Mountain State Kennels is in a new phase of our Dominant Cross Breeding Program. With each new generation, we are achieving the results we expected. As we describe this phase, you will see why we are so excited about the possibilities.

The Dominant Cross Breeding Program can be illustrated as braiding three strands together to make a rope. The strands are represented by the three dominant crosses. Cross #1 is Duffs Bob X Pine Knot Tiger Paws; Cross #2 is Streak JR X Georgetta; and Cross #3 is Toots Dale X Toots Candy.

While the three strands are very similar in ability, each stands alone as a famous cross, and each brings its own strength to the program. We believe that the overall strength is that the three strands are woven together.

PHASE I
The first phase of the program was to combine two of the crosses. We have done this using our own combination of Mountain State Pepper (inbred cross of two dogs from Duffs Bob X Pine Knot Tiger Paws) to Franklin’s Thunder (Streak JR X Georgetta) to get Apache. We believe that the cross of Thunder and Pepper resulted in a large percentage of dogs that were as good or better than their parents. Mountain State Apache has proven to be very tight on the tree. (Sadly, this intensity is missing in many of today’s mountain curs.) Little Mountain Jack, Zeke, Thunder’s Red Pepper, and Williamson’s Soxie Lady are further examples of the success of this cross. Other mixtures of these crosses have been made by other thoughtful breeders like Allen Franklin and Jay Overholt.

Apache’s pups from a broad variety of females have turned out very well, also, but the plan was that we would not stop with Apache.

PHASE II
The next phase was to breed combinations that included three crosses. That has been done a few times with great success. There are about 25 puppies from Apache X Mountain State Holly and Apache X Franklin’s Ginger. Many, if not most of these dogs, are demonstrating the quality we were expecting. Many are starting early, but most importantly, most are training out. They carry 100% of the blood including all three dominant crosses.

PHASE III
Geronimo has proven that he is an outstanding reproducer. He is 100% dominant cross blood, including ALL three crosses, and he’s 1000% squirrel dog. We have now made crosses using Geronimo and other 100% dominant cross dogs – Mountain State Holly, Mountain State Pepper, Geronimo's Sadie, and Thornton's Jewel.  All these crosses have produced outstanding squirrel dogs. 

A DOMINANT CROSS OF OUR OWN!
Our kennel has been built on dominant crosses made by other breeders.  Perhaps, we shouldn't be too surprised that we may have happened upon a dominant cross of our own.  Allen Franklin has bred his outstanding female, Thunder's Lady, to Geronimo four times.  Only three of them are hunting age, but the cross is proving to be the best we have made.  Maybe it was meant to be.  After all, we bred our best female to Franklin's Thunder to get a number of nice dogs, including Apache.  Allen bred one of his best females, Franklin's Ginger, to Apache to get a number of nice dogs, including Geronimo.  Now, Allen has bred another of his best, Thunder's Lady, to Geronimo to get a BUNCH of outstanding dogs, including Mountain State Mohawk and Geronimo's Mountain State Sioux, as well as Paul Brady's Turkeybone Hope, Brian Lemley's Santana, and Ronnie Brown's Rusty B.

Although Geronimo X Lady is only 84.375% dominant cross, 12.5% of the bloodline is Gaietto's Jukebox, one of the strongest bloodlines in the Original Mountain Cur breed.  Our plan was to introduce some outside bloodlines and you can't get much better than Jukebox.

Where will we go from here?  For the first time, we plan to keep two stud dogs in our kennel.  We can't pass up the opportunity to have a male from the dominant Geronimo X Lady cross and we are not about to let Geronimo get away from us!

We hope you’ll stay tuned as the Dominant Cross Breeding Program continues to develop!