What still constitutes a bloodline

[Mapel Valley Kennels LLC.]

Norwester, I find it hard to believe that i run cottaintail hounds, I am running hare hounds just as yourself.They have encountered everything from 0 to 115 degrees and actually adapted pretty well. Never ran deep snow as we dont get it down south.You seem to discredit everything south of the border, kinda makes me seem like you dont believe or like hillbillys.So i too will extend a invite but wait till its hot enuff to cut the air and about 98 degrees, not snow but pretty brutal conditions for even the best of noses. Jmho, Good noses show up north as well as south, reggie proved that.

[mybeagles]

LaneLine,

I watched the video on your web site of the "slow beagle" and I laughed for 15 minutes. Then I watched it again and laughed for another 10 minutes. My 7 year old asked me if the dog was caught in a trap. Been beagling for 25 years and never seen anything like that before. I saved that clip for when Im having a bad day I can see those two beagles barking a hole in the ground. That poor pup didnt know what to think.

[Bev]

Funny how this doesnt happen when scenting is tough, must be not so many layers to work through

I can assume then by your sarcasm that you didn't bother to read the article. You just had to get on here real fast-like and discount it because you know better in your heart of hearts, and there's nothing left for you to learn.

Bev, with all the knowledge you have of the pack animals, it might be better if you just publish your works here on the board for all to read...

I have put quite a bit on here over the years, but I started out as a field writer for Beagles Unlimited back in 1999. I also published a couple of articles on canine psychology, Harmony in the Kennel, and The Wolf in Your Back Yard. But then I don't expect you to know this about me because 1.) You haven't been a member here long enough to remember it, and 2.) You aren't of a curious, information-seeking nature, and I can already see how you would react if I had offered that info up.

...and if we have any questions we can just ask your supporting cast. The condesending nature of your posts are very entertaining to me. Effective technique to keep everyone coming back for more. Imagine what would happen if people talked to eachother like this in person......

Yes...imagine.

Maybe I'm missing something here or not understanding properly. But what does a dogs ability to detect DIFFERENT scents in an area have to do with determining the direction and origin?

It was suggested with this statement: "With the other argument about back tracking, if someone in the room has an appropriate amount of perfume on you can tell who is wearing the perfume pretty quick. If the room is saturated with perfume its hard to tell who's wearing it until you walk around for a minute and find where the concentration is at." My line of reasoning is that if a dog has the capability to discriminate a thousand smells, he has the capacity to discriminate direction...which was supported by Tim's post. When he doesn't discriminate direction, then he isn't processing the information correctly. Regardless of your belief that I have no experience running dogs, when I refer to the backtracker, I'm not referring to a dog that comes in on a line at 90 degrees and goes the wrong way for a few yards, and then does his 180, in fact, that's a beautiful thing to see. I'm talking about the idiot hound that will either come out of a check or hit a line and run that rabbit back to its birth.

[Tim H]

Maybe I'm missing something here or not understanding properly. But what does a dogs ability to detect DIFFERENT scents in an area have to do with determining the direction and origin?

It's about the detail that we often don't take into consideration because we don't see it. The scent from one end of a footprint to the other is different. There is an even greater difference from one footprint to the next. The difference is in what has been disturbed and the volume of the desired scent that is there. In general, the most recent footprint will carry more of the scent picture that the dog is looking for so the scent picture includes more things the more recent the scent is.

To illustrate what I'm saying, I'll continue with the Picasso analogy.

If I show you a painting by Picasso it has a tree a house and a person and send you out to find that finished painting that represents the rabbit at the end of the trail, so you know what you're looking for and all the parts that make the whole. You go looking for that painting. Along the way you find a canvass with a tree painted on it in the exact same spot as the one in the Picasso. If you had any experience looking for paintings before, could you tell from just what you see, which direction to go? Yes, you could. The finished painting is always upside right so you would face the picture as you normally look at a picture and head in that direction. Within a few feet you see a canvass with the tree and the person, exactly the same as the Picasso. The pictures are different and that's what told you you were going in the right direction, but you knew you were going in the right direction from the first picture because even if the tree were exactly in the center of the first canvass you could detect the difference between a tree that is upside right and one that is upside down.

The dog needs to use it's brain to tell the difference in the first picture that tells it which direction. As the dog gets more of the different parts of the picture it knows it is getting closer to the rabbit or finished picture. If all the pictures looked exactly the same (such as a circle in the exact center of a perfectly square canvass) then the dog could not tell which direction to go. There have to be differences and the dog has to interpret them correctly.

This may not be clear but I hope it helps. This scent theory stuff is like a blind man trying to explain what Picasso is doing and I feel like the blind man.

[mybeagles]

Bev,

Hitting a track at 90 deg is exactly what I was talking about. According to Tims post it only takes "1 track" to determine direction. I dont know if Ive ever seen a hound that NEVER took a track the wrong way when intersecting and then had to wheel around and get it right.

Ive been on this board since 2003 and have read more of your posts than I care to remember. I quit posting a couple years ago out of lack of interest, but have always signed in to get some laughs. I did read your little article, but like Norwester didnt really see the correlation between scent layers and ability to instantly get the right direction. I read nearly every article posted on here. Norwester posted a real good one on dog food analysis a while back. There is real good one on this thread about breeding methods that took a while to get through, but have read many that were similar. LaneLine has some interesting info on his sight. I think you misread my satire as being ignorance, and maybe some of it is, but Ive spent some time reading about hounds. Love to read something new about what others are doing. Problem comes when guys make posts, not from experience but something they read or even worse made up while day dreaming. I know about several of the regulars on this board. Some are just all blow, dont run much, dont have much in the kennel, just love to crap talk. Others on here have some real good hounds coupled with 40+ years of experience. Sorting it all out can be a challenge but it all comes out in the wash eventually.

[Tim H]

Hitting a track at 90 deg is exactly what I was talking about. According to Tims post it only takes "1 track" to determine direction. I dont know if Ive ever seen a hound that NEVER took a track the wrong way when intersecting and then had to wheel around and get it right.

When speaking about how dogs use scent, there are very few absolutes. Just because a dog is capable of determining direction in 1 track, doesn't mean they will every time. So using the word never creates such an absolute that it could disqualify most scent theory or even proven facts.

[mybeagles]

I completely agree Tim,

My rub comes When you post an observation you have made in the field over the years and someone jumps all over you and tells you your uneducated and need to read more; its hillarious. Most of the articles I have read about beagles clearly demonstrated the authors lack of experience in the field. There are a few things I have learned through the years that all the articles in the world wouldnt change my mind about. Other things I read, then I field test them to see if their might be some truth to it. Some things hold up, much of it just fills space in beagle magazines.

[Bev]

Bev,

Hitting a track at 90 deg is exactly what I was talking about. According to Tims post it only takes "1 track" to determine direction. I dont know if Ive ever seen a hound that NEVER took a track the wrong way when intersecting and then had to wheel around and get it right.

I think we have to factor in a little bit of excitement, speed at which they hit the track, if they were the first to hit it or if they were pulled by lead dogs for a bit...you know, common sense things, don't you agree?

Ive been on this board since 2003 and have read more of your posts than I care to remember. I quit posting a couple years ago out of lack of interest, but have always signed in to get some laughs.

I'm sure the membership here feels honored that you grace them with your need for amusement. This will endear you to them forever, I'm sure.

I did read your little article, but like Norwester didnt really see the correlation between scent layers and ability to instantly get the right direction. I read nearly every article posted on here. Norwester posted a real good one on dog food analysis a while back. There is real good one on this thread about breeding methods that took a while to get through, but have read many that were similar. LaneLine has some interesting info on his sight. I think you misread my satire as being ignorance, and maybe some of it is, but Ive spent some time reading about hounds. Love to read something new about what others are doing. Problem comes when guys make posts, not from experience but something they read or even worse made up while day dreaming. I know about several of the regulars on this board. Some are just all blow, dont run much, dont have much in the kennel, just love to crap talk. Others on here have some real good hounds coupled with 40+ years of experience. Sorting it all out can be a challenge but it all comes out in the wash eventually.

There really isn't much I can say to this except..."Way to love your fellow beaglers!"

[Bev]

I completely agree Tim,

My rub comes When you post an observation you have made in the field over the years and someone jumps all over you and tells you your uneducated and need to read more; its hillarious.

It's spelled, "hilarious." Just sayin'.

[klrconcrete]

I hadnt really thought much about the stuff I have read regarding beagling or rabbit hunting in the last few years until a few of you started making reference to "reading and or studying" different writings about the subject. What I can conclude from trying to think about the stuff that I have read is that it mostly revolved around the killing of the game, and not how the dogs ran or pursued it. What are some books or articles on the "mechanics" of nose, scent, and how the hound should properly move the rabbit? Kurt Robinson

[mybeagles]

Yes Bev, I think you do need to consider those things.

Do you really feel endeared to the members here Bev? Thats touching. I have made a few friends, picked up a few pups, learned plenty of things about beagles and maybe more about beaglers. I dont think anyone will really care that I get a laugh out of all the bickering. Its a chat board, if someone looses sleep over whats said on here they need professional help.

We nead a spll cheker on here, I diddnt get much scooling like they get doun sowth. Thanks for ketchin that Bev!

[klrconcrete]

Hey Dave, In that last sentence you spelled Bev wrong.

[mybeagles]

Help me out Kurt, Im trying to converse with someone with a Ph. D in beagle magazines. My lack of edumacation is showing.

[Laneline]

LaneLine,

I watched the video on your web site of the "slow beagle" and I laughed for 15 minutes. Then I watched it again and laughed for another 10 minutes. My 7 year old asked me if the dog was caught in a trap. Been beagling for 25 years and never seen anything like that before. I saved that clip for when Im having a bad day I can see those two beagles barking a hole in the ground. That poor pup didnt know what to think.

Lolol if your talking about the one I’m thinking, that would be the clip with the Brace {AKA Walkie Talkie}. I was trying to put a little bit of everything on the sight just to give people examples of different dogs, but believe it or not I have had people email me to see if I knew where they could view more of that just out of curiosity. I think a lot of people have heard about the Brace movement years ago and how it affected beagling, but few have actually seen them run. Believe it or not, Brace is still very much alive and thriving. There are still hundreds of trials and thousands of these dogs. A few months ago a friend of a friend said he had beagles and wanted to go hunting, he showed up with six of these. It was a long day. For the record, he thought Ozzie & Dingus were just horrible. He said if they were humans they would need to be put on medication or put in strait jackets. There not my style of dogs, but it’s a big world out there and to each his own. They hunted good, they jump rabbits. It would just take them 4 hours to lap a football field 1 time. I will tell you this, I find it hard to understand how these same dogs and other dogs that all run at different speeds, all run a deer at the same pace, with their heads up and running as fast as they can. I have different theories concerning scent etc... but I still don’t really know.

[Bev]

Yes Bev, I think you do need to consider those things.

Do you really feel endeared to the members here Bev? Thats touching.

Oh YEAH!? Well, say that to my face TOUGH GUY. QUIT HIDING BEHIND YOUR KEYBOARD IN KOREA. C'mon tell a WOMAN how it is....because we all know WIMMENS can't know things about DAWGS or have "opinins" and sech! (Heeee! That was fun. Now I know why you do it.)

I dont think anyone will really care that I get a laugh out of all the bickering.

I'll give you that, David. Have yourself a good day.