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I have a new pup on the way. Im curious though, what do you all like to look for when picking a pup specifically for cat hunting? My father in law always let his wife pick, he says it was because she always picked the right one but I have come to notice his trickery. His idea is if she picks it she cant complain about it!

Its all a gamble, but try to look at physical traits of the dam and sire. Good catty feet, I prefer smaller builds, etc.

M Everston (spell check) said something awhile back that I will keep in my mind, choose the litter not the pup. More uniform the litter looks, more likely the genetics of the litter will be uniform. Chances of getting a dud will be less.

Timothy recall goverment hunter George Nelson telling me, if pup comes from a good line and all are healthy. Just close your eyes and glab one. Over time I come to believe, most 6 to 8 weeks pups change so much it,s just a gamble. Recall one hunter that spent at least an hour looking over a litter at my place. He chose a female that was sure my pick of the litter. There was a rather large male in that litter, that I considered my last pick & was last pick by hunters. When I saw those two as mature hounds could not hardly believe the large male pup was a very nice built 55 lb. hound. The female was probly 70 lb. and did not resemble what I expected. However, she was bred several times & produced some hounds that some hunters were very pleased with. Infact some good post have been written about one of her pups on BGH. Thanks & good luck Al Baldwin

Mr. Al,
I agree, if the pups or out of proven crosses, you might as well close your eyes and pick one.

Somewhere around 10 years ago, every time I would raise a litter of pups my brother would always want 1 or 2. He was still hunting back then. Now... my brother liked to hunt when everything was right (cool, good moisture, etc.) perfect conditions. If it wasn't he wouldn't hunt. Now... I hunted year round good or bad.

As we were hunting one morning, we had just got thru catching a cat and I had two pups about 8 months old that really did good as we were running this cat. My brother had two litter mates to my pups there, that didn't even know what it was to go to a barking dog. So his pups didn't do so good.

In a little while he asked me "How do you do it?" I asked "Do what?" He said "How do you always pick the best pups out of the litter?" I told him "It's not that I pick the best pups, it's just that mine have had a lot more exposure than yours, I don't just wait for prime conditions, I'm hunting mine all the time thru the good and bad conditions."

So....sometimes it's not the pup that we pick out of the litter, but the opportunities that we give the pup to make a dog. My experiences. Robbie

I think you hit the nail on head Robbie. It's all in the opportunities you give the dog, and I mean the right opportunities, not just throwing them out every day and hope they hunt.
A lot of people ask me how I get so lucky to get good dogs, I don't say it but luck has nothing to do with it.

X2 South Texan. Pick the ltter and hunt the sh!t out of the pups, pretty simple concept

Big Mike wrote:X2 South Texan. Pick the ltter and hunt the sh!t out of the pups, pretty simple concept

True, but some pups take less exposure than others to get it all to click for them IMO. For instance, I have a pup that was off running whatever her nose crossed when she was hardly big enough to follow it, just naturally wanting to go. I have another that is supposed to be from good lines (not mine, and I don't have any prior experience with it) and it hadn't showed me a thing until recently and its a year old, but now seems to be starting to click...seen a lot of the same game, had almost all the same chances just a different kinda pup. I personally want the pups like the first one I described, and I picked her for other reasons than most would, she wanted to be around me...she paid attention to me, she was smart but maybe not as bold as the rest of her litter and she was the runt...it's easier to pick the best pup out of a good litter when you can spend a lot of time with the whole litter (bred in my backyard).

Newby, that's right, but even pups of the same littler will progress at different speeds. That's just natural. Sometimes a pup will just happen to be in the right place at the right time and he figures something out during a race, next time it might be the other pup. I have seen some slower to start than others that come on to make the best dog. Animals and human alike, will progress at different speeds in their learning abilities. Just like kids in a class room, some are just naturally going to catch on faster than others. BUT.... they all have to have the exposure to the situation to be able to learn from it. Without the exposure they will just be at a stand still. My thoughts. Robbie

Picking a pup is hard to do if you have not looked at the parents and grand parents. I have tried everything to determine the best pup. Most things don't work. I know the back ground, pick a pup that is trainable. I will usually raise 2 to 6 out of a litter and keep the one that works the best for me. If I don't like a pup it won't stay here long. Dewey

Timothy, hope you get a good one ,good post!!