The Chase Magazine
June, 1946
Some Thoughts On Hound Breeding
Robt. M. Coleman
How often you have heard some hound owner say, “I have the best bitch in the country and I want to find
the best hound I can that is no kin to her to breed her to.” If he has a well bred bitch this will no doubt
prove to be a difficult undertaking. For if she be a July, any stud of that strain will likewise be a
descendent of old “July.” If his bitch is a Walker I dare say she will trace back to Cable, Big Stride, Hub
Dawson, etc., or old Tennessee Lead himself. She will at least carry some of the blood of the pillars of
that strain. And any good stud hound will trace to some of the great hounds upon which the Walker are
founded. If she is a Trigg bitch she would in all probability carry the blood of Dick’s Dog Rattler,
Tenbroeck, Little Trigg, CH. Joe Kemper, or one or more of the outstanding stud dogs of that breed, as
would any good stud hound that he might consider. The same is true of any of the other breeds.
The write does not profess to be an authority on breeding, but the study of pedigrees and breeding does
prove to be very interesting and entertaining. And it appears that improvement in the breeding of all
animals has been by the judicious concentration rather than the diversion of propotent blood through
individuals not too closely related.
Hound breeders might find it profitable to study the history of the development of the pointer bird dog.
As it cannot be denied that much has been achieved by pointer breeders in the past thirty or forty years.
Practially all of our pointers are descendants of four imported dogs, all carrying the blood of Ch. Price’s
Bang. American pointer breeders by intensive breeding of the descendants of Fishel’s Frank have
brought the breed to the forefront in the bird dog world. By breeding granddaughters, great-
granddaughters, bringing rested blood back to prepotent directly descended sire lines, they have
produced a superb breed of field trial and hunting dogs. The late H. E. Mellenthin did the same thing in
his “My Own’ cocker spaniel kennel, producing superior dogs from the blood of Red Brucie. His
greatest, Ch. My Own Brucie, was a son of Red Brucie and out of a dam that was produced by breeding a
granddaughter of Red Brucie back to a son of Red Brucie for three or four generations.
Being a Trigg fancier, I am naturally more familiar with Trigg breeding than with the other strains of
foxhounds. Back in the 1860’s Mr. Birdsong, from whom Col Trigg procured most of his foundation stock,
made the famous cross of Longstreet and Vic. Col. Trigg’s great stud hound, Dick’s Dog Rattler, had
eight crosses to this Longstreet-Vic mating in his pedigree. Dick’s dog, as he was commonly called, was
the grandsire of 1902 Nat’l CH. Hodo, and the sire of 1904 Nat’l. CH. Blossom. Ten Broeck, another
outstanding Trigg sire, carried six crosses to Dick’s Dog in his pedigree. And when crossed on Daisy,
who likewise carried six crosses to Dick’s Dog, they produced Longstreet, Nat Curd and other
outstanding hounds. Ten Broeck was the sire of 1929 Nat’l. CH. Sooky. Nat’l. CH. Joe Kemper (1932)
traces several times back to Dick’s Dog. So it can be seen that all of the Trigg National Champions from
1902 to 1932 are from the same bloodlines.
A recent cross that appears to be prepotent is that of S.C. Ch. Will Rogers and Sugar Gal. This mating
was made five times and produced outstanding fox dogs, a number of them being field and bench
winning hounds. The reports of the trials shows disclose that this blood is carrying on as descendants
of this second and third generations are appearing among the winners. It has been my experience that
this blood crosses well with what might be termed the “Kemper” and “Kirby” blood. Mr. Fred Gross, of
Roanoke, Va., apparently is having the same success as he advises me he now has in his kennels five
state champions and one derby winner. And it is interesting to note that three are winners in the field
and three on the bench. They are (1) 1946 S. C. Ch. Gross Kirby (b) (Pa. Ch. Lee Kirby ex S. C. Ch. Lula
Rogers); (2) S. C. Ch. Lula Rogers (b) (S. C. Ch. Will Rogers ex Sugar Gal); (3) Pa. Ch. Lee Kirby (b) (Ch.
Young Kirby ex Sue Kemper); (4) Va. Ch. Sara C. Rogers (f) (Sonny Rogers ex Hattie Camp); (5) S. C. Ch.
Rochester Kirby (f) (Ch. Young Kirby ex Va. Ch. Sara C. Rogers), and 1945 S. C. Derby winner Puddin
Rogers (Joe C. Rogers ex Lottie T.). There are many other good hounds throughout the country of this
breeding and the Trigg breeders might well consider experimenting in concentrating this blood rather
than permitting it to become scattered and lost. There are likewise perhaps other crosses that are
equally successful that should be studied and utilized in an attempt to breed better foxhounds.
So if a foxhunter has “the best bitch in the country” he should recognize her good qualities and faults,
and then study the breeding that made her what she is. In seeking a stud he should likewise consider
that individual’s good qualities and faults, and if possible his powers to transmit that is the type of
puppies he produces. And if the two carry the same bloodlines and are not too closely related, it would
appear that by their mating he could reasonably expect to improve the breed.