The American Beagler Forum

What charateristics do you base your culls off of? I really am curious about coldtrailing specificifally to. Is this something to cull out of a line. For example, would you ever breed a female with a good pedigree if she coldtrails or would she be an automatic cull?

Some people don't think cold trailing is a fault. Do really want to be hunting along and your dog smell a rabbit not say anything and when you end up 400 yards away when he finally jumps the rabbit that was only 60 yards from the truck? Not saying I want a dog to boo who down through the woods with nothing but if he can do something with say something to get some help. If he don't say anything the pack can't help him. Unless all you do is trial and looking for the jump strike. That's just what I think if it's not excessive and there's fur on the end what's wrong with it? Just my opinion.

Lack of desire and lack of brains are the top two causes.

Nose, speed, patience, control, handling, trash are all things that prove themselves with run time and opportunity and these traits don't always fully develop until the second year.

A good dog makes you want to take it to the woods......a cull makes you wish you didn't own the dog.

Far too many culls are the result of owners that didn't give a pup the run time, opportunity, and attention they needed at critical stages. You will find many of these culls listed in the "For Sale" section of this board.

Mybeagles

I'm stuck on the coldtrailing because a coldtrailing hound tends to have a better nose correct? I know in field trials hounds can get minused for opening early and not producing. So technically a dog may be on a rabbit (just maybe an older trail) and be minused if the other hounds with less of a nose don't join in. So I guess are field trials producing more culls or dogs with less of a nose?

tapout,

There is a big difference between an extremely cold nosed hound and a babbling idiot. Just because a dog barks before the jump and pops off in the check does not guarentee they have a huge nose and just because a dog is clean with its mouth doesn't mean it's hot nosed. That's something you as an owner will have to figure out.

If a dog is barking before the jump and doesn't consistently produce a rabbit you likely have a cull. If a dog opens before the jump and produces it most of the time you likely have a colder nosed hound. Depending on what format and where you field trial will also determine if your wasting your time or have a champion.

Nobody can tell you over the internet for sure what you have. If your really unsure about it, get together with someone that has years of experience and ask for some honest opinions.

There are so many trial formats with so many expectations you can't make a generalization that "the trials are producing culls". Yes, there are trial formats that produce hounds I would consider culls, but they guys that run that format would consider my hounds to be culls.

The best (only) way to answer the questions about the trials is to attend a couple and in different formats. Even if you dont choose to enter a hound, go check it out. If you like what you see, go back and give it a try. If you think the winners looked like culls its a safe bet you need to look elsewhere. Some guys run hounds their entire lives and never attend a field trial, while others attend trials every weekend. The beauty of the field trials is in the eye of the beholder.

The question you must answer is.....Do your hounds satisfy you or not.

Mybeagles

All I am saying is if a dog barks before the rabbits up but shows you the fur in the end what's wrong with that. Most of my dogs don't say anything till its up but they give plenty whens its running. And yes most dogs that open before its up will generally have better noses and when conditions are bad will be the ones to get the rabbit around. Like Ol Leon Bufford told me in a trial you live and die with a big nose. I just say don't cull a dog because he opens to quick as long as he is right. Like mybeagle said basically run what suits YOU.

Hunting one dog, the coldtrailing to a jump is no problem. The problem is when you are hunting with several dogs and even worse if there are dogs along that do not know each other. Many times I hunt with friends and our dogs do not know each other.
The coldtrailing dog (for some reason they always seem to have a great calling mouth) calls all the others to it and you have one dog coldtrailing a rabbit and 7-20 dogs following behind it. If there was no coldtrailing you would have 8-20 dogs all looking for rabbits and would probably jump many more before that dog trails its rabbit up. Many times one that is jumped by a no coldtrailing dog IS the one the coldtrailer is trailing.

That's why I do not like one. Same with a fellow hunter that is constantly calling all the dogs to hunt around him. Both are thinking only of themselves!

I've even seen dogs false trail wanting to be the BIG dog in front and lying is its only chance to do so.

I remember @ specific tri@l I judged one time on @ big frost in the first p@ck of the d@y. The whole p@ck w@s running just like they h@d @ hot r@bbit up. I w@s fooled for @ while & noticed one dog not b@rking @t @ll. Soon @fter @ couple of circles & seeing no r@bbit, I knew they were cold tr@iling. I thought to myself, either the dog h@s @ lot of br@ins or no nose. When we fin@lly jumped @ r@bbit & s@w it, th@t dog domin@ted the P@ck & showed more nose th@n @ll the others. The dog w@s BJ's Fudd & he ended up pl@cing 2nd th@t d@y behind FC Sunset Scooter. When he c@me up for s@le @ couple ye@rs l@ter, I bought him & he produced some good hounds for me. Not sure th@t helps , but I've le@rned just bec@use @ dog doesn"t cold tr@il when others do, it doesn't me@n they h@ve less nose.

in my opinion, a dog that cold trails isnt necessarily a dog with a stronger nose but a dog with not enough BRAINS!!!!!! plain and simple! im like the other guys, i dont have a problem with a dog that will bark a time or two earlier then the other dogs and produce the rabbit 3/4 times... but a dog that barks on every scent he comes across and is constantly ruining hunts and pulling dogs all day is simply a babbling IDIOT!!! and needs culled!

Greg Wells wrote:I remember @ specific tri@l I judged one time on @ big frost in the first p@ck of the d@y. The whole p@ck w@s running just like they h@d @ hot r@bbit up. I w@s fooled for @ while & noticed one dog not b@rking @t @ll. Soon @fter @ couple of circles & seeing no r@bbit, I knew they were cold tr@iling. I thought to myself, either the dog h@s @ lot of br@ins or no nose. When we fin@lly jumped @ r@bbit & s@w it, th@t dog domin@ted the P@ck & showed more nose th@n @ll the others. The dog w@s BJ's Fudd & he ended up pl@cing 2nd th@t d@y behind FC Sunset Scooter. When he c@me up for s@le @ couple ye@rs l@ter, I bought him & he produced some good hounds for me. Not sure th@t helps , but I've le@rned just bec@use @ dog doesn"t cold tr@il when others do, it doesn't me@n they h@ve less nose.

If you need @ key P@d My brother i got @ few extr@ c@ll me. You @re m@king me se@ sick.
Jimbo.

Yes, I need one; come down & run in my pen sometime ; @nytime. Eversole h@s been h@ving some pounding in there. L@ter, Wells