Do I Really Need To Study Heredity?

by Rev. John Parks

If you're going to breed Beagles, you need to know something about inheritance. Informed breeders know bloodlines. They can look at a pedigree and immediately know about what to expect when they make a mating. Certain bloodlines have characteristics that recur generation after generation. Therefore, the breeders can plan for the traits that are typical of the families of hounds he is proposing to cross.

Informed breeders know how to proceed then with the next generation when the results go as they have planned. Informed breeders plan their breeding program with much care and they carry it out with ther goals always in mind.

These breeders don't sell their best prospects either. Too many times a buyer comes along with a big fat wallet and the kennel owner will give in and let that future foundation hound go. Then, all too soon the kennel owner is hurting for the future breeding stock, and he has to comb the country and often pay a big price to find suitable hounds for future breeding. Sometimes he finds out that the one he let go is irreplaceable.

So then, when I say that you do need to study heredity very carefully, I really mean it. You can't survive in breeding hounds if you don't know what you are doing.

Oh, I know some "old time" breeders who have played down the idea of going about breeding using "book learning" as a guide. If the truth were known though, in many cases they were carefully taught (without really knowing it) by an informed father or older breeder when they were very young without really realizing it.

Once I contacted the owner of a famous stud dog inquiring about his hound's pedigree. Eventually he answered my letter by saying that the pedigree was not really important, that "pedigrees don't run rabbits." He went on to say that pedigrees were not really important to him at all.

That whole incident told me a lot about that breeder. Either he was hiding something, or he was just plain ignorant. I happen to believe that a dog's genetic background has everything to do with the way he performs, and more importantly, what he (or she) will produce when bred.

As I have often said to others, can you imagine a supermarket that stocks its shelves with unmarked cans and boxes? That's right, no labels at all. Crazy isn't it? You want to know what is in the container, don't you?

Well, the same is true for breeding hounds. You want to know what a stud has behind him when you breed your bitch to him, don't you?

Don't have anything to do with "know it alls" who refuse to consider the whole picture when it comes to breeding hounds. "It's too complicated," they say. "I'll just breed what I've got here and hope for the best." Well, the results of their breeding efforts will probably be pretty lackluster.

You need to go a few steps beyond that and arm yourself with a little know-how. It might take a little effort to learn, but it's worth it.

Are you willing to read? Are you willing to seek out knowledgeable, successful breeders and talk to them? Are you willing to experiment and objectively evaluate the results? Do you have patience and perspective?

If you have these qualities, you will succeed in breeding some excellent Beagles.

Note:  If you haven't purchased my book Breeding Better Beagles, you should order one. I really believe it will help you to become an informed breeder. I wrote the book to help breeders in their pilgrimage toward better hounds. I hope you will take advantage of my efforts.