politics of our sport that need to be addressed

[Greg Wells]

Just to clear something up about "Tally Ho" ing dogs on the track. In the Mid-West, we only tally-ho dogs to the jump & make sure all the dogs get there & don't get caught out from the start of the race. After that, the dogs are on thier own. We do not " tally ho" dogs to show them where the check is. We score the dog that finds the check whether it takes 2 seconds or 10 minutes; a dog that can stay & work out a long tough check though will get a BIG "plus" in my book; he just saved the race that might have been totally lost without his hard work, desire & brains. Just thought I would make that clear; the way I worded it earlier might leave some to believe we put the dogs on the rabbit everytime we see it. That is not the case; only on the jump. Also, only when judges intsruct the handlers to help jump rabbits, do they help; most of the time especially if there seems to be plenty of game, they want to let the dogs work & hunt & jump the rabbits on thier own.

[old blood beagles]

Great point Greg, at the last trial I was at (Central Ky) we had lots of game and not a single time did the judges ask us to help with finding a rabbit. They let the hounds hunt and search. On the other had, I was at a trial a few months ago and it took about 45 minutes to get the first rabbit up and the judges did ask us to hit the brush. Everyone needs to understand that when you are trying to judge 30 hounds in a day and give everyone a fair shot you need to see some rabbit action and that is the reason that we do what we do. Now on the Tally Ho, it also needs to be pointed out that we dont always tally ho a hound if we jump a rabbit (when the hounds are working close to us) sometimes the judges want to see if a hound will come across it on their own.

The best way to find out about this is to attend a few AKC trials at different clubs and different game levels. This will give you all a better understanding of running under AKC Mid-West.

Duane

[sanfordssj]

[/quote] Ok fine 250yds is a little over the top. But what about 50yds out?? 60? 70? How far is too far? I'm into a dog reaching when need be but not starting out there. Start at the point of loss and work your way out, not over run the end and then hit that line or possibly another 60 yards out. If a dog gets the "check" 50 yards away from the loss in less than 30 seconds from when they lost it then IMO that dog didn't start at the point of loss or even anywhere close to it for that matter. [/quote]


50 to 60 yards is common in LP...thats LP! It's a fast and swinging format and you either love or hate it. We can go at this all night, but the bottom line is WHO and WHAT the judge scores. I have seen some really good judges who do a really good job scoring what they see, not what they hear or have been told from the handlers. I run LP and PP Pack, so i get to see the best of both worlds and love them BOTH because i actually have a clean running dog that i will take my chances with in both formats.

[Charobs]

Ohlinger,
Barcus' Ohio River Tuck II just finished in all three formats. I believe that's the dog I'm gonna breed to because of that versatility.

[Ohiohntr]

A lot of times as a judge I will try to have the handlers work the dogs in the given direction of a gallery jumped rabbit. I tend to think screaming "Tally-Ho!!" jacks up the pack and I would rather see them in real life conditions where a hound "finds" the track and the other dogs hark to him. I will not give that hound credit for finding the track in that particular scenerio because he was worked onto the track. Now if we have a bunch of non handling dogs then I will have ONE person yell tally-ho (preferably the field marshall)....IMO there is never a need to have 6 different handlers screaming at the top of their lungs to the pack. I also feel there is no need to let a gallery jumped rabbit go to waste only because a hound did not jump it....sometimes rabbits are hard to come by (especially Sundays) and every rabbit possible is necessary. After the rabbit is up I want the gallery to shut up and stay away as to not bother the dogs, unless their hound did not get into the race and I want them to get that dog in as soon as possible without disrupting the run.

Do I think "Tally Ho" ruins a dogs hunt....ahhhh.....NO. My hardest hunter in my kennel is also the first one there if I yell Tally Ho, why....because she has a brain and knows the "T-word ....shhhhh " means a hot line. She also knows that when I run at home I will more than likely sit on my buggy, drink beer, walk very little, and not chase her down when I am ready to go home....if they are going to run something...they better go find it because I am getting lazier and lazier by the day. Now if I am hunting I will walk along and kick a pile or two...but all be damned if I am getting into the really thick stuff and tear my ears up.

[ohlinger]

People want there dogs to be judged on rabbits, and handlers want the same thing. Gun hunters want to see rabbits. Sometimes you gotta make something happen. I think that is all there is to that. You ever go gun hunting and loose patience b/c it's cold and nasty and rabbits are sitting tight. For whatever reason Humans will always know how to find a rabbit faster than a dog no matter of how good a jump dog you have. That's real life....I go out to run dogs I'm going out to listen to them run..if they ain't getting anything up i might kick a bush or two...then it's sick sick sick sick sick lol thats my "tallyho" call....i have a couple pretty good jump dogs, but even they struggle some days, or go right past a prime spot to find a bunny. Never been to an a.k.c trial keep telling myself i'm gonna check it out b/c i keep a.k.c dogs with pretty nice a.k.c breeding fc's and ifc's from up north. I trial mostly u.k.c and there are things i don't like about it just as a.r.h.a, but i realy like what i hear about the good dogs in a.k.c and the breeding and titles those dogs carry influence my buying and breeding of dogs pretty heavily after of course my own observations. I don't know about the scoring systems in a.k.c at all can someone break it down for me ?

[Bunnyblaster]

LOl now thas funny right there! some people just take it too serious, I've split tracks with a feller who claimed not to tally ho(ever) and his dog come a runnin just as quick as any of the rest..and no there is absolutely no difference to tallying hoing a dog on a rabbit vs. it honoring to another dog who already jumped and opened on one. I would figure people who claim not to tally ho are trying to teach a dog something it may not have been born with...

I guess I don't understand which part was funny??? I must have missed something.

[Mapel Valley Kennels LLC.]

People want there dogs to be judged on rabbits, and handlers want the same thing. Gun hunters want to see rabbits. Sometimes you gotta make something happen. I think that is all there is to that. You ever go gun hunting and loose patience b/c it's cold and nasty and rabbits are sitting tight. For whatever reason Humans will always know how to find a rabbit faster than a dog no matter of how good a jump dog you have. That's real life....I go out to run dogs I'm going out to listen to them run..if they ain't getting anything up i might kick a bush or two...then it's sick sick sick sick sick lol thats my "tallyho" call....i have a couple pretty good jump dogs, but even they struggle some days, or go right past a prime spot to find a bunny. Never been to an a.k.c trial keep telling myself i'm gonna check it out b/c i keep a.k.c dogs with pretty nice a.k.c breeding fc's and ifc's from up north. I trial mostly u.k.c and there are things i don't like about it just as a.r.h.a, but i realy like what i hear about the good dogs in a.k.c and the breeding and titles those dogs carry influence my buying and breeding of dogs pretty heavily after of course my own observations. I don't know about the scoring systems in a.k.c at all can someone break it down for me ?

Good post bout sums it all Up.

[ohlinger]

bunnyblaster i was referring to the insinuation you made about tally ho'ing dogs on a rabbit it was a funny twist you put on it, and don't let people fool ya!! Everyone in u.k.c has split on a rabbit jumped by handlers or a "squirter" from the dogs running before. "splitting" on a rabbit is basicaly tally ho in a.k.c you put the dogs on it, and split the strike points evenly amongst all dogs in the cast.

[Bunnyblaster]

Makes sense now......glad I asked.

[chapkosbeagles]

you guys lost me 50 post ago and i am such a cave man that i can read that fast to catch up

i am trying to sattle up this hound so i can catch a ride to the top