The American Beagler Forum

I have a young Branko female that will be year old at the end of the month. She has just come through her first hunting season and we killed about 50 rabbits in front of her this year. She is my only dog so I haven't had the opportunity to she her run with other dogs yet. I believe she is doing well for her age. She has no problem jumping her own rabbit and if the conditions are right she will run them for an hour or more. Don't get me wrong though she still has a lot of puppy in her. My question is this. How long will a dog keep improving on the way that they run a rabbit. I'm talking things like line control, ability to work a check, and being able take a rabbit around is less than perfect conditions. I know some dogs turn out better than others but I'm sure they all have some kind of learning curve. When do you think that average dog will come into its prime. How long will they keep improving.

they keep improving as long as you keep runnin them. i would say they hit their prime between 3 and 6

I find you will see alot of improvement in checking ability etc between 12 and 24 months old, by the end of the second hunting season you usually know what you have.