on the agouti to pen quickly. What does this have to do with a purebred dog vs a mongrel you say? Well, well, well, it's just this, a given breed has been developed over many years to do a specific thing in a specific way, a mongrel is a shot in the dark. Nine out of ten hounds will hunt, while one out of ten mongrels will hunt well. A purebred dog will reproduce its type in look and temperament more often than not, while mongrels don't. Beagles make beagles, I never crossed two Bluetick coonhounds and got a litter of pompeks. In other words you can pretty much be sure of what you are getting if you researched the breed and bought pedigreed July foxhound pup. The July was developed to run and catch fox and coyote, these are fast and aggressive animals so a july would have to be faster and more aggressive, thus a good dog to use on our red brocket deer which tends to run like a fox. Likewise the beagle was developed to run rabbits in England, which tend to be wheeling dodging runners like our agouti, so the majority of beagles prefer to run game that runs like rabbits, as they were bred for generations for this trait. Thus beagles make excellent agouti dogs that are less inclined to run deer than a foxhound. If you cross a foxhound with a beagle what you got is a mongrel as the parents belong to two different hound breeds of very different conformation and hunting style. Hound is not a breed but type of dog so although the chances of a pup from such a cross(foxhound-x-beagle) hunting will be greater than a mongrel pup from the dump, you will not have a clue as to its adult size or hunting style until it's finished growing, such a cross will not breed true in other words, a mongrel. Whoa!!!! Thats right I just called 95% of the hounds in T&T mutts. Now everyone just calm down and put those three-canals back in their cases. Its all just shades of grey, all breeds started out as mongrels and over time with selective breeding became more homogeneous in physical type and temperament but for this to happen records must be kept and matings carefully planned. Without records of pedigree there is no way of knowing for sure the quality of a dog's ancestors and and total faith must be placed in the word of a possible "smartman", thus a registry dedicated to the working dog is an indispensable asset in the maintenance and improvement of a breed or strain of dog.

So there you have it, purebred dogs are the best as far as I am concerned. Each breed of hound was developed to hunt a particular quarry, so while one breed might prove excellent on agouti another might refuse to run it altogether. With a little time and energy given to research the various breeds available, you will find a dog that will suit your given quarry and hunting style. As I said before 95% of all hounds in T&T are mixed breed mutts, so their adult size and hunting styles cannot be predicted as surely as a purebred, but with a little time and effort you will find some local lines are stronger in some breeds than others. Know what you want, do your research and only breed a litter of pups with the intention to improve your strain.

Just my thoughts on the matter, what do you think?

People Hunting with Cheetahs, India 1939. by Sally-Wolf

A look at another style of hunting from another time and place.

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Common sense game management. By Sally-Wolf

There are many factors that may lead to a low level of game in ones chosen hunting ground. Some of these factors may be natural such as a scarcity of feeding trees or man made like over hunting and deforestation. Wild game animals need suitable habitats, to sustain their populations at a viable level, for sustainable harvesting. What exactly is a "suitable habitat", well this is an area of land that possesses all the factors needed by a particular animal to not just survive but to thrive and increase in numbers. The following are those factors (1) an area of forest natural or other of varying size depending on the territorial needs of the particular animal in question,(2) an abundant high quality food supply and (3) the availability of suitable den and bedding sites .

Let me take each of these factors in turn.

(1) An area of forest. This is just common sense, wild animals need wild space to live in. We can't make more land but we can rehabilitate degraded forest by planting trees etc. There is little or no game in areas of bull grass as compared to virgin forest. Each game species will demand a different amount of land based on their level of territoriality/aggression. For example quenk would need more acreage per head than deer. Now a major factor in the amount of land needed by an animal is the food load of said parcel of land. Five acres of forest containing many and varied types of fruit trees would be able to maintain a higher population of agouti than a similar area of lastroe. All the land in the world would be useless without readily available food sources. You might hunt in a remote well forested area but because of a lack of feed the game population might be low. Trees don't count unless they provide food an example of this would be mono-specific stands of Caribbean pine. This brings us to the second factor.

(2) An abundant high quality food supply. The more fruiting trees and vines and the higher the quality of their fruit on a given piece of land, then the greater number of animals that it will support. The more feeding you plant the better for you. For a small investment in time and energy to plant a few feeding trees/plants, the rewards in future will be more than recompense. If you think that trees take too long to grow and bear then plant vines that will bear in a much shorter space of time, from a few months to two years. Here is what to plant for the game you chase.

FEEDING TREES --------------------ANIMAL

Chatigne/Bread Nut-----------------Agouti, Lappe, Quenk

Mango---------------------------------Deer, Agouti, Lappe, Quenk, Manicou

Carapo Nut----------------------------Agouti, Lappe, Quenk

Peewah---------------------------------Agouti, Lappe

Avocado/Zaboca----------------------Deer, Agouti, Lappe,Quenk, Manicou

Tie Tongue/Lay Lay/Manjack------Manicou, Tattoo

Jammon/Damson Plum-------------Deer, Agouti, Lappe, Quenk, Manicou,Tattoo

Hog Plum-----------------------------Deer, Agouti, Lappe, Quenk, Manicou, Tattoo

Penny piece---------------------------Deer, Agouti, Lappe, Quenk, Manicou

Pommerac------------------------Deer, Agouti, Lappe, Quenk, Manicou, Tattoo, Matte

Wild Chatigne------------------------Agouti, Lappe, Quenk

Noni-----------------------------------Manicou, Matte

Portugal/Mandarin Orange---------Agouti, Manicou

Guava----------------------------------Deer, Agouti, Lappe, Quenk, Manicou, Matte

FEEDING PLANTS/VINES----------------ANIMAL

Passion Fruit--------------------------------Agouti, Lappe, Manicou

Pome de Leon-------------------------------Agouti, Lappe, Manicou

Agouti Boli-----------------------------------Agouti, Lappe, Manicou

Barbadine------------------------------------Agouti, Lappe, Manicou

Wild Red Cucumber------------------Agouti, Lappe, Quenk, Manicou, Matte, Iguana

Cantalope/Musk Melon--------------------Agouti, Lappe, Quenk

Pumpkin--------------------------------------Agouti, Lappe, Quenk

Papaya----------------------------------------Manicou

I know this is far from a complete list of feed trees/plants but they should be easily obtainable for most hunters. Remember the vines are the fastest growing/bearing but the trees that have eatable seeds (Mango, Chatigne, Peewah) have the highest food value.

(3)Dens and beds. These are constructed by some and appropriated by others for their own use.

The construction of good den hole takes time and effort on the part of the animal and can be of use to animals that don't excavate dens of their own. As such you should always repair any damage done to a den hole or set when you excavate it to remove an animal. The more dens and sets that are in a given area of forest increases the number of safe sites for animals to raise there young.

I know this is not a highly technical and in depth article on wild game conservation but it shows that with common sense and a few simple steps you can greatly increase the game on your favorite hunting ground.