brookcove
Posted : 4/9/2006 4:22:53 PM
Honestly, the "herdy" stuff is usually the first thing to go when a BC is mixed with a non-herding dog. All those behaviors are so genetically fragile that it's hard to maintain it from generation to generation even when your breeding program gets a little unfocused (as seen in breeders whose purpose is producing pets, for instance, or simply random-bred dogs from BYB).
There was a famous experiment where they crossed Newfoundlands and BCs. While many of the F1 pups exhibited what they considered to be Newfoundland behaviors, not one exhibited eye, or were in any way trainable on stock.
I've seen plenty of confirmed BC mixes and very rarely are they recognizable via their behavior. Beagle/hound mixes in particular tend to favor the houndy side of their heritage.
This pupper could be just about anything - terrier cross, sighthound F2, pointer, birddog F2, but it also looks very similiar to many BC hound crosses we see around here. Heck, it's only the ears and the poster's assurances that hound behavior is evident that makes me think "not purebred".
What kind of dog do you think this is?
http://tinyurl.com/g369a
Same dog - purebred (very well bred, in fact) BC
http://tinyurl.com/r6ytd
Now imagine if this dog were crossed on a hound or bully breed and inherited no eye . . .you'd never know Daddy was a BC from top working lines.[
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