A few things...you arent in fact starting your "own" line. Those ahead of you have had something to do with it too! If you work to better/enhance,perpetuate it, than there you go.
I think honestly you must evaluate your dog and as many littermates as possible to determine soundness,drive, temperment and intelligence. There are strengths/weaknesses in any line-both phsyical and mental. In this manner, you take as much guesswork out of it as possible, but even then its a still not an exact science. Obviously, you need to see other Performance dogs and be objective in your evaluations.
More importantly, you need to be honest with yourself and what you have, and what you wish to accomplish.What are your dogs acomplishments. Is it a 1 dog wonder in the litter? If there's something special about the litter/line and you find what you like and assess strengths/weaknesses, you might wish to linebreed. Often outrossing is popular in hunting dogs and then work is done to linebreed once the desired traits are evident. You can work coefficencies/vertical pedigrees etc in your research and its really alot of fun.. I dont know how much the research you have towork with. In my breed of choice, all of this information is available going back many, many generations. This is for the JGHV test system and club verein deutsch drahthaar or VDD. Information is power. Lots of great dogs dont pass on traits and vice versa. Some of the better studs were average dogs but great Prepotent producers. Average is relative term. Dog must stil be capable of credible work, but isnt Superdog or Top dog. Thats the challenge many breeders face and all too often these things are overlooked. The best of luck to you.

I was using the search button and I discovered that you have owned both the GSD and drahthaar. I was hoping you could give me some insight into what both were like in a home/family setting. For my next breed I am looking for a dog that is easy to train, can live in house with family, protect home and blood track. I am a hunter(mostly deer and turkey) but in Ohio we are very limited in regard to upland birds, but we do have geese and ducks. I like the fact that in both SV gsd and drahthaar titled dogs are required for breeding. I think this is probably not fail safe but gets you in the right direction. I you could give me some advice I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank-you....

Hi Steve,
I too live in (SW)OH. Ive worked this breed about 5 years. Seen 100 or so. I wont own another breed-except maybe a Belgian or Risenschnauzer some day. Mine is a house dog-extremely protective. I began SCH w/her 2 mo. ago and she is progressing nicely. I got our 1st retrieving title last week and am working her through seasoned testing HRC(UKC) mostly a Lab game, but DDs can do the work, she has 3 generations of titles in this work. Not much they cant do. Great blood trackers. Have hunted her w/Beagles on rabbits, lots of waterfowl and upland birds. May try boar w/cut vest next winter, but only w/a vest-Im too attached to her to watch her get cut up.
Depending on lines,some are slower to mature than say a Lab or GSP & not great in heat. But will break ice, loves cold, in retrieving- takes good lines and hand signals. Very handler oriented, Not kennel dogs. Dont take hard corrections well, very eager to please. In a sense they can be a little tough to train. They are hard dogs on game but often medium to soft with handlers. Very driven dogs-the VD GNA is doing a great job overall in producing sound, quality working dogs. As you know, they only sell to licensed hunters-that is the deal. As an extracurricluar you can do S&R, drug detection, SCH etc but the focus is hunting.
If socialized are great animals. If not can be dog and man sharp. Death on fur-totally instinctive and prewired. They dont chase-they close and kill quickly-I didnt anticipate the prowess on feral cats/coons until I witnessed it firsthand. PM me I can recommend a breeder or 2. I really like them, everyone thats met my dog from SCH trainer to Lab Hunt test guys come away impressed with stability, drive and temperment. I like them because they are calmer than almost all other hunt dogs until called upon in the field. They will outrack any retriever on a cripple but arent as robotic in terms of handling-like 400 yd. make believe lines etc. If you hunt and dont like losing cripples this is the dog IMO.

Bill's post reminded me of something. If I may add one more book recommendation to the already excellent list Dana has given you, I recommend you look up 'Griffon: Gundog Supreme' by Joan Bailey. It describes, in unsparing detail, the frustrations and work that she and a group of like-minded hunters went through in their attempts to get *consistently* sound, healthy, easily-trainable Wirehaird Pointing Griffons with solid instincts and drives in the face of a small gene-pool and a combination of show breeders and undirected breeding that had left few suitable animals. It's definitely eye-opening and while not everything in it is directly applicable to what you want to do, it's well worth the read.

Im not familiar w/this book but it sounds like a good, worthwhile read. I can tell you this. The Griffs are nothing like the DDs-nothing. Drive, determination, sharpness, physically, and consistency in coats. A fellow DD owner who hunts about 6x/week says hes never seen a Griff worth feeding. I cant comment 1sthand, Ive never seen one. If I wanted more of a plodding dog to work upland and waterfowl-fine. But add in serious all day hunt work-cattails etc., tracking ability for fur and waterfowl,trainability, stability, protectiveness and the answer is clear. It is proven the world over on everything from kangaroos to boar, bear, waterfowl, even retreiving seals in iceland of all things.
The DD is the most popular hunt breed in Germany 3rd of all dogs, where it is a requirement to hunt with a licensed, trained dog and where crippled game can result in serious consequences for the hunter, who must lease his property to enjoy his passion. Like I said, I will never own another breed as long as I hunt. Mine live w/my younguns and is a great protector, while patient with them and strangers when introduced.