There might be a couple more members in your state but only one tracker decided to get listed in the find a tracker section of the web site.

As far as reputable breeder versus Joe Schmo. Find out why someone is selling their tracking dog. It might be that they are getting to old or they might have been injured some how and not be able to to work the dog and want to see it go to a home were it will be used. Then again it might be someone who has a dog that has found a few deer and they want to make somemoney off it. There are allways ways to test a dog before you purchase it to seehow it works. A lot of Reputable breeders will give you a tracking gurantee for dogs they breed. Also they breed for blood tracking specifically so this makes a difference. That is not to say that you can not find a good dog out of other stock. Heck many a back yard mutt has turned out to be good trackers. Even a few brees that you would never have though they would track have turned out to track. They are the exceptions to the breed. They just have limitations on the tracks they can do. The older the track and longerit goes the more you will need a good hunting breed dog. If you are partial to labs then find a good hunting litter and get a pup. If you are a bird or duck hunter then one of the versitle breeds like Deutsch Dratharrs (Sp) would be great since then you could use it for more than just blood tracking. There is a simple test you can do to see if a puppy is interested before you buy one. If they are interested in the track then they are on their way to becoming a tracking dog. What ever bred you look at getting , make sure its abilitiesmatch your needs. Just like the breed we raise. Not everyone out there needs a dog that can track a 40 + hr old track. So I turn people down who I do not feel meet the needs of the dog.

Your comment about one dog better than the next. All I can say is I would want to stack the deck in my favor the best I could. This meaning sticking with proven hunting stock, does not have to be pure breed just has to have the drive and nose.

I think you are going about this in the right manner. Taking your time and doing your research. Many people jump in without knowing what they are getting into. They go after the first dog that they find instead of finding the one that fits their situation. If I can every be of any help let me know.

Ken