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This weeks training tip is not so much a tip but a question I receive from potential puppy buyers more than any other.

No doubt selecting the right puppy to meet your particular needs is very important. Making the right choice can improve the odds of producing that retriever or pointer you have always wanted.

It is more important to approach puppy selection from a genetic process rather than picking a puppy from a particular litter. Don’t focus your attention on which pup, focus on which litter! 

Find a breeder who has proven stock and a credible reputation for what you are looking for in a gundog. Make sure this breeder is producing dogs genetically predisposed to having genetically sound, intelligent, healthy puppies that have the abilities and perform to the standards that you want in your hunting buddy.

Genetics are the building blocks to producing puppies of superior quality. Knowing that proper breeding will pass genetics and characteristics down to your prospective puppy, you need to make sure your pup comes from sound breeding.

The only way to consistently produce puppies of superior quality and in a predictable manner is through line breeding. (The mating of similar genetic relationships to produce predictable results)

Outcrossing is mating unrelated genetics. You may produce an occasional superior puppy with this method but the outcome is very unpredictable.

For arguments sake, lets say breeding two field champions together of unrelated genetics you may arguably produce out of a litter of eight puppies, two with superior quality, four average puppies, and two sub par puppies.

Through PROPER line breeding on a litter of eight puppies you can expect a uniform litter of superior puppies that have the confirmation, soundness and abilities that were intended in the breeding.

Line breeding produces nothing good or bad, all it does is intensify the genetics in the bloodline and improve on predictable traits.

Almost all good breeders use some method of line breeding.

To sum it up. Through proper line breeding your inherited traits are predictable. Outcrossing or random breeding, regardless of the parents titles, abilities, confirmation etc. will not assure the parents traits or abilities will be passed down to the offspring. 

There can be as much difference in puppies from an outcrossed litter as there are in puppies from different litters. The results are unpredictable.

So, to increase your odds of getting that pup you were looking for, you need to purchase from a reputable, knowledgeable breeder that produces puppies with the traits you are looking for in a dog. 

Make sure the parents are working dogs so you can insure they possess the traits you are looking for. Of course you need to make sure these breeders have a high standard when it comes to health, and will back up their puppies 100%.

Another tip is to make sure to pick litters with very strong mother lines. Mothers project more influence on the litters then the stud dog does. 

Genetic inheritance is of course 50/50 from both parents but mother has the pups for five or six weeks and her influence is paramount.

Another tip, research has proven, for some reason grandma and grandpa tend to have more genetic influence on the litters then the sire and damn. Make sure you are not just looking at the parents. It is also always better to purchase pups from proven studs and damns then to purchase pups from first time moms and dads.

Positive genetics, accompanied by sound health, should be the goal of your purchase, not just confirmation, color or titles. Inherited gundog traits are what you should be looking for in a pup. 

Paul
Little River Pheasant Hunts