.com Forum · Source Breeder Forum

After reading most of these Source Breeding topics, I am still in confusion as to whether it is worth it to start a Source or Starter dog project... Some posts say that it takes about 10 years to get a show worthy dog...

Now, I do have the patience to do something like that, but should I use my "free" admin dogs or is it best to buy the source dogs to get started?

Also how does one judge the quality of the free dogs in order to get the best source dogs?

I want to be sure of this before I use my free dogs or buy any.

What are the best breeds for a starter project?

Any information will be helpful!

Thanks!

I think you have to determine what you personally enjoy.

It would be my opinion that if you are new to the game - your best bet would be to purchase a show quality puppy to session and then show and maybe pick up a broodie or two to breed a couple of litters of "current SOP" puppies. This will give you a feel for the game.

I personally have some projects using source dogs working with color breeding and here are my thoughts

1. When you're 'source' breeding you are basically playing the game on your own. You're not showing with others in your breed. Generally no one will use your studs.

2. You miss a huge part of the game by not showing, not titling dogs - although I suppose you could show in obedience.

3. The time factor - let's say you buy/claim your first source dogs today and breed your first round of litters. You are now going to wait 5 days for the puppies to be born and then you're going to wait another 30 days before those puppies will be old enough to breed the next generation. What are you doing in the mean time?

In a nutshell, I wouldn't really recommend source breeding for a new player. BUT, if you would like to 'dabble' in source breeding - you might look for a color project. Pick a breed with a missing gene, buy a source dog or two and begin working on bringing that color up to current sop. The length of time and effort required (woops hit submit accidentally) - will depend on the genetics.



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Last edited by LetsShow on 8/23/2016 8:12:16 AM

IF you still want to proceed with a source project - you just basically start with what you get. The source dogs are generally so bad that it really makes no difference in the long run.

Honestly. At this point in the life cycle of the game, I don't know if it's worth the energy or effort if you want to show against current dogs.

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Last edited by BarStar on 8/23/2016 7:46:48 PM