second field trial I placed!!!

[Mo. Beagler 5000]

1st in show
winners pack 2nd place!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO

Had some tough competition in the cast i was in today but she struck the first rabbit and lined it and then picked up the check and after that it was hard to beat her although they made a push at the end.. again she picked up every check and crossed all but one line first..

in the winners pack I lost on a jump with 20 seconds to go... his dog whimpered and according to the rules the strike counted since we all saw the rabbit go by 5 minutes earlier he just stumbled on it even though he took it the wrong direction. ,... Those re the breaks--

had some fun met some nice people again, can't wait to go back! gonna try next week i think if is not to far to a trial..

im gettin hooked although mya may be picking up some habbits i dont like... I'll post them later though

[Bunnyblaster]

Congrats on the 2nd place MO.......and good jog Mya!!!!! This is the mooreboys pup??

As far as the bad habits how old is she now? What is she doing??

[rodawg]

not sure, but I think dog should have been minused for backtracking.

[eddywilliams]

CONGRATS !!

[Bobby Vest]

If he wasn't minused or picked up those are some bad rules if you are sure he back tracked.

[Murphy's Kennel]

Congrats!

[Mo. Beagler 5000]

Bunny- yes its the pup from Moorboys- I saw the sire and a sister- They are double her size but man can mya pick up some checks and turn the gear on towards a line!!! She has good conformity too but I need someone to show me how to make her stand up like a show dog...She has the possibility to be a dual champ- all ready has 25 pts toward bench and 35 towards field.

Bobby- He got a warning for it and on the second one your eliminated- the strike was legit though- the rabbit we jumped took his path and he didn't straightened it out... he opened where he should of... thats where he got the points, the backtrack was a warning although my dog came to him on the backtrack she never opened on it so she didn't get the warning but the hunt was over... just kinda stings a bit to see her get so close and then loose.

as far as the bad habits:

she always comes when I call but after a few days of trialing when the other dogs wouldn't come back she ignores me and stays with them..

She went from being SUPER SUPER tight mouthed to being more mouthy which scores points but I hate it with a passion while hunting and a dog is striking a cold trail... but since the other dogs come and open up I have to strike her in or loose up to 125 pts with the line and the non strike in if they do find the rabbit...

the first time ive ever seen her backtrack was yesterday, she whimpered but didn't open...thats something I don't know how to fix if dogs start pulling her backwards.. She needs the confidence of solo time but I literally have NOWHERE AT ALL to hunt if I don't drive to a trial or drive 2hrs away to try and find a rabbit. I am afraid if them dogs bust up a deer and follow she will take it even though with my pack she won"t even think about it....

she has been the fastest dog out there so far so it doesn't seem to mess with her line control and her speed...

[Bunnyblaster]

MO, this is just my opinion but in reference to the bad habits you are talking about this is what I would do. Not trial her until she is confident enough to not get pulled into backtracking or a deer race. If you are concerned about her picking up bad habits like that at a trial where you cannot stop her with the ecollar then you run the risk of making an issue for her and you all the way around. Whimpering on a backtrack can lead to a dog that will backtrack especially if you have any other dogs that either started it or are willing to join in.

I look at it this way..............

If this was a buddy's dog that was talking your pup into doing some bad things would you run your pup with his dog?? I'm sure your answer is the same as mine and my answer is no. A competition and the possibility of some trophies and titles is just not worth taking the risk of ruining a good dog/pup IMO. Now I would also suppose that a trial here and there every couple of weeks might not hurt her too much if she gets plenty of running time to reinforce the habits in between.

Like I said, JMO but either way it sounds like you've got a good one.

[Mo. Beagler 5000]

Thanks bunny- It just FINALLY feels good to have a dog doing what its supposed to do without having to shock or beat it! she's only 8 months old and other than flirt (who got taken and was also only year old) is the only dog I have owned that I consider great... Its hard to not want to show her off. All the dogs I run with are slower than her which is good because now she is gaining confidence in pushing the rabbit she will leave the others and pull away... and the check work has been absolutely outstanding, I mean WOW

I may just go to the show a few times and do the bench.. being a puppy the 10pts can add up fast for the show ch and I'm no good at showing a dog yet so I need all the free points I can get. its not that she isn't good enough to win, i just can't get her legs straight enough on the bench cause she has puppy legs still...

My dogs are also my pets so I feel like she is my little girl who just made her first basket or something.. I know its just a dog at a trial that really doesn't mean much but it sure is fun even if somethings are quirky about they. I'm naturally a pretty competitive person but this feels more like I am just out coaching rooting for the team. I make it a point to tell everyone what I like about there dogs and say good job when they pick up a hard check or come through the line first....

[Bobby Vest]

Mo beagler I personally think you are making a mistake with your young hound. She is yours and do what you like with her. The reason I say this is I have seen more nice young dogs messed up by trialing them at too young an age. She has her whole life ahead of her you don't have to push her yet. You are wanting her to compete against older more experienced dogs and it's easy to mess up a nice young hound. If you take your time and bring her along right you will have plenty of time to trial her. It sounds like she is a nice young prospect, and it's easy for a young dog to pick up a lot of bad habits trialing them too soon. Good luck with her and enjoy her for years to come. I'm just trying to help and it comes from experience not just hear say. Good luck.

[eddywilliams]

Bobby you said it ! I try to tell some fellas I know to be patient ,they have Tuna pups that have been chasing rabbits since about 4 mos old .They like them so well they keep running with older dogs more than one and want to put them in hunts at a year old all the while putting undo pressure on them is hurting them at this age than it is helping them .Lay em up a bit fellas I usually ont trial them till close to two years old .

[Bunnyblaster]

What would you fellas say to someone who says if they can't handle the pressure then I don't want them anyway???

Sorry we're hijacking you're thread MO. I really do think it's great that she placed!

[Chippewa01]

I also agree with the two above post. I havent been trialing very long but one thing i did pick up on qucik was that a very nice young dog can get riuned very quickly. I agree with eddy i lean more towards two years old to begin the series campaigning.

[Mo. Beagler 5000]

No prob BB stuff I need to learn this stuff.....

i just have a hard time seing how a weekend trial can do serious damage... heck she only lost first on a lucky strike one time and missed winners pack by 5 points the first time. she lead them around most of the time

but again i'm tryin not to make my own mind up. i just never thought even for a second she would get anything i just knew she could pick up checks and was fast with some good line control and wasnt a real good jump dog my whole goal was to just get past the 5 minute mark and make it through the hunt...

i do know that if someone entered a really really bad dog it might do bad but so far they all seemed ok dogs except extra mouth seems to be rewarded in ukc WAY TO MUCH and mya is getting mouthyer everyday but i don't know if its just because she is growing up and is confident now cause her mom is mouthy

[2500 HD]

Hey Mo 5000, It did no harm to test the waters and find out you have a good young dog that can get it done, but these guys are right. Take your time with her. Weekend trialing both days, week in and week out is alot of pressure on a young hound. From my eperience there is no replacement for a little age and you will have that much better dog at 2 yr. old. I trialed hard last year and hit about 40 trials. I Championed 3 open dogs , granded my champ, and won the North region HOY with him (he had 10 champ wins) in ARHA PP. Two of the open dogs where young. My female was 1 1/2 yr old when she won her 1st hunt. With in 8 hunts (2 day weekend hunts) she got picked up more than she stayed down. Pressure got to her and she couldn't keep her head straight. We have to have 2 wins to finish to champ, so I quit trialing her for 2 months and then only entered her 1 day of the weekend once in a while. Come fall when she was 9 months older, She controlled herself better and claimed her 2nd win. After seeing this I only trialed my Young Male ( same age as the female) Here and there to get him use to the environment of the trial. He came out in the fall full force and ran great. He won back to back trials in Dec. making Champ. I guess what these guys are saying is don't look at what place you got at the trial. Look at what your hound did at the trial and go on from there. Pay attention to small details, things like the back tracking, etra mouth, "hope they don't hit a deer". If your worried she will fall for another hounds mistakes then she is not ready to trial full time. You work harder to fix a mistake picked up from the other hounds than getting it right first!!!!! Good Luck.