THE HARDCORE FARMER

[Officially Retired]

This is a great topic. One of "those" topics for me concerning the dogs. My first experiences in the dogs was with a guy who basically only matched dogs. He maybe bred three times in 10 or so years. He kept 10-12 dogs and at least 8 or so would be open to the world and the other 4 or so would be ones that look like they might earn a chain spot.

Nothing wrong with that.

He fell into the hard core farmer category and in turn I did so too. It was never about preserving or perpetuating, or even checking or testing, it was all about winning. He had a couple of quotes similar to the Tudor quote above. "I'm not sure if my dog is game but on Saturday night you better be sure your is". Actually a ton of those lines. " I can't tell you what he will do next time only what he did do last time".

Nothing wrong with that either.

He culled hard. Harder than most and a lot of those dogs could have maybe went on to produce. Removing a cur was never considered culling, it was just understood. His "culled hard" because a lot of game dogs didn't have the tools to win, and that is a hard decision to make. Thus he 'culled hard'. Most of his dogs came from the same breeder. I 'learned' from him early on it was easier to buy a young dog than to deal with the whole puppy picture. I have had a number of dogs I should have bred, or bred more. Like most men, in every facet of life, he has a disease called " wishedihadof ". "I wished I had of" did this and that. His was to breed more of the dogs that performed. Me too.

I totally understand getting rid of a cur (a short-winded idiot who can't win, whatever).

I believe a person can be as severe as they want, standards-wise, I just don't see the justification for killing perfectly healthy, happy dogs.

Never have, never will.

It has always been a form evil to me.

I totally "get" the desire to fight. I totally "get" the desire to watch a fight.

If I raised my son to be a fighter, and he didn't cut it, I can see being disappointed ... but I can't see killing him.

I can see killing a dog that tries to attack me ... for real ... but I can't see killing a dog that is my friend, happy and playful, just because he doesn't suit me.

I can see clearing out his chain spot, and making room for a better animal, but I have always been the type to try to place the dog in a good home.

However, if a dog is dangerous (most of mine make great pets), then I'd kill it if it didn't work out.

As far as care, his was impeccable. His dogs were in perfect health, clean living quarters, the whole nine. He nurtured young dogs, and each had his own time to turn on. Once he felt they were on, they faced the trials and tribulations of being a game dog on the yard of a dog man who matched dogs. There were a lot of game dogs that did not have the tools to win and they did not maintain a chain spot. Some went back to the breeder as a brood dog, some simply did not maintain a chain spot. On more than one occasion I have seen him give a winning dog back because the next dog coming at that weight was better. The breeder was the only one who could get him/her back. If the breeder could not make room or have space or have time the dog simply lost his chain spot. He sold two dogs in a 10-15 year span.

Then IMO, he was not a "hardcore farmer," because he provided excellent care and allowed them to mature.

What I would say is he only wanted the very best dogs to put his money on, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Again, there is nothing wrong with being selective with chain spots. There is nothing wrong with wanting the best.

But I believe the owner (as with the farmer) has to do his best first before he can expect the best back.

A true "hardcore farmer" doesn't bother doing his best at anything. He does everything wrong, and violates basic principles, in the insane belief that "only the strong survive" a total LACK of care. And here is the parallel:

The best farmers are NOT the ones who get rid of, kill, waste, or destroy the most crops ... nope.

Invariably, the best farmers are the ones who understand farming principles the most, work the hardest to ensure all of the favorable conditions to the crop's growth have been met, that the parasites have been managed well, and that they have done their job on every level first, and that (finally) they have allowed for enough time for the crops to ripen "before" trying to harvest

And so it is with these dogs ...

For him, it was never about the money. It was never about the preserving or perpetuating a family of game dogs. It was never about "gameness". It was only, and I mean only about winning. Since I was new, I learned what he taught and I just assumed it was like that everywhere. In time I figured some things out and changed direction, slightly, but changed direction nonetheless.

It truly is all about winning, whether you're a competitor or a serious breeder.

I may not have matched a dog in 20 years, but the entire thrust of my breeding program is to isolate, harness, and perpetuate winning traits in my dogs, so that they can win or produce winners wherever they get off the plane ... which they have done, BTW

Looking back I missed out on a ton of opportunity, and my mentor even more. But as I have said before, it takes all kinds to make the dog game go around. In a lot of respects he was the hardcore farmer, and I guess by default I have been as well. It has a lot to do with being mission orientated and maintain the same 'mission statement' throughout.

It sounds like you're a hardcore culler, not a hardcore farmer, so long as you're doing everything you can to ensure a "successful harvest" of dogs.

Great topic. Should be a good thread. EWO

Indeed

Jack