ALI-BABA

[J.C. Blair]

Been some pretty good reading so far. Enjoyed it guys. To each his own. I got a direct son of Baba, that will die at my house. I've ran with a couple of his littermates too and I'd have to say they all performed well, no extra mouth and no quit in them. I'll take my chances breeding my male. I'd have to say his best quality is that he doesnt get rattled by a crazy pack of dogs, he just runs his rabbit. Clean runnin and can turn the line when the rest of the pack over shoots.

Different strokes for different folks,
Blair

[BriarCreekBeagles]

I don't crap from shinola really when it comes to blood lines cause i ain't been into beagles long enough to learn but i've been around enough huntin dogs in my life to know what's a good one and what ain't, so all i can comment on is the hound that Ring's got out of Ali Baba and well........ he aint to bad for a soup hound! ROFLMBO .
So with that being said I'll just tell you I bred him to my potlickin gyp (oh man I hope she took) and I'm startin my own blood line CAMBELLS SOUPED UP SOUP HOUNDS LOL LOL! Ah man i'm killin myself i gotta quit.

On a serious note Ol' rings dog is a souper tuff hound and I hope my gyp did take cause it oughta be a really good cross from what i seen out of both hounds so all i got to say about Ali Baba is I hope I got some genies in the bottle if you know what i mean!

[Gang]

The grandaughter I had out of him was very nice and hunted with a vengence. No extra or early mouth but I had nothing that could run with her. I let a buddy have her who was getting into beagles and needed something that would hunt to help his other beagle along. Probably a mistake on my part but what are friends for. LOL

[drifter22no1]

To me, a dog is kinda like a piece of clay. When we make a cross we are just mixing the ingredients of the dogs that we
crossed, an if you are blessed, lucky, and have atleast logically chosen two dogs that have traits (ingredients) that
compliment one another, then you might end up with a good lump of clay to work with.

If your clay has the right ingredients you can push it this way and that way. You can pull a little here and pull it a little there. What we have to keep in mind is, when we pull it this way it is gonna create a thin spot or a small hole somewhere else. As the Potter, we have to determine if we can be satisfied with the thin spot or hole we have created. BE SURE, for every thickness that is increased there will be a hole.

Now we have to determine how many and how big the holes can get and us still be ok with the vessle. Different guys like dogs with different holes and some are willing to except holes on some places and some in others and then there are the guys that are looking for the dog with no holes.

I was at the Jesamine county trial several years back and met an old man from Lousiana, and he told me "all dogs have holes some have little holes and some have big holes but they all have holes, If you want a dog that is fast then you will sacrifice line control and create a hole. If you want line control you will sacrifice speed and create a hole, if you want fast check work you will sacrifice some of the line being ran and create a hole, etc.

Some formats are based on accomplishment over style and some formats are stictly based on style. Some say off game running wont hurt the hunt if you can control it and some say off game running is grounds for destroying the animal.

I have ran dogs with alot of guys and some dogs have cleaned my dogs clock and some hav'nt, some have ran a rabbit the way I like to see a dog run one and some run a rabbit in a fashion that I dont care for. I hope I can always walk away from running with someone and say I have enjoyed running with them and their company and as far as their dog goes they run a dog that runs a style I like or the style of dog they run is not what I like and just leave it at that.

Some days when I go running my dogs work makes me walk out of the field on the balls of my feet, (like my dad use to say) meaning feeling good and proud of them and some days I am flat footed, or disgusted with them and wondering if their neckbones are haired over (my dad used to ask me if my neck bone was haired over) meaning they have no head their hair just grows over their necknone. So my dogs have plenty of holes thats for sure.

As far as Ali-baba goes I know the dog did something right because he accomplished so much in the field himself and produced so many field winners. I've heard plenty of bad things about him as well as alot of dogs but all that tells me is sometimes their holes got the best of them. I would love for him to be around so I could try a cross to him as well as all the other big producers, The Elms Jigs Maggies Mate,Branko's Helliprop, Dingus Macrea, Adirondack Bobby, Round Pond Mr. T, Branko's Jack of all trades, Northway Spur, Northway Driver, Maravic's Bllue Ninja, etc. just to mention a very very few off the top of my head. I would sure love to have a bunch of females that go back to all these fine hounds to cross to some of the fine dogs of today to seewhat kinda clay I came up with.

My guess is that all of you have good dogs that suit you and can run a rabbit the way you like to see a rabbit ran and have been resposible for many rabbits being shot. I would like to meet you all and go running with you all an then I would sort you out by your holes lol.

[Nor' Easter]

We had some of his pups years ago and found they weren't the caliber of the other Branko dogs we had. Less hunt, stood around too much,and some shy ones. Seen others like that to. Sorry if you don't like the comment, I'm sure out of all the breedings that he had, there were some great ones also. Just not what we've seen.

[yellowdog]

brains brains brains...thats what baba through most of in my opinion..i got a grandpup of baba he is just a lil fella though..throw your biguns on him and see if he shakes or rattles...not gonna happen many have tried and many have failed...he may just shake your big hounds.... ...baba through brains in his hounds...from my eyes anyway....everybody has their opinions they are just like buttholes everbody has one

[ringtail]

well i have 2 grandaughters to heli prop and 1 of those 2 is also a grandaughter to lumberjack,,,,,,i have the son of ali-baba,,,,,,and ill tell you they cant be rattled,,,,they are sound hounds that could care less if other dogs over shot, cold trailed or is just ass barking they are sound hounds,,,,,

[BriarCreekBeagles]

I had my 2 month old ali baba grand pup (tuff gun Mr Breeze) out in the yard with the big dogs and he was snarlin and barkin like he owned the place, not to mention he drags a full grown cat around the house by the ear or neck. He don't much care as long as he gets ahold of him and woops the fire out of him. that old tom cat just runs for his life. I'd say there ain't gonna be no shakin this hound up. all i can say is them bunnies better get some overdrive before rabbit season comes back in cause i'd say he's gonna be a tuff one! woo wee run bunnies run

[Bev]

I love how the male dog gets all the credit, good or bad, lol. Even if he's just a grandsire one time in a dog's pedigree, any traits exhibited by said dog must without fail, be attributed to the well-known grandsire or sire, etc. Forget the other 31 dogs in the pedigree...it's ALL GRANDADDY'S FAULT.....(lol).

I don't have any direct experience with Ali-Baba, but my dogs have had their asses handed to them by a lot of his direct offspring. Mystery Man, for one. I had another friend on this board (an old hound guy who's hard to fool) say that although Ali-Baba was a good dog, his favorite of all Branko dogs was a direct son, Baba Cowboy. When topics like this come up and I don't have a lot of first-hand experience, I don't put in much, but I tend to take the common sense route before making "guess"itmations. Add up all the facts and factors and then decide.

1. No dog is perfect. Even those that seem perfect do strange things from time to time...especially when they are very young or very old, so consider the age of the dog you're evaluating.

2. Not all world-beaters are producers. Some average dogs are super producers, almost always throwing dogs better than themselves (I love it when this happens). There will only be one Ali-Baba, but there can be many offspring. If the majority of the offspring do well, especially given the diversity of the dams involved, one can say his overall contribution to the sport/breed was good.

3. Not all good producers will nick with everything. Even the best dog to the best bitch will often produce a disappointing litter. If this hasn't happened to you, you haven't bred enough dogs yet.

4. Consider the people behind the dogs. From the small amount of time I have been around the Krpans or talked them on the phone, or e-mailed back and forth with Frieda, I can tell you with no uncertainty that Branko will not hesitate to put a dog in the ground if it consistently shows a serious fault during his watch. As many good or "famous" dogs that have come from Brankos Beagles, you can bet a bunch more didn't make Branko's cut. It may seem by sheer numbers that they are putting everything they breed out on the circuit, but this is not the case. It's just that most of us don't have the facility, land, or time to produce dogs in the same numbers. There must be something redeeming about a dog for it to remain in their kennel...especially to die there as an old dog, and have straws drawn.

Everything being said, I'd say he was the real deal -- either as a hound or a reproducer, or both. Was he perfect? Most likely not, but he definitely made his mark on the sport. Not everyone will like a particular dog, or they will witness things that flat turn them off. For all the people who live and die by Turbo blood, I can give you a handful that wouldn't have it in their kennels. To each his own.

Look at the overall impact, not just one or two opinions because nobody can be everywhere all the time. Don't take the opinion of someone who "judged him at a trial one time" and make an assumption that the dog was 100% of who he was that day.

[Jack]

I have ran Ali-BaBa while at Branko's , while Branko was not there. One time Branko ask what we wanted to run and I said I would like to watch the stud dogs run. We loaded them and was fixin to go run when Branko got a call and he had business to take care of. He told my friend and myself to take the dogs and run them in one of his running pens. Pressure was applied that day in a big big way by one of those hounds called " Lumber Jack'. If Baba was in habit of poping off , he would of surely did it that day , because Lumber jack was in control. The most correct hound I have had was out of Ali-BaBa. She got too old for me and I let Branko have her back and she died in the fire.

[scootersjill]

dont know about ali-baba . but i have a female with ace in the hole,snoopy, major,tonto,little pete,big shot,dingus macrae,round pond mr.T. salt river wrinkle.bad cliff,scooter,jack of all trades, white blizzard and close call girl. wouldnt take a farm in georgia for her might talk about one in tenn. she is my little horse if she never wins a race.

[bill (flint river )]

thats was the holepoint of this topic, like it or not. he did some bad things for a month. was that his norm, prolly not, did he lose alot of respect yes. do i want that blood in my kennel no. i have learned alot of things from the guys from the north. i have alot of respect for terry Mcbride. he will flat tell u what he thinks and will not pull punshes. thats how i am.


we need a acurite count of how many times these hounds were bread and what they produced.i have a idea about ninja, and jack. but the rest no clue. i heard turbo was bread over 200 times, do i know this to be true. not really.

[PABeagler]

Has anyone else seen Ali-Baba run?

[BCM]

Yes I have ran Ali-Baba and he was excellent.

[PABeagler]

BCM,

Describe him to us.