Run to Catch

[ohlinger]

Alabama John seen the same thing before a big male hound, we were running a fun pack one day about 11 dogs on the ground, Saw a big male leading a pack on a rabbit running way out front, while he had a 1/2 grown cottontail in his mouth he'd just caught. That was a sight i won't soon forget! He is a litter mate brother to Flash's Tank dog. If any of you know who he is..

[chapkosbeagles]

river bottom i got a bitch that i want you to see run a hare when you see the hare you see her she sight race more than she barks track on hare

[bucks better beagles]

Riverbottom, that sounded like one of our beagle fox races. Great!

Bob

[Bev]

Had one catch one and when the dogs quickly jumped another and was running it, we knew it was a different rabbit as she came by sorta squeeling funny as she had the first rabbit in her mouth while running the second one!
Now, top that. Lol, Lol!

Been years a go, but at a Little Pack trial at Park City, our Rowdy dog got off on a split by himself. He on one rabbit, the pack on another. After a while he joined in with the other pack, but he wasn't tonguing a lot...until the judge took the rabbit out of his mouth. Then it was business as usual.

No lie.

[mybeagles]

I cant compete with those stories.....the only rabbits I have seen get caught were babies that thought they were hid or rabbits that squatted in a check and were discovered. A dog that could run up while a rabbit was running and sweep it off its feet and start running another would be a sight to see.....

Riverbottom,

I know what you mean about tough conditions. There are a number of guys that are pursuing "snowhounds" just for those type of days. Its a difficult dog to find, even more difficult than an extremely fast dog and requires several traits that seem to be hard to breed for. Huge nose, tremendous patience, control of tongue, brains to follow a track by sight when there is no detectable scent, tight check work, not overcompetetive, persistance to hunt hard in severe weather among other things. Dogs that can run in these conditions....... Walk a track on ice pack, crusty snow etc....are not going to be the category "10" speed hounds. Point being, there is a limit to how many gears a dog will go down.

On days when the running is head high there is nothing more impressive than a "10" speed hound, on days when running is like the second video there is nothing better than a "5" speed hound with a huge nose, (likely some extra mouth) and patience to slow down to a 3-4 speed to keep the track going smoothly.
Several will claim to have a hound that can do both equally well. I have never seen one and dont expect too......Those who claim to have one, likely would stay at home behind the fireplace in the conditions Im talking about.

Mybeagles

[chapkosbeagles]

MY BEAGLES I CALL TELL YOU KNOW A HOUND ,BUT MAN IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN A HOUND SNATCH A RABBIT OFF THE GROUND WHEN YOU GET BACK HOME YOU GET WITH ME AND I WILL MAKE YOU A BELIEVER

IT DON'T HAPPEN EVERY TIME OUT BUT GOOD TRACKING WATCH OUT YOUR EYES WILL LOOK LIKE THIS

[mybeagles]

Chapko,

Does that same dog that snatches up the rabbits ALSO slow down to a walk and patiently work a track on crusty snow and keep a smooth steady race in the ugliest days of winter

Mybeagles

[chapkosbeagles]

yes sir my males will the female will to but not as well as the males. the one male will still push it pretty hard in bad tracking. he will tell you how good the tracking really is. all the hounds i keep have gears. the female that is fast but only drops it to 2nd gear the male will walk a track in first if that is what it takes to run. the female is better on hare. like i said she sight races as much as she barks track. she can string a pack on a hare. the males clean her up in the checks on cotton tails. do to the big noses i like my hounds run better on the snow

[Bev]

I've seen my "rabbit catcher" not only slow down to a walk, but belly crawl under vines to stay on track as opposed to swing really wide around an obstacle or brushpile. Like I said, she's always around the rabbit, or its track. I owned Dolly's half-sister Lady for a time, and at a trial at Paul Webb's club in Ohio, saw Lady slow it down to a brace walk on frozen ground until the rabbit was rejumped. Everyone in the cast watched it. The other dogs in the pack went to find another rabbit and the judge was smart enough to stay with Lady, who had the original rabbit. (he'd seen the rabbit squat in a clump of dead grass not much bigger than it was.) Lady literally walked the line for about 100 yards until she reached the clump of grass. Once it was back up running, the race continued and the other dogs fell back in.

That's how those dogs were bred in Larry Harrison's kennel in West Virginia. They had speed, but also good attention to the track, focused on their own work, not competitive to the point of detriment. They did fairly well in the trials I'd say, both Little Pack and PP. They put GrRch Goose Creek Sam in the LP Reproducer's Hall of Fame on very limited breedings.

Whenever Dolly or Rowdy ran rabbits down it had been where the rabbit was in a wide-open running situation, and was simply pushed too hard for too long. The Doubting Thomases here can hang onto their doubt with a clenched fist if they wish, but the biggest impetus ever to spur on progress and technology are the words, "It can't be done." Before that it was, "The world is flat." Before that it was, "If I just had something.....you know, round." (lol)

Just kiddin' y'all. About the words. Beagles can and do successfully run to catch.

[chapkosbeagles]

well said bev

[wvduece]

something that will keep a person in everlasting IGNORANCE is contempt prior to investigation

[bucks better beagles]

I have put this on here before but it is called for again. To me a 10 would be the absolute perfect hound and a 1 would be a cull. Most dogs fall somewhere in between. Anyway, those of you who have not read the following might get some joy out of it:

The Perfect Hound

The old field trialer was looking for the perfect hound. He spent all his time looking until nothing else mattered. He stopped going to church, his wife left him, he lost his job and all his friends deserted him. Still, he spent the rest of his life looking for the perfect hound.

Then his life ended. When he woke up again, he was standing by some really nice gates and a well dressed man came and told him to come on in. The trialer asked the man if there were any perfect hounds in heaven. The man told him to just stand there and listen.

He stood there all night listening to the best rabbit race he had ever heard. No hound was barking wrong, none quit and there were no losses, just wide open running.

Late the next morning, the well dressed man came back. The trialer, who was by now hungry, tired and sleepy, asked, “don’t the rabbits ever go to hole up here in heaven”?.

The man replied, “Just stand here and listen to them perfect hounds run the perfect race. No one said this was heaven”.

[mybeagles]

Run a 9-10 speed on the good days and 2-3 speed on the bad ones. Thats good stuff.....

Only hope I can see some of this in action some day. I have to get out more.

Im guessing huge noses and seldom a bark out of place, only when track is between the legs.

We solved this topic......it can be done......next topic!

Mybeagles

[Alabama John]

Don't get discouraged too fast.

I only put on here what ours do and do good. That's down here.

Slow down and walk a track? never see that here. Heard the weather this morning and we this year have had 5 feet of rain lots of water. No walking a track, must skip out to the next dry land.

Also when it snows when they walk out to eat, they sorta hop and stand shaking the snow off their feet looking confused. So, dogs that do goodunder your conditions ragardless of what we write, yours must do good for YOU, that's all that matters.

[Bev]

Run a 9-10 speed on the good days and 2-3 speed on the bad ones. Thats good stuff.....

Only hope I can see some of this in action some day. I have to get out more.

Im guessing huge noses and seldom a bark out of place, only when track is between the legs.

We solved this topic......it can be done......next topic!

Mybeagles

Actually, Lady was more of a 7 - 8 speed, Dolly an 8 - 9. Both were pretty hot-nosed. The rabbit had to be up and running for either of them to tongue. It was helpful on those days when other dogs were minusing out for being on the clock and not producing quickly enough.

Dolly was a bit on the hyper side and would sometimes bark a few feet into to a pack. Drove me nuts, but it was pure excited barking, heads up. Once she was there, the head went mostly down and she...well...pretty much owned it after that, lol. Nobody ever embarrassed her, anyway. That's why she's the last dog I have left, will be 13 in March, and will die here with me.

100% cottontail bloodlines. Good stuff. Too bad there weren't more males on the ground out of it.

Never hurts to get out more.