What does it mean to say a dog has or lacks "Bottom?

[GulfCoast]

'Splain, please.

[Super-X]

GC
if the dog lacks bottom , then it lacks perserverance....it's not got
that determined to get the bird at all costs attitude. It may go out to the
area of the fall and put on a short hunt, BUT if it doesn't come up with a bird fairly quick it may tend to give up....can be a problem on those TOUGH birds, etc
I may be wrong , but that's my opinion...

[70 sprig]

I agree with super X , someone once said " that dog's got alotta go in him , but he's got more quit "

[goosebruce]

bottom refers to fortitude... often times as much mental as phyiscal. When a dog has bottom, he can take a big correction without rocking the boat. Not nessissarly tough, but stable. The old time breedings (i.e. before lean mac changed everything) where often focused on bottom, cause many of the old time corrections where, lets just say, not as pc as nowadays. Dogs had to have bottom, to withstand the training program in days of old. Shooting dogs, hanging dogs, collars that where basically trashbreakers, all needed a dog to have 'bottom' to hold up. Had lean mac been born 20 years earlier, he'd washed out cause he didnt have the 'bottom' to take the training. Lean mac and biddable breedings, and lardy and his teachings (even if not new, but he made it mainstream) have bottom much less of a factor in the hands of a skilled trainer, and made it much more likely for the average person to have the stomach to train and advanced dog. Some of the old school breedings don't respond to methods like this, generations of being bred for bottom make for hard calloused dogs, that need an booty whooping on a daily basis. By the same token, many of the old hands that haven't learn newer methods, no longer are competive, and wash a ton of dogs out that simply wont take the pounding. travis

[Kelly]

...depends on the context. A weak bottom or bottom end, one may be talking pedigree. The bottom is the dam, and all her ancestors.