Thanks I just never took the initiative to read it this forum has so much going on I'm still figuring it out..Originally Posted by CA Jack
Thanks I just never took the initiative to read it this forum has so much going on I'm still figuring it out..
Understandable ... there really are a lot of good articles in here, if you take the time to look around.
The forum can be a fun place, but there are a lot of meat & potatoes elsewhere (videos/articles).
There are also dialogue boxes under each article to where specific questions can be asked (or specific disagreements started).
It's frustrating to want to cram all the knowledge into your head at once ... or to want to "reach conclusions" without putting in the work to make good decisions.
As the saying goes, "I don't want the labor pains, I just want the baby."
We've all been there. We've all "repeated what we've heard."
True knowledge simply takes time and it simply takes effort. There is no other way to get it.
The truth is, "good" and "great" dogs come in many different sizes, shapes, breedings, styles, percentages, etc.
The key is to develop an eye, to neither expect too much from any dog, nor too little, but to have a REASONABLE (and accurate) estimation of what "consistently-good" means ... performance-wise and consistency-wise as to a dog's ability to produce the former.
All of this is words, though.
Words are the only way to communicate, but ONLY if you "relate" to (feel/understand) the words will you actually have knowledge.
So be careful when you say you "don't want to relate," because in fact you SHOULD want to relate to people who are truly knowledgeable
Ultimately, if you latch onto something good, stick with it and refine it to your liking, you won't need words anymore. And you won't need anyone else's studs either.
You will just be able to look out at your own yard, know where the best ones are, know what will go with what, and be satisfied with what you have.
But again, this takes time
When you're starting out though, you do need to ask questions. I agree with what Evo says about doing homework prior. However, sometimes you might call a breeder with (say) 60 dogs of a given bloodline ... and you might not be familiar with all that he has on his yard. Nor how everything's bred. Sometimes you gotta ask certain questions to get certain answers.
It can put a breeder on the defensive if you're too "exact" in what you're talking about, if he doesn't know you.
I found out a lot about the Bolio bloodline by asking Patrick a thousand questions over a lot of years.
And I found out a lot more by rolling a lot of dogs from that bloodline over a lot of years also ... I can promise you I didn't gain it all over night.
People who are into my dogs found out a lot about my dogs by asking me a thousand questions over a lot of years and by looking at a lot of my dogs.
That's what you gotta do to learn; you can't just "get knowledge" from a post or two. You have to put in the time, and you have to put in the work.
Breeders have to take care of themselves, and yet be understanding also. It's a hard row to hoe for both ... and personally I am glad I no longer have to worry about it ... though I also miss hearing the excitement in a customer's voice when one of his from me whipped some "big name" in their area and put them on the map
One thing I can tell you is decide what you like, style-wise, and then do your homework as to what produces it consistently (bloodline-wise).
Then try to buy dogs of that bloodline until you get a solid facsimile of what you want.
Once you do, once you get a key individual or two that is (and produces) what you want ... breed your own off of those dogs at that point ... follow the proven breeding patterns outlined in my article ... and as long as your dogs fall in line with what you want, and win more than they lose, keep doing what you're doing.
Jack
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