08/07/2024
TO CROSS A GREYHOUND WITH A PIT BULL FOR HUNTING COYOTES?-G. W. THOMAS, NEBRASKA. ANSWER.-THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING SUBJECT- A SUBJECT THAT HAS BEEN DISCUSSED VERY CAREFULLY, ESPECIALLY IN FORMER YEARS, CONSIDERABLE EXPERIMENTING HAVING BEEN DONE WITH THIS PIT BULL-GREYHOUND CROSS. AS FAR AS COYOTE AND WOLF HUNTING GOES, A DIRECT DASH OF PIT BULL BLOOD, SAY THREE-QUARTER GREYHOUND AND ONEQUARTER PIT BULL, ROUGHLY SPEAKING, MAKES A VALUABLE CROSS TO INCORPORATE IN A PACK OF COYOTE KILLERS. BUT ANY PIT BULL WILL NOT GIVE THE BEST RESULTS, IT MUST BE DEAD-GAME PIT BULL STOCK, THE BEST THERE IS. THE BEST RESULTS ARE ALWAYS OBTAINED BY USING A GREYHOUND SIRE AND A PIT BULL DAM; AND BREEDING THE PROGENY OF THE CROSS EVERY TIME BACK TO THE GREYHOUND SIRES. I AM GIVING SOME ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS ISSUE OF THE VARIOUS TYPES OF THE GREYHOUND-BULL CROSS. FIGURE 1 SHOWS THE FIRST CROSS (HALF AND HALF), A VERY UNGAINLY LOOKING DOG. FIGURE 2 SHOWS THE PROGENY OF THE HALF-BREED BRED BACK TO THE GREYHOUND SIRE. FIGURE 3 SHOWS THE RESULT OF THIS UNION, AGAIN BRED TO THE GREYROUND SIRE, AND FIGURE 4 THE RESULT OF THIS LAST MATING BRED TO A GREYHOUND SIRE ONCE MORE. IN THIS PROGENY WE ARE BEGINNING TO GET BACK TO TRUE GREYHOUND FORM AGAIN. IN THE SCIENCE AND ART OF BREEDING DOGS, AS A RULE, IN SEVEN GENERATIONS WE GET WHAT WE TERM THE PURE FORM OR STAMP OF THE BREED AGAIN.THE INFUSION OF THE PIT BULL BLOOD ADDS A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF GAMENESS, COURAGE AS IT IS COMMONLY CALLED, SOMETHING VERY NECESSARY AND ESSENTIAL IN A GREYHOUND, BUT SOMETHING WHICH SLOWS DOWN HIS SPEED CONSIDERABLY IN THE IMMEDIATE, AND SOMETIMES IN THE REMOTE, DESCENDANTS OF THE CROSSINGS, IT NATURALLY MAKES A_ GREYHOUND VERY PUGNACIOUS, ESPECIALLY AMONG HIS FELLOW GREYHOUNDS, AND AS AN OLD TRAINER I MAY SAY I HAVE SEEN SOME BAD βSAVAGINGβ AMONG GREYHOUNDS DUE, I BELIEVE, TO THIS STAIN IN THE GREYHOUND BLOOD. BUT AFTER ALL, THE BASIC FIRE AND DETERMINATION WE WITNESS SO MARKEDLY IN THE GREYHOUND ABOVE ALL OTHER DOGS REALLY COMES FROM A DEVELOPMENT OF BREEDING FOR THIS CHARACTERISTIC DURING MANY CENTURIES (PLUS INTENSIVE TRAINING AND THE FINEST QUALITY OF FOOD AND CARE). IN THE SUPREME HIGH CASβE GREYHOUND THIS WONDERFUL RESISTLESS MAGIC THAT DRIVES HIM ON DURING HIS COURSE BEHIND THE HARE UNTIL HE ALMOST DROPS IN HIS TRACKS, IS MORE THAN A BORN INSTINCT. IT IS ALMOST A RESISTLESS FORCE. FROM THE STANDPOINT OF PURE COURSING, I QUESTION WHETHER THIS BULL BLOOD HAS MADE A LASTING IMPRESSION FOR THE BEST IN GREYHOUND STOCK, AND MOREOVER, I AM CON VINCED TODAY IF WE WERE INFUSING PIT BULL BLOOD INTO OUR COURSING BLOOD AGAIN, WE COULD INSTILL A MUCH BETTER STRAIN OF PIT BULL STOCK THAN THEY USED BEFORE. WE HAVE SOMEWHAT A PARALLEL CASE IN CROSSING DOGS IN THE MAKING OF THE WHIPPET, WHICH IS A COMBINATION OF FOX TERRIER AND GREYHOUND. FOR COYOTE HUNTING I AM STRONGLY IN FAVOR OF THE PIT BULL STRAIN OF GREYHOUND, BUT I DO NOT ADMIRE THE STAIN IN THE COURSING DOGβS PEDIGREE OF THIS PIT BULL BLOOD; I BELIEVE THE FIRE AND DETERMINATION INHERENT IN THE PURE COURSING GREYHOUND IS SUFFICIENT. WHEN I SAW BLACK FURY WIN THE WATERLOO CUP I FELT MORE THAN EVER CONVINCED THAT THE INNATE WILL POWER OF THE DOG, THE PLUCK AND DASH AND MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS WHAT CARRIES THE DOG TO THE END.
