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[jfields]

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[fulcount]

Take her into the woods where there are a lot of rabbits early am or before dark
and set on a stump and let her hunt!
Might take awhile but after she starts her first rabbit it should be downhill from there
you will need a lot of patience but it will work
Pack hound or not what good is any dog if it cant be hunted alone the best are the ones that can do it alone first then in the pack a pack hound is just that! they work off others and look good but alone most cant do it that is the sad part of our pack trials today!
John O

[JCM]

if she were mine id walk around with her and stay right with her sooner or later she will get independant

I keep reading that to have a complete dog that is independent and confident, I need to solo. I would think the opposite is true. How can a dog be complete, if he has to run by himself to learn to be independent and confident? I would think an intelligent, strong-minded dog could learn that with his peers.

In fact, that is what we expect with off game. No matter what the rest of the pack does, you better not run anything but a rabbit. We expect dogs to be independent enough to ignore faulty packmates.

My buddy, Mark "Bubba" Brown from Columbus, Ohio has finished nine dogs to AKC Fd. Ch. in the Midwest in the last eight years. As he says, "Beagles are a pack animal, and they respond in a pack. If they are not mentally strong enough to become good dogs without soloing, then I want to know it so I won't breed to them." I know for a fact that he has not soloed a single dog during that entire time.

He has taken Northway breeding and crossed it with Pacesetter. With each generation, he looks for the most intelligent puppies, and later gundogs. With each generation, the dogs keep improving. To me, this serves as a model for success.

No excuses!
No special treatment!
Hours and hours of running!
=
A rabbit hound worth owning and breeding.

[jfields]

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[khensler01]

I have seen alot of dogs that look good in a pack but not worth a darn by self.I think most of them are good acters,if you wacth them close they aren't doing half the work you think they are.A dog that is soloed will dominate these dogs by far.A hound is a pack animal but there is allways a leader and it will be one that can do it right with out help!!.It doesn't take much of a hound to run the front and blow it up,I don't allways think the best is in the front.I look at the dog that is cleaning up the race with checks and keeping the race going.J.M.O good luck Ken

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Jcm's post got me to thinking so I decided to expound abit on the subject as I share some of his thoughts in regards to the ideas regarding soloing.
I've spent the last 40 years following hounds on coon,bear,bobcat,fox and the differant varieties of rabbits.I seldom run only one dog. The reasons for this are mostly time constraints.Having a full time job,family and active participation in our church there is only so much time I can devote to the beagles.Even so they routinely get run a couple of times a week year round.I keep 3-5 beagles and when I go I like to get them all some running.Another reason is that running only one dog doesn't really excite me much.I live to hear the pack putting it on it's game ,the combined music ,identifying the individuals voices and what they are contributing to the run.Who's leading at this point,who grabbed the check that time,who's getting most of the jumps and especially who is consistantly rising to the top and exhibting that competitive nature that makes them excell most of the time?
All that being said I definetly realize that solo work has it's place.It can lend a real settling influence on a hound that has gotten too competitive,it can help a hound tighten up his check work,stay closer on the line,be a better searcher for his rabbits and even handle better.Most houndsmen will agree that a dog running by himself will run a much smoother rabbit then a pack will.That's because he will tend to run at his own pace[which in my experience is usually slower]then when he has the competition of other pack mates.
Years ago when I had coon dogs an oldtimer told me "you want to kill some coon ,take one dog.You want to hear some music take 3 or 4".
Haven't you noticed that your own pack of beagles will usually run a much better rabbit then will a mixed pack of hounds?
The idea that soloing makes a better dog I'm not necessarily ready to buy into.That it can help improve a faulty dog,yes.That it can help a competition dog's concentration,yes.That it can help a hound that is lacking in his confidence,yes.
All that being said,I hunted bear in New Hampshire and Vermont for a number of years with hounds and I NEVER knew of any bear hunters that "soloed" their hounds!Now before you jump in there and holler that you need a pack to tree a bear I'll tell you that just ain't so I have seen on numerous occasions where a single hound has put a grown bear in the tree all by his lonesome.Not because he was being hunted alone but usually because the pack got strung out during the chase or the others got whipped off the bear and this one special hound refused to quit.A hunter with a bear pack can figure out in pretty short order what dogs in his pack are putting the bear in the tree and they've never beeen run solo.
I have two fox pens within 1/2 a mile of me and those guys never solo their hounds on the fox and coyote. As one guy said to me when I mentioned it "what's the purpose. I know who 's pushing that fox when I listen to em".
When I have a beagle pup from the time they are 2 months old I try and give them alot of exposure to the world around them.Rides in the truck,alot of freedom in the yard,plenty of interaction with my grown dogs in the dog yard,lots of walks in the woods and fields,introducing them to people they don't know,livestock,noises,gunfire,etc.When they are around 4-5 months old I'll try and get then some exposure to rabbits [solo] and see what they'll do.Some will start at that point and some aren't quite ready.At 6 months old they get loaded up with my grown dogs and begin their career as a "rabbit dawg"and we begin to see if all that time considering crosses,studying pedigrees,assessing strengths and weaknesses,traits and abilities has payed off.Or not.....
In my experience the cream will usually rise to the top and it doesn't usually take that long to see some of the signs of it.I've raised 10 litters in the past 13 years bringing them along the way I mentioned above and everyone that I've kept has ALWAYS gone off the tailgate with the big dogs first time out and has stayed out with them for the duration of the hunt/run.Most have started opening on the track the 3'rd or 4'th time out and it's not too much longer before I can hear them start to pick some of the checks.Do they lead their mommas' and daddys' in the race?No and I don't expect that they should as those are grown and experienced dogs.But,by the time they hit 9-10 months old they are getting a fair number of the checks on the older dogs and at a year if they are making the kind of hound I want they are on occasion taking the lead.
This may be a kind of trial by fire and some may feel I'm throwing them into the mix way too early.Some strains of hounds might not handle it at that age but the ones I have seem to handle it okay.If they don't have this kind of desire and ability you'll know it pretty quick and if they do you'll also know it pretty quick too.I want to know if they have what it takes and I want to see it right from the get go.Some will say that your hound will develope all kinds of faults being run this way.And i guess I'd have to answer with that depends on what you keep for hounds. Mine seem to thrive on it and are strong in the qualities I want. I don't have any "me too" hounds and they all can and do run their own rabbit at times when the situation arises.My friend Tony Bruleigh in Vermont has always said that a young hound if he's going to be special will usually show you those flashes of brilliance of what he's going to be in the first year of his life.I don't want to have to solo,solo, solo a dog to get him so he's right.To me that's kind of like having to hire a special tutor for your kid because for whatever reason he can't get it in school with the rest of the kids?????????????? As always just my humble opinion.

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Hey jfields
Sorry about starting a big thing about dogs.It's raining here,I guess I'm kind of bored so I got to rambling on..................

[beaglerun]

Just keep taking the dog out. The most important thing is to try to set the dog up for success. Success for your dog and your environment may differ from mine and others. I recently started to run a pup of mine solo, and it has made a big difference with his confidence. I'm not sure if running him solo is making him any better, but it gives me a better view of what to expect from him when he is with the pack.

My pup used to spend too much time looking at what the other dogs were doing. Now, he doesn't pay them as much attention. If he has the line or picks up a check; He runs it and make the other dogs honor what he is doing. Your dog will come along, as long as you give her the opportunities she needs to be successful.

BeagleRun

[JCM]

Shady Grove,

Thank you for sharing from all of your experiences. I am sure we would all be better trainers if we had that much experience with all different types of hounds.

I think your point about soloing reducing a dog's faults is valid. I guess I would rather run them, and let the faults show. If they need special treatment to overcome them, then that is a dog I don't want. It seems to me that spending countless hours with one dog, just to overcome his weaknesses is wasted time. I think of the saying, "if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Shouldn't the goal be to have good hounds 3 or 4 generations, or 20 years down the road? And if we want to do this, shouldn't we treat hounds like hounds, and expect the best to come to the top?

Thanks again Shady for sharing your thoughts. I envy your experiences with hounds of all types.

[Joe Crace]

I been around beagles for quite awhile and as far as a dog that won't hunt by its self if you are in a field trial that dog isn't alone and I been out with some that couldn't run at all solo but were GR CH in little pack all they have to do is work off the other dogs, Thats why I wish Little pack was like Progressive Pack as far as a hound becoming a CH. They have to jump and circle the rabbit back to the gun and be shot over.

[RiverBottom]

Here's a video of some beagles running in Ireland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3InKeoeHtQQ
I'm pretty sure these dogs never get run alone.

Soloing can fix problems and make some dogs better. Some dogs pick up some very bad habits when they are run in a pack constantly. But then, as many have mentioned, would you want to use a dog that needed solo time for breeding stock? There are many dogs that never need to be run alone and never develop the problems mentioned.

[Nor' Easter]

Soloing will make a dog run the line closer and faster, also they can do ALL the checkwork themselves. It may make a faulty dog better, I'm sure it makes a Champion better,cleaner faster. And makes a complete hunting dog as well as a better trialing dog.
Shady if you run your own dogs together alot, you may not see the differences that you would if you were trialing against strange dogs all the time. This is where you can see a soloed dog take control of the pack by being used to doing all the work and not looking for another hound to help it.
IT ONLY MAKES THEM BETTER, I'v done it alot and seen the confidence it gives a dog to rule a large 30-60 dog pack.

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Hey Nor-Easter
How you doing? You pretty much hit the nail on the head with me.I pretty much DO run by myself with my own pack of dogs about 75% of the time.It used to be that I'd go with anybody and their hounds any place and anytime.I traveled the country for 20 years with my coondogs going to competition Nite hunts and used to hit the large Pack Trials in New England and for 10 years ran and judged in the ARHA Little Pack Trials here in the South.I hate to say it but I'm pretty picky about my hunting companions and their hounds!I got SO tired of going to the woods with other's trashy,don't handle,screw -up-the-run- dogs that now I mostly go with two other guys that have some pretty good hounds that operate like you want them to.And I go by myself a whole lot.
Years ago when I first moved here to Tn. and cottontail country from N.H. and hare country.I was talking on the phone to my friend Mike Blair from N.H.Mike had traveled and trialed all over the country and Canada.He made the comment that "The Large Pack guys were all about an individual dog's performance and the southern guys were more about their pack's performance". Because I don't hardly go trialing any more and don't have to be concerned if my hounds can rule a 30-60 dog pack guess that's why I don't see the need for me.
I'm more into bring 3 of mine and my buddy brings 3 of his and those 6 hounds can tool that bunny around the woods in good shape.
I may be way off base here and I'm sure someone will let me know if they think I am so.....Seems to me when ever someone gets to talking about the need to solo a dog it's always because the dog is exhibting some fault or unacceptable behavior. He lacks confidence,too competitive,doesn't hunt out good enough,too wide in the check area,skirts,races,etc.,etc.Have also heard Large Pack guys say how they have to solo their dogs between trials cause they get too wild,etc.Seems pretty remedial too me.It may be the perfect dog in a perfect world but I want the dog that doesn't need all that one on one to be right! Beagles are a PACK hound and have always been bred to be a PACK hound and that's the way most beaglers run them.Pleasure,gunning and trialing.Again just my humble opinions.

[jfields]

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[jddingess]

i have a two yera old female just purchased her she hasnt been ran much since she had a litter of pups 4 months ago i took her out the past two days with my old dogs she gets checks and can get up front but dont stay will solo time help her foot or should i just keep running her and let her get back in shape then solo her