One thing I would like to add that might or maybe not. Help your young new dogs from becoming root biters and chain fighters. Do not put any older dogs around them that already have those bad habits.

Try to spend a lot of me time with all your dogs. If the young dogs get bored and see a older bored hard keeper go to snatching roots or chain. They as monkey see monkey do. Could start doing the same. I know it is a heart break to any dog person to see this. Usually these dogs are deep game and talented.

This was a major problem V.J. starting having with some of his last dogs. He could not keep any good teeth in the better ones. I told V.J. to not inbred them anymore and try and find a good Colby dog to breed back into them.

What was so ironic, I found out after all those years later. One of the Colby great,great grandsons lived not far down the road from V.J. Vernon knew this fellow but never bred one of his best bitches to one of his best Colby studs. IMHO was a bad mistake. Cheers