Show Beagles qualify in Hunt Test!!

Bob Huffman · Post by **Bob Huffman** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 3:59 pm

Cindy--- She is not the ideal but is part of the recipe. She is a light as I get on color and I have the dark mascare eye and tricolor etc. She has pups and you see they are all darker than she is. They usually breed toward the average of the family. I used her because of her extreme ability and her desire to please, handle, toughness and solid temperment. remember in the future that when you find great traits, you must preserve them and breed the fault out later. If you don't breed the great trait it may be lost and very hard to recapture. In her case she was such a great handler and wanted to please plus with her ability I had to use her in the strain. She could have a much prettier head but the good part is that 2 of her pups are probably going to be the best looking dogs I have raised. They are very fine haired and slick, marked perfect and great bodies. They will have better heads than her etc. She was only 6 months in those pics and her head took on more depth with age. She is also open spotted but most of mine are blanket and saddle back tricolor although I have the buff, blue or grey and lemon in the stain. The buff is a diluted lemon I think and very pretty but I can't afford to breed for just that. FLattery will get you everywhere.LOL

Alabama John · Post by **Alabama John** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 4:34 pm

Bob
Ain't Cindy Purdy!!! Bet she talks funny though. All of a sudden you sure can talk that show dog talk.

Honey Pot Hounds · Post by **Honey Pot Hounds** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 4:46 pm

Bob,
I have seen open spotted Beagles that have won their conformation Championships. It is not common but even at the shows the old saying is "A good hound can't be a bad color." I have inquired amongst my show Beagler friends to see if there is any record of a Blue Tick completing a conformation Championship with no feedback so far. Now that is a dog I'd love to see!

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 5:12 pm

Color is my last priority in dogs regardless of breed every thing else comes first.Then when color is considered I want a dark eye first that keeps your pigment.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 7:11 pm

Hey John Where ya been?? I like a pretty dog and can talk that show talk good!!!!! I like pretty women too and pretty horses. It came down to this thru the years. If I had 2 dogs of equal chance to reproduce what I wanted and one was ugly and the other was pretty, I always chose the pretty one to breed. To do that you must have lots and lots of dogs to choose from and I do and have. I raise them up to 8 or 9 weeks and then give them to hunters and if they pan out, I breed them. Its pretty simple and lots of fun and after years you get what you want in a hunting dog. I have had lots of practice now and can save a lot of time and grief not making the mistakes I made in the past. Don't get me wrong, it is still a challenge and you never know when things will go to heck but right now I am pretty satisfied with my strains ability. I have to do inbreeding to weed out some more of the bad that has tagged along but that is part of the fun of it. Roll Tide!!

Bob Huffman · Post by **Bob Huffman** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 7:13 pm

above was me.

Alabama John · Post by **Alabama John** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 7:39 pm

Bob

I was just kidding you and trying to get a rise out of "new to the board" Cindy.

I know you know what you're doing and are very successful doing it with your beagles and the horses.

Reminds me of a parade and everyone talking about how pretty the horse is coming down the street. The blind man says " I bet it's fat and slick, isn't it". Some things are a given to look better in a pretty beagle too, whether a show or field dog.

I'm still coming out next fall with two of my sons and bringing our 'ol dogs.

At my age all women take anything you say nice to them as a compliment as they know how harmless you really are.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:02 pm

Mr John I knew you were cutting up with me and I like it. These northern folks are kind of uptight. You get right up here and we will blast the heck out of things next year. I don't have no kudzu but I can make them wind splitter of yours work like heck. Maybe you wouldn't mind bringing my old buddy bruce Myrick up with you if he paid for the gas. Or Billy Bagwell--you can get hold of him at Bagwell Auto parts in B'ham. He was my next door neoghbor and best friend in Gardendale and is around 50 years old now. Yes I try to breed the total Beagle but it ain't easy and am still trying. My last girlfriend had million dollar looks and ten cent brain. I am still looking!!

Jamie Rice · Post by **Jamie Rice** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 10:19 pm

Bob,
I have seen open spotted Beagles that have won their conformation Championships. It is not common but even at the shows the old saying is "A good hound can't be a bad color." I have inquired amongst my show Beagler friends to see if there is any record of a Blue Tick completing a conformation Championship with no feedback so far. Now that is a dog I'd love to see!

I'd love to see a true bluetick competing for an AKC conformation title as well. Over on the National Beagle Club's site there's a picture of one under where they're listed the different colors of beagles. I think the hound in the picture, which is a bluetick, is from England.

Best of luck to everyone with their hounds no matter where they compete, whether it be show or field.

Lefgren-Lane · Post by **Lefgren-Lane** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 1:59 pm

Bob good looking hounds, except take the wifes advice and find a home for the first one you posted a pic of. (Unless you know how it will look when mature etc., etc. and need to keep for some particular reason, hunt etc.)

Nothing wrong with the eye color on the others. To quote the Standard that Cindy posted (Eyes: ------"of a brown or hazel color.") There is nothing in the Standard that calls for a "dark eye".

What everyone needs to remember is that the vast majority of AKC Show ring judges have never seen a beagle hunt, run etc. and most of them have not seen and will not see as many beagles in a year as most on here will see in one weekend at a Field Trial regardless of registry. There is not one AKC Judge that is now alive or has been alive in the last 25 years that I would allow to pick out what I was going to breed. They might be able to tell me what can win in the ring, but virtually none of them are qualified to pick the sires and dams of the next generation.

Consider that a very very busy AKC Show judge does 30 weekends a year which means the aboslute max number of times they can judge beagles would be 30. Normally they would be assigned beagles about half that. So they have beagles 15 times. Not all shows will have beagles entered, so if they can draw an entry say they actually have beagles to judge 10 times in a year. In some of those cases it may be as few as one or up to about 20 or so. We will average and say 10 for the 10 shows or about 100 enteries. Most judges will get most of thier assignments in a particular region, geographic area etc. so often out of that 100 enteries a year there are going to be quite a few duplicates which will cut the actuall number of different hounds seen down to probably actually 35 to 60 or so. Not many, and this would be a very busy judge. Most will never judge 30 weekends or be assigned beagles as mnay as 15 times a year. The average judge would actually probably be assigned beagles less that 5 times a year, which means that most of them will actually see less than 30 or so beagles in a years time. (These are the conformation experts that are picking the so-called best "for improvement of the breed", laughable.) Recognize the show ring for what it is, just like AKC Brace trials, it is a fun and interesting GAME, that has very little if any connection to building a fine running/hunting hound that is best described by the words " A Miniature Foxhound, solid and big for his inches, with the wear-and-tear look of a hound that can last in the chase and follow his quarry to the death."

Bob Huffman · Post by **Bob Huffman** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 6:43 pm

Good post! Went today with one dog and shot 9. I never took a gun and let my buddy Josh do all the shooting. I went to my dream spot where the rabbits aren't too thick nor too thin. Just right for a good hunt and you can see what is going on as it is grown up fence rows. The farmer was just picking the last of the 200 acres or so of his beans. Its pretty late to still be picking beans but he never gets in a big hurry and it help hold the rabbits. I take a 5 gallon bucket to sit on and watch the action. I cut the heads off and the innards and pack them in my bucket and we brought out 8. It was 50 degrees and mostly clear with a 10 mph wind. Every rabbit was run to the gun by little Sadie and she is a pro at this deal. WHAT A GREAT DAY IN THE FIELD. This is better than dinner and a show!!!

Honey Pot Hounds · Post by **Honey Pot Hounds** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:03 am

Alabama John wrote:Bob

I was just kidding you and trying to get a rise out of "new to the board" Cindy.

At my age all women take anything you say nice to them as a compliment as they know how harmless you really are.

LOL, but Alabama John that "purdy" lady with the short silver hair handling the Beagle in my avatar is not me. She is a friend though.....if you are truly interested maybe I could hook ya'all up? She has about 10 hounds herself

I am the one standing next to her and the man in the Red Sox cap is my husband...who used to hunt and skin squirrels as a teen (YUCK!!!!!) so I guess he is an honorary Beagler considering he helps support my hounds and has hunted little varmits....

At our age (over 30) all us women appreciate most compliments we get too!

Alabama John · Post by **Alabama John** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:55 pm

Cindy

Bob is the one needing help.

How far is she from Iowa? I think his number is BR549.

Good dogs would be a big plus too.

Honey Pot Hounds · Post by **Honey Pot Hounds** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:06 pm

Oh she goes to Iowa for dog shows ALL THE TIME!! Cool! I'm calling her now!
I better change my avatar before all the lonely guys start posting, LOL!!!
Thanks for Bobs number

Bob Huffman · Post by **Bob Huffman** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 3:53 pm