The X Factor

[Officially Retired]

Good stuff all around and I agree it is much more to be learn and many angles to look at it. Great discussion piece and good to just talk dogs. Minuteman as Jack said I don't believe you were wrong and as you said it was just how you first came at it. Looking forward to more good topics and discussions. I really knew nothing of this and have been reading and learned some things.

Agreed!

(Also, it is interesting, you mentioned how this relates to my dogs and bloodline now. My line is based primarily on the Hammer/Trinx blood, where Poncho was the Y dominant force of this mating that was bred to many bitches, and (because I never got too many pups out of her) the X force of Missy was pretty much on the sideline. Now, as you pointed out, I have a triple-bred Hammer dog (and son of Missy) in Silverback, and am breeding him to my Poncho bitches, almost reversing the roles of Poncho and Missy in my pedigrees, not to mention adding the other blood through Ouch. Ponchoback demonstrates this perfectly 8-)

I am staying on the outside as I am not at all familiar with the complex mechanics, but good read and great discussion!! Thank you all for the input.

Glad you enjoyed it, I sure have too

Great stuff, The X factor. For those interested studying breeding/genetics a lot can be learned by studying what breeders of other perfomance animals have learned and achieved. I've gleaned information on breeding from the studies and research of Thoroughbreds, Gamefowl, Racing Pigeons, Roller Pigeons, Hunting Beagles, and APBTs. I've bred all of those breeds and the breeding principles are the same for each. I adopted the breeding principles of the Greatest thoroughbred horse breeder, Fredrico Tesio and applied his methods to all of my breeding endeavers and the results have far exceeded what I accomplished before I adopted his methods. I also incorporate the Rasmussen factor of inbreeding to superior females in all of my breeding programs.

Thank you for adding your perspective, Stonewall, and thank you for mentioning the name of Federico Tesio. I Googled the name and added the link, and the man was indeed a legend. (Pardon my ignorance for not knowing this already, but I have not studied racehorses, so both you and Stone City have taught this old dog some new tricks )

At any rate, WOW, he must have been a legend because a hardcopy of his book, Tesio: In His Own Words, is selling for $776.58 on Barnes & Noble, while another copy is selling on Amazon for $625 :shock:

I would be fascinated to read what he has to say, but I will have to wait until someone real nice lets me borrow their book

Thanks to Stone City for starting this and for Jack's considerable insight and observations and all the others that took the time to ask questions. Many years ago, I visited with Jerry Clemmons and discussed breedings. He said to me that he always examines the parents and their breeding and then if he liked the mother's side better, he chose males and if he liked the father's side better, he would choose females. Seems to follow along with this discussion also.

You're welcome, and I am grateful for all the other input as well!

While I have always been pretty confident in my breeding knowledge, this thread made me realize how much I really don't know, and how much more there is to learn, which I think is great. To me, the prospect of being able to learn just one new, useful principle is literally "the spice of life"

Jack