i must be missing something here. From what i have seen a dog who is to be strictly a decoy dog for the majority of guys one here need a pretty small skill set.
Im basing this on what i see repeatedly on here.

#1 must be good with the family. I see that constantly. Cant say how many times i hear "family pet will be his main job" well that doesnt require any special blue ribbon bloodline. You can pick up a mut from any dog pound that will make a great pet.

#2 must be obedient and handle well. any hunting dog or pet for that matter should have a desire to please its master. If you put in your time the dog should do his part regardless of bloodlines. I have seen some dogs out of trophy stock that i would just soon shoot in the head than try to handle. Then i have seen some muts that handle like a dream.

#3 must have some drive and want to hunt. We are not talking about your dog putting on 16 miles a day running a track, or standing treed for hours. we are talking about a dog ether sitting by your side while you call, or running around and checking things out or even for some of you guys running up to a mile out and checking back in from time to time. This is also something i feel like you could get from almost any cross pretty steadily.

#4 they need to have a mix of teeth and reverse. not too much of one or the other. well to me that just totally fits several different breeds all together, not bloodline specific.

#5 They need to have enough nose to smell a two min old track. And if a decoy dog is tracking a coyote its because he is shot and bleeding. Doesnt take much nose to find a shot bleeding yote five to fifteen min old. Pretty much any cur, hound, or terrier should be able to accomplish this fairly easily.

And i dont personally think that 99% of guys on here will ever hunt their decoy dog to truly wear them out, or require any extreme endurance.

Now i know some of you guys use your dogs for much more than just decoying yotes. But then they are not strictly decoy dogs so thats a different conversation.

So after looking at it from that point of view, just how important is breeding in a decoy dog?

No, not at all. The op just didnt seem to be going anywhrre other than you need a good bloodline. So i decided to take a good look at that.

Im hoping someone will prove me wrong. I wont beat around the bush anymore. I continue to see guys who have almost no knowledge what so ever of hunting dogs giving advice. It shows pretty clear to me. A perfect example was posted even after i started this thread. In the thread about shocking a dog.

I keep hearing about the stellar breading behind these decoy dogs. And the loads of hunt drive. Why because they follow you around the desert? I dont think 90% of these guys really know anything at all about the breeding of their dog, or what makes that cross good or bad. But we keep hearing about how important the blood is.

This is not directed at anyone. It is just the general attitude of a talk forum that gets me.

So, someone please prove me wrong!

Merry Christmas !