The American Beagler Forum

I run my 2 year old beagle female 2 to 5 times a week any where from 2 to 6 hours at a time I solo her and I run her with 2 other dogs. When will this dog do good in trials for me ? Or at what age do u all start you're dogs in arha little pack hunts .

The easy answer is when she's ready. Two might be too young for some and I know others that made Grand Champion just after turning two. Does your dog pack or go to with other dogs when they open? Run her own rabbit? I started mine at around eight months, maybe too soon. But, he only needs a win to move to champion class. He just turned two. I just started his sister in a couple of trials this year. She placed 7th at her second trial with 25 open dogs. He was in the lead in his cast and minused out with six minutes left. Put her in a trial and see how she does. As long as she doesn't run trash, nobody will be stressed if she's not perfect. Read up on the LP rules and scoring so you won't have any surprises. Good luck and have fun.

I won't toss one in younger then two cause the pressure can make them blow up. Like rabbitatfarm said it's whenever she is ready.

Thats why i like akc. You get a chance to run against all young dogs in a derby. All under two. If they cant handle the pressure then they need to go down the road.

That's what I'm afraid. I don't want to blow her up she can solo the heck out of a rabbit and her hunt is getting better each time Out . Seems like she can handle a pack of three dogs I don't know what will happen when I put her in a trial with hard running and hitting dogs.

Dont rush it, if she good at 2yr old, she will be better at 3 yr old,

Thanks for the help guys I thank I will wait till she's 3 hate to blow such a good dog up .

Long time ago when I was a member at Erie the retirees used to have a mid-week breakfast at the club and run dogs after. This was a good way to mix your young hound in with others bred for the trials and break them in slowly to strange company an get to see a little preview of how they matched up. Some take right to mixed company an the pack pressure while others are taken aback an have to adjust to the change. Some can handle it and others start to take shortcuts or develop faults.
I had a pretty good bitch one time that I tried, unfortunately I had the luck of drawing out with Cody's Sharpe Mikie. She couldn't handle the power and I caught her watching him at the check instead of doing her own work and that was the end of trials for her. I always put more worth a decent rabbitdawg than a broken trial dog. Maybe a different format would have suited her better but the important thing is you recognize it before the damage is done.
Good luck with your hound at the trials, but always protect her value as a decent rabbitdawg. Some champeen titles are still measured by the weight of the game bag and many long days afield...jmho

They are all different but after a good hunting season, when they are scoring on accomplished dogs I give them a chance. I put a lot of pressure on young dogs so if they make it through that first hunting season without blowing up they probably aren't going to.

If there is a club near your house take the dog and tie her out just to see how she handles the commotion. As far as the running a good gun season with a few other dogs should tell you what you need to know.