This is deja vu, as we had this very same topic a few months ago. It's a good one though.
First a little background. This'll probably get long and boring, but I think it's due, so yall know what's going through my head with my crosses/needs and what the he// I'm doing.
When I was younger, I spent the majority of my time with guys like myself, ones that had 5 to 30 dogs on the chain or in the kennel. We all had a couple coonhounds and a beagle or two, but for the most part we all had coyote dogs. Anywhere from Croghan or July foxhounds to Greyhound crosses. Each dog had it's specific job, from strike dog to running dog to catch dogs. That was just a way of life...loading up 8 or 9 dogs, per truck and going coyote hunting.
As I got older and the 3rd and 4th child came along, my career took off and we transferred from our home town to bigger and bigger towns, the coyote dogs came to a close and I focused on just calling coyotes, exclusively. Twelve years later, when I decided to stop chasing the almighty American dollar and had enough with promotions and moves across the country, I started Predator University.
Our first season was a boomer. I lived out of a motel for 4 months a guided my first clients. We called up and killed a mess of coyotes and cats. In a series of 2 nights, I had a client on one of my ranches in TX that killed 4 bobcat and injured 5 others that couldn't be recovered. We'd call all night, then spend the daytime trying to bloodtrail and track the injured cats, after we exhausted the search on the stand. That's when I decided that I need to get a dog again...period! A few weeks later, I had another client that killed 12 coyotes in one night. It was February, it was cold, furs were primed up, and we were calling in pairs. The ranch was wide open grassland without a twig or bush growing on it. Stand after stand, he'd drop the first coyote, then I'd focus all the attention and spotlight on the 2nd one to get it stopped. By time the action was over on each stand, we lost track of where the first coyote fell in the sea of grass and blackness. We only recovered 4 of the 12 coyotes. I was hellbound to get a dog now!
A few months later, our house finally sold in Iowa and I went back to move the family to Predator University headquarters in NM. That's where my search began to find the right dog for the job. For the prior few years, I had always be intrigued by Mike Granger's amazing stories and pictures of his dog Bubba. The decoying work really interested me, as it does anyone, but most importantly a single dog that could get the job done as a calling dog. I had like curs, ever sense I ran hogs with Glenn Guess, down in TX one year. Hot nosed, high energy, gritty, close working, but at the same time, friendly as all get out. My hounds never really seeked attention and were not a "family dog".
Well, after alot of research and reading, I decided on a BMC/Catahoula pup from a litter that Ryan posted up for sale here. His name was Buckshot, but I decided to call him "Gunner", as the name was fitting, since I was the "caller". When I picked him up from Ryan and his family, I told Ryan, "I'll make this dog famous." I spent alot of time training him that summer, with the advice from Devin, Duane, Kelly, and others. Their biggest advice was to put a "bunch of fur" in front of him, when he finally turned it on. That was my focus. I put 200 coyotes in front of him, a few days before his 1st birthday.
Gunner get's his 200th coyote! Not only was he deadly on coyotes, but he had the best manners. He knew no stranger, warmed up to anyone and would lay his head in their lap within 2-3 seconds. He would pay more attention on stand than most calling partners. He was what I was looking for.
Client after client wanted a dog from me, just like Gunner. To me, he wasn't the perfect dog, but dang sure got the job done. We didn't loose a single coyote, cat, coon, fox, hog, etc... the first 2 season after using him. There were some things I wanted to work with him on, one was grit and the other was to get better at ranging out and decoying. Those two things came better with age and experience and he is still learning. He still isn't perfect, but I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. I've turned down even $10k offers for him, from clients. The next best thing I could do for them, was to produce them pups out of him that were like him. I was called up by a TX hunting radio show host, that season. He wanted to interview me on his show. I was humbled that they wanted to know more about my coyote calling and my business, but quickly realized that I was just going to be the voice for my dog. They wanted to know about Gunner! We filmed a TV show, in October one season. When it aired in January, Gunner quickly became the star of the whole dang show. I got a mess of phone calls, as soon as it aired. A few booked hunts, but the majority want to know alot more about Gunner and if I had any pups out of him available. Imagine that!
You see, I'm a pretty smart guy and I realized that the majority of the predator callers in the country are recreational callers. They have to beg, plead, and barter with the wife to get a dog. They aren't going to have a kennel of dogs in the back yard, like me and my buddies did, when we I was younger. They want ONE dog. That dog would become the family dog during the week, and be the calling partner on the weekend. It would be the dog that gets is toenails painted by their daughter, curls up next to the wife and eats popcorn on movie night, goes to the park on Sunday afternoon with the family, but will work it's tail off on Saturday and Sunday mornings for their master to help decoy and recover coyotes. That's what I sought out and am seeking out to create and/or train.
Ok, so now it's time to start producing some pups out of Gunner. I wanted to add more grit to the mix, so I searched out 2 breeds, known for it. I purchased a female pit puppy, that's parents had the right size and super personalities. In the past, I had great luck with my catch dogs, by crossing pitbull with my greyhounds. The other search was for a Jagd Terrier. Knowing they were too small for Gunner to breed, I jumped on the opportunity that Devin put up, when he asked if anyone was interested, if he crossed his Jagd with his Cur. Since then, I was impressed with my research of the Texas Blue Lacy. I sought out one from a hog hunter in TX. She was 7/8 lacy, and 1/8 mastiff. I was a bit worried about the size she may be, but after seeing her and spending some time with her, I was satisfied and acquired her. I raised the females from pups and decided to breed them once they met my criteria of personality, family oriented, brains, and flat coyote killers. They would be the perfect mates for Gunner, to begin my quest of producing the line of dogs that I want. I've got a couple more females as backup plans, in case undesirable traits come out of the crossing, but so far, I'm pleased with the results. All my females come from lines of hunting dogs, either coyote or hog dogs. I've culled a mess of dogs the past couple of years, for not having what it takes. Fortunately, none of them have been from my breedings. Who knows where I'll end up with my en devour. It may be the most mixed bred, ugly dog on earth.
As far as nose, for what I do, a Medium to Hot nose is just right. I'm calling coyotes and a 12 hour track doesn't really apply. Grit? Well, I want a dog with enough grit to handle a coyote, but also one that I can absolutely trust around children and other family pets. Brains? Of course. I don't want a hard headed dog. I want one that'll sick after a coyote on command and spin on a dime when it hears the beeper collar. I want a dog that w With experience, they'll get the decoying part figured out, by understanding that it's not about pursuit, but moreso, picking a fight and coming back to the Alpha Leader. They need to be able to read a coyote and react accordingly. Sometimes passive, sometimes aggressive, and sometimes "catty". Gunner is starting to do it naturally, but I've been boned a few nights, when he's tried decoying coyotes that were injured. We lost a couple/three that way. He's still figuring it out.
I think it's important to get a pup out of proven decoy dogs, just like choosing ANY hunting dog. That being said, there is never any guarantee that they'll turn out worth a crap or be anything like their parents. I have a very hard time believing that anyone has a line of dogs that instinctively decoy coyotes, like the English Pointer breed instinctively points birds. That breed has been around since the 16th Century. I focus more on the traits of the parents. The balance of grit, desire for fur, personality, family oriented, brains, attentive, etc... and expect the decoying to come out through training. In addition, I focus on the breeder and find one that is working on producing a dog that fits the same bill as what you want in one.
Sorry I was so long winded.
Tony