Kennel Blindness...

[underdog]

How long does it take for you to figure out that a pup or young dog (one season of hunting or less) is going to fit into your pack or kennel goals?

How do you know that the dog's faults are because they are still in their puppy stages or genetic?

Do you give them a chance or do you send them packing the first time you see something you don't like... competitiveness, extra mouth, skirting, not packing, lack of hunt.

I know some dogs develop slower than others and patience is the key, but I want to know how long most beaglers wait. Give details please.

Thanks

[sammiller03]

I guess i will chime in. I have a male that is seven months old right now that i am on the fence with becouse of mouth(to much) but he gets better every time out., i think is nose out weighs his brains right now. he has no other qualities that make him a cull right now. and im going to give him time he dosent bark in the check just sometimes thinks he has it and cant produce and dosent mouth the whole time out. hunts good packs good and good in the kennel. i am more likeely to not give a pup a chance if it dosent suite me in out of the field situations( kennel barker,shy, mean, box pisser ,,NO HANDLE..ect) .i like my pups should be able to circle their own rabbit most of the time by six months and be pretty solid by a year,and i usually give them a gun season unless they make me mad. for me if a dog is easy to get along with it stands a better chance of staying than one that consitantly makes me mad.

[rabbitatfarm]

I can't reply much because I have never gotten rid of a dog. That said, my female didn't pack well right away and had a fair amount of independence. Once she started packing, I started trialing her at around two. She champed out before her litter mate male who I started trialing at nine months. My dogs may not be the best but they seem to like me and I like them. So they will die here.

Larry

[Rcoff]

2 years

[mud]

I would say give it some time if u can. One of my biggest faults through the years is being to impatience. I have culled far to many hounds in the hands of others that made decent to above average hounds from me being to impatient and not letting them develop.The very worse thing that could happen to me was that I owned 1 outstanding dog in over 40 years of owning dogs. I have owned hundreds of dogs sold a few gave away many more. Tried many of the popular bloodlines different sizes speed etc. I could get above average dogs in my eyes but never that truly special hound again. I finally accepted that I would never again get that kind of dog. I shoot for above average dogs and sometimes miss the mark then....lol

[LR Patch]

In total agreement with mud . I to have sold or gave away several that I later saw in the field that were pretty good to very good dogs . I'm saying they would be between 1 to 1 1/2 yrs old and have some little fault only to see them at 2 yrs old and try to buy them back normaly with no luck .lol

[underdog]

mudd, Patch I understand exactly where you are coming from. Years ago I bought 2 littermate females pups from a guy. I worked both pups
equally. In the beginning neither one of them cared about running rabbits at all. One would play around even when you put her on a hot track
and the other hated the dog box and only wanted to run deer. It was easy to let her go, but I decided to give the other one some time to mature
so I put her on the bench and didn't run her.

After 3 weeks on the bench I took her out and she started running rabbits like an old dog. I still hunt her and she is one heck of a pup trainer.
I often think I was so close to giving her away as a pet. I guess that is why I give pups and young dogs plenty of chances to earn their spot in
my kennel.

[mud]

I have done the same thing Randy give one away, hunt with it see the vast improvement and try to buy it back unsuccessfully most of the time. lol...I am a good person to speak with about mistakes in beagling. I fell assured I have made every mistake possible at some point or another in over 40 years of having beagles. Some I learned from. others I am still recovering from while trying to sit on a scarred rear end set on fire. My father 78 years old has great patience with a young dog. He never takes more than 1 young dog at a time to take through gun season. More times than not he will end up with a decent dog. My son must have inherited his patience with hounds from my dad because it sure skipped me. My son can see the good in his hounds and work on correcting the flaws that he can.I always have a hard time selling what few dogs I do sell because most of the time I end up describing them in such a way most people would not take them if I were to give them away free.I just got retired 3 weeks ago seems like I am still wired. Need to relax more I know. I have accepted less in my dogs now because if I did not I was going to drive myself crazy along with what few friends I have...lol

[transman63]

if they start early 4-6 mouths, 1 year.

[TOBY]

When I'm buying a broke dog. I can usually tell the first time out if he's gonna fit my pack or not.
When it comes to a pup I usually know what I have by the end of 1 full hunting season which is usually around a year - 18 months old.

[DIXIEDOG]

Minimum 2 full hunting seasons.....a 1 yr old dog is still a puppy the best dogs I've seen yet were not much more than mediocre at a year old. It takes time for a dog to settle down and find their place in the pack as well as build up their own confidence. Giving up on a dog at less than 2 yrs old boggles my mind.

[steve w]

Minimum 2 full hunting seasons.....a 1 yr old dog is still a puppy the best dogs I've seen yet were not much more than mediocre at a year old. It takes time for a dog to settle down and find their place in the pack as well as build up their own confidence. Giving up on a dog at less than 2 yrs old boggles my mind.

I would have to agree, most of the dogs I have started at one point or another when they were younger than the end of their second season I could have easily found a reason to send them down the road. I hate giving up and not finishing anything so I stuck it out and for the most part I was glad I did.

[PREACHERS KENNEL]

about 14 months old/..if I raised it .. if it hasn't turned the corner by then it can do it for someone else. .. I have given pups away ..sold good dogs real cheap just to getmy numbers down ..can they turn it on after that sure ,, but I don't wait that long. what I do has worked for me for 30 something years so I will keep at it . got a litter on the way the 1 or 2 I keep will get that long ..if they act right lol.

[haderondah]

I think a lot of it would be dependant as to how much time you put into the dog, if your running the dog 2-3 times a week i would think you would have a pretty good idea what you are working with between 12 and 18 months. If the dogs are getting the majority of their running during hunting season only i would think a couple full seasons. I know i will open a can of worms with this statement, but once the dog is running and understanding the game i like to solo them quite a bit so they learn to do it all alone. I think a dog learns much more running solo, and you can evaluate a dog much better than you could in a pack situation. As far as kennel blindness goes your the one feeding them, they have to make you happy. Just remember, be honest with yourself when your out running with your buddies, watch all the dogs with an unbiased eye. If the other dogs are getting it done and doing the lions share of the work you know it's time to make some changes.