Agreed. I'm not a breeder so these are just my opinions on what I have seen from other breeders.

I can't breed to a cold dog because I do not have the space to wait and see how things turn out. I have often debated waiting on Sluggo.

On the flip side I can see where someone with a ton of experience within a family of tight bred dogs could use a cold bitch from within that family.

I think my biggest shortcoming when it comes to the dogs is measuring gameness. I like all the terms, deep game, pit game, dead game, etc. etc. The one that always factored in my decision making process was 'game enough'. I measured the qualities I was looking for in a bulldog gave them a rating and if they rated high enough we found a cheap one to get them out on the playing field.

What I have also seen is a ton of mouth or top notch conditioning hide the cur for a number of gatherings. I'm thinking at some point they used the 'game enough' rating system as well.

It is a slippery slope. A lot of programs are centered on game dogs and preserving the gameness of the breed. Some are simply concerned with having enough dog to win.

Sometimes the two coincide sometimes they are completely separate from one another.

EWO