The American Beagler Forum

I purchased a show bred bitch as hopefully a foundation for a dual line. she is 9 months old and has had BOV wins over specials. We are lightly starting her in the field...We started working her at 4 months with no pressure. She can sight chase a rabbit...but it is too soon to tell about style or talent.
I will try to post a show picture and a picture of her with a rabitt that she sight chased and caught[http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l205/ ... t/cake.jpg[/IMG]
[/img]

Here is a picture of her at 4 months in the field

Very nice! Especially to see that kind of drive so young! Is she nose oriented enough to track hare by scent alone - or mostly by scent? I think what you have could be a great foundation for dual purpose lines. She undoubtedly has the conformation
When you have her out in the field, note how often she has the nose down & if she can follow the line (of scent), work out a check, and barely even look at the bunny as her jaws are clamping down on it
Sight chasing is ok in a pup, so long as it doesn't become a habit. You might want to use tracking scents to get her more nose oriented. If she only sight chases, that could be a problem - might just be a bad habit, or genetics ... a good hound can see the hare perfectly in open fields and instead of chasing it, will stick their nose to the ground almost immediately.
I'm sure other, more experienced Beaglers will give you much better advice than I ever could ...
Good luck & please do keep us posted on how she turns out! When I started hunting about 4-5 yrs. ago, I was looking for dual purpose lines, but found they were practically unheard of then. Glad to see the tide changing!

BTW, forgot to ask ... what line(s) is she from?

Her Mother is a Shaw's bred dog...Her Dad is a Tessoros dog line bred on Bayou Oaks Cappuccino and Shaw's Spirit of the Chase. Very..Very Show bred. I wanted something to play with in the ring...If she had any kind of talent in field it would be a plus. We put her in the starting pen with a double FC bred pup who was a littler older but we were having trouble starting. They started sight chasing....The FC bred girl is now handling her rabbits well at 15 months and looks like she should be competative in the fields (UGBF SPO). And cakes(the show pup) is coming along...She will pack with the others..has some hunt but is rather clueless about barking on track and running with her head down. We are taking the approach of no pressure just providing the opportunity for her to work. As long as she is not disruptive to a packwe will keep puttting her with lightly started dogs till she gets it!

Nice! Best of luck with her!

Cindy

Beautiful hound! I have found that silent trailing and not giving enough mouth on the scent line is a, if not the most common, fault among show lines. If she has big hunt desire, search and jump abillity, line control, etc she may be a blessing to your breeding program. Give her field time and see if her voice develops. Some are slower than others. Good luck with this beautiful hound. Dan M

Beaglebrit wrote:Her Mother is a Shaw's bred dog...Her Dad is a Tessoros dog line bred on Bayou Oaks Cappuccino and Shaw's Spirit of the Chase. Very..Very Show bred. I wanted something to play with in the ring...If she had any kind of talent in field it would be a plus.

Ah! No wonder! Shaw's Spirit of the Chase is famous for thorwing hunt into his pups I know offhand several dual purpose lines that are directly out of or go back to him ... I think you got a great dual purpose prosepct ... congrats

That was a major reason in my decision to breed to CH. Shaw's Spirit of the Chase several years ago. I think most of that desire comes through Chase's Echo Run dam.

I am very pleased with her, She has attitude that just will not quit! and Great movement for the show ring for a small dog (12.25) let alone a puppy. She has been out 3 weekends, has 5pts...BOV over Specials and several reserves to adult dogs. And she will stay with a pack and hit cover. Can"t ask for more!

How's the pretty girl coming along in the bunny running dept?

Forgot to add that I have some show bred gyps that are a little stingy mouthed on a rabbit, but will put out plenty of blood-curdling scream on a deer! I keep hoping they will get better.

Well, She enjoys wearing her hunting clothes(blaze orange collar and her e collar) Prisses 'bout waiting for the photographer of the American Beagler to take her picture for the cover!..LOL ...She will hark and stay with the pack...sometimes it seems like she is smelling rabbit ...(her nose snorts on scent line) and she is willing to hunt in hard cover....So we are just taking it slowly and giving her every opportunity with no pressure. She has had some run ins with deer and I believe now she is deer proof! So time will tell....Just need to find some MAJORS in the Show ring

Wow! Another nice Beagle who appears to have dual championship potential! Whooo Hoooo!

Nice VERY NICE!!!
Just like We been sayin Fer years Just cause they are pretty Dont mean They caint run a Rabbit!!!!!
Good Luck to you Just remember that this can be a long Road and you caint expect them all to turn out to be good rabbit dogs!!!
You Gotta just stick with it.......