any advice?

[passthru89]

i have hunted with beagles before but never had my own. i finallly got ahold of a good two year old female that has an awesome nose, but all she does on a track is whine but never opens up to a bawl. does anyone know of a way for me to help her open up? or is she just set in her ways?

[Bunnyblaster]

Can you give a little more info on what you were told about the dog when you bought/picked her up? Was she represented this way to you? Is she supposed to be a running dog? Did the person you got her from mention how long she's been running and say anything to you about her mouth being a little on the quiet side? Or was nothing mentioned about it at all?

A lot of times with young dogs that are just starting (by young I mean 5 months to a year old) you'll get a lot of whining as opposed to barking until they start to put it all together. Or even when they're a little unsure you'll get it too.......again, in young dogs though. Once a dog is started and running a track then generally whatever mouth they give is what you get.........anything from a huge echoing bawl to a squealy-squeeky chop. I will say I have yet to run into a started/running dog that just whines but I'm sure they're out there.


Basically I'm hoping someone didn't take advantage of you being an inexperienced beagler and sell/give you a dog that you won't be able to hear running a track because you didn't know the right questions to ask. Did you get a chance to see the dog run before you took her home? How quiet is she??? Can you hear her from very far away at all?

[passthru89]

i can hear here whine from about twenty yards at the most, shes been run with other dogs the year and a half they had been working with her. im wondering if that has anything to do with her being quiet and just waiting for the other dogs to open up. i dont feel that i was taken so much as just not being experienced enough as you said to ask the right questions or know how to correct her problem if it really is a problem at all. all i was told when i got her was she was a little slow on track, but since ive been working with her this past month ive had her, shes been very fast to pick up and follow a track, just not to open up on it. im wondering if it would be beneficial to run her with an older female? or just work with her so shell learn to hunt on her own?

[dogrich]

How does she react to a sight chase? Pretty much all the dogs I've ever owned will really do some screaming when they're sight chasing. If you haven't set her up for some sight chases, I'd give that a try. It might fire her up a little more. I'm inclined to think that running her w/ another dog probably won't help much. Another thing to try would be holding her back on a lead around a tame rabbit (or a wild one that you can get close to). Don't let her get to it, just keep letting her get close. A roll cage might even be useful. Again, it might be something to get her fired up and barking/howling at the bunny.

[Bunnyblaster]

How does she react to a sight chase? Pretty much all the dogs I've ever owned will really do some screaming when they're sight chasing. If you haven't set her up for some sight chases, I'd give that a try. It might fire her up a little more. I'm inclined to think that running her w/ another dog probably won't help much. Another thing to try would be holding her back on a lead around a tame rabbit (or a wild one that you can get close to). Don't let her get to it, just keep letting her get close. A roll cage might even be useful. Again, it might be something to get her fired up and barking/howling at the bunny.

I would try what dogrich said, but......................



My next piece of advice is to start looking for an experienced beagler in your area that you can befriend. I was in the same boat as you when I first got started into dogs 5-6 years ago and got so fed up with a few things that I almost gave it up. Then I met a couple of honest, experienced guys that had been running dogs for years that started helping me out........one in particular that I have become good friends with and that has helped me the most is Ron Conroe. He lives quite close to me so we run dogs together pretty regular. He has shown me a ton of stuff over the last few years about what to look for in dogs at all stages of their developement, how to start pups, patience, etc, etc, etc. He has even helped me rebuild my kennel with a style of dog that suits me better than what I started out with.

This last statement I'm gonna make I will be blunt with......and it's meant as helpful advice. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS watch a dog run before you buy it. Don't just take anyone's word about a dog unless it's someone that you trust and they know dogs and what you like in a dog. I don't know who you got the dog from........I don't know if you had to pay for her or if she was free............but if it came from anyone that knows beagles and they started that female at an early age, or even up to a year old then she should not only be barking normal on track(if she's capable of it) but she should also be jumping and running her own rabbits. If they had her going then they knew she was quiet when they sold/gave her to you. I believe it was a dog they wanted to get rid of and they took advantage of the fact that you are new into the sport and didn't know the right questions to ask. And if that is the case these are the things that started getting me fed up to the point that I was gonna quit it all together shortly after I got started into beagles like I said before.


All that being said I also wanna say since you've got her now you might as well try what dogrich suggested to see if it will help. At 2 years old I doubt it but it's worth a shot since you already own her. The guy you got her from I would never ever deal with again for any reason if my suspicions are correct about what he did. And seriously, find a beagler close by that you can learn to trust and is honest. That is the best thing that ever happened to me in this sport so far.

Good luck and keep us posted on what happens. Hopefully someone in you area will pipe up and offer to run with you and help show you the ropes.

[dogrich]

How does she react to a sight chase? Pretty much all the dogs I've ever owned will really do some screaming when they're sight chasing. If you haven't set her up for some sight chases, I'd give that a try. It might fire her up a little more. I'm inclined to think that running her w/ another dog probably won't help much. Another thing to try would be holding her back on a lead around a tame rabbit (or a wild one that you can get close to). Don't let her get to it, just keep letting her get close. A roll cage might even be useful. Again, it might be something to get her fired up and barking/howling at the bunny.

I would try what dogrich said, but......................



My next piece of advice is to start looking for an experienced beagler in your area that you can befriend. I was in the same boat as you when I first got started into dogs 5-6 years ago and got so fed up with a few things that I almost gave it up. Then I met a couple of honest, experienced guys that had been running dogs for years that started helping me out........one in particular that I have become good friends with and that has helped me the most is Ron Conroe. He lives quite close to me so we run dogs together pretty regular. He has shown me a ton of stuff over the last few years about what to look for in dogs at all stages of their developement, how to start pups, patience, etc, etc, etc. He has even helped me rebuild my kennel with a style of dog that suits me better than what I started out with.

This last statement I'm gonna make I will be blunt with......and it's meant as helpful advice. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS watch a dog run before you buy it. Don't just take anyone's word about a dog unless it's someone that you trust and they know dogs and what you like in a dog. I don't know who you got the dog from........I don't know if you had to pay for her or if she was free............but if it came from anyone that knows beagles and they started that female at an early age, or even up to a year old then she should not only be barking normal on track(if she's capable of it) but she should also be jumping and running her own rabbits. If they had her going then they knew she was quiet when they sold/gave her to you. I believe it was a dog they wanted to get rid of and they took advantage of the fact that you are new into the sport and didn't know the right questions to ask. And if that is the case these are the things that started getting me fed up to the point that I was gonna quit it all together shortly after I got started into beagles like I said before.


All that being said I also wanna say since you've got her now you might as well try what dogrich suggested to see if it will help. At 2 years old I doubt it but it's worth a shot since you already own her. The guy you got her from I would never ever deal with again for any reason if my suspicions are correct about what he did. And seriously, find a beagler close by that you can learn to trust and is honest. That is the best thing that ever happened to me in this sport so far.

Good luck and keep us posted on what happens. Hopefully someone in you area will pipe up and offer to run with you and help show you the ropes.

Very well said!

I was comming more from the perspective of trying to make lemonaide from lemons. I'm figuring it's a long-shot.

[passthru89]

thanks guys, ill look for someone to help and keep working with her myself. ill keep you posted on how shes doing as we go