Snow Dogs

[poorshot]

Sorry to start this topic again. But i would like to know what line of beagles to look at for hunting on snow. And cold weather, to best describe it think about running your dog in the frezzer, lots of ice and cold here in Maine. and if you know a good blodline who would I get in touch with??
thanks for your time!! poorshot

[RES]

Have you tried the Branko line of dogs? I would imagine that they have as much snow in Canada as anyone else. They have a website that will often list dogs for sale. Good luck!

[Emery]

I don't know that any particular line runs better than the other on snow. I have found that you just need to give your dogs time to adjust to the conditions. Prime example is when I first moved out to Idaho from Illinois. My dog couldn't do squat. Way too dry here, only 9 inches of precip per year compared to 30-40 inches in Illinois. It took some time to adjust. Now when I go back home to Wis and hunt, my dog sounds like a babbling fool. She will cold trail a rabbit and the other dogs won't honor her until she gets it up and running. I haven't had time back in Wis. to completely let her adjust to the moisture, however, she gets better with time. I have also hunted her in the bitter cold and snow in Wis and she has done as well as the other dogs that live there...

Keep 'em running,
Emery

[Ed]

You have alot of good snow dogs in your region. To mention two right off top of the noggin: Branko's Red Baba-Don owned by Doug Beyor of Vt.
Briapatch Black Boone owned by Ed & Deb Brown of Vt
You can get in touch with me at Harehunter@adelphia.net and I could come up with some more. I hunt Maine alot during winter months as well as NH and Vt.

[Guest]

IFC GREENBRIER BIRCHHAVEN MERLIN
He died last Nov. but his stud add is still on Beagles Unlimited.
I never saw him run but I heard from a reliable source that he was awsome on snow & ice.

[snowshoehareguide]

poorshot if you want to know of a snow hound thats real easy . there are lots of individual snowhounds in a lot of different bloodlines. dogs above are good advice. if your looking for a line that produces a real lot of them im not so sure. i saw a young pup out of boone do a great job just lately. seems like the whole northeast is looking for a snow hound. anyways email me or PM im trying to buy a pup myself . ive heard of some litters planned that could be good. id like to hear alot more about this subject. anybody that knows of any lines producing snow hounds please get in touch with me. this is about my favorite subject. i think its kind of funny that you would have to apologize for starting this subject again. if i have my choice my dogs feet never touch bare ground. i run almost exclusively on snow. i might even have a pup for you if your not concerned about papers. i just have grade dogs and crossbred dogs. at least so far. pete

[Novice]

I agree with pete here I believe that the most important quality to look for in a pup that will make a good snow dog is INTELIGENCE I have had one good snow dog she was out of Striker breeding from maine. She had the brains to look for the traks in the snow and not waste time looking for scent where there wasn't any she also won a trial in a snow storm where she looked like asnow plow pushing the fresh snow that was falling. she didn't start out as a good snow dog she learned to be an outstanding snow dog. so that is why I say that they need INTELIGENCE over all so they know what to do with the other talents they have. good luck in you search I would look where you live for dogs that can handel the conditions you hunt.

[swampmusic]

POORSHOT THIS IS A GOOD SUBJECT.I THINK YOU DO HAVE TO LOOK FOR THE RIGHT BLOOD LINES TO HAVE AN ABOVE AVERAGE SNOW DOG. THERE ARE ALOT OF DOG'S THAT CAN LOOK REAL GOOD ON BARE GROUND AND NOT GOOD AT ALL ON SNOW,SNOW DOGS ARE OF A DIFFERENT STRAIN OF DOGS ALL TOGETHER.I HAVE SEEN ALL THE ABOVE HERE IN THE NORTHEAST KINGDOM.AT THIS PRESENT TIME I HAVE THREE YOUNG DOG'S RUNNING ON SNOW.TWO OF THEM DOING REAL GOOD FOR THERE AGE,AND ONE THAT JUST STARTED THE OTHER WEEK AND THAT WAS IN MAINE.ALL I CAN SAY IS TRUST PETE'S JUDGE MENT BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW ANY ONE ELSE THAT HONESTLY HUNTS MORE ON SNOW THEN HIM OR HUNTS PERIOD.I THINK NOVICE IS RIGHT CHECK YOUR AREA FOR DOG'S AND FIND OUT IF THIS DOG'S RUNNING ON SNOW,BUT WHAT ABOUT HIS MOTHER AND FATHER AND GRAND PARENTS WERE THEY SNOW DOG'S TOO AND SO ON.GOOD LUCK WITH ALL OF IT DANNY.

[guest]

I'd like to thank the person who posted above for the recognition of IFC Greenbrier Birchhaven Merlin. While it's true that most dogs grow in ability after they're gone, Merlin was the best snow hound I ever saw. Never saw a day here in Maine you couldn't shoot hare off him. He was one of the few that not only took the field trial world by storm, but was even better under the gun. His offspring for the most part inherited his exceptional nose, if not his speed. I've been fortunate enough to have some other first rate snow hounds in my kennel from time to time, notably IFC Cool Running Sonic and IFC Melanson Ranger Dan, though I never had Dan here during winter. Mojave Desert- Mill River Sarge, who currently is living with Bev, was exceptional on snow his first season in the woods. The reality is that most every serious hunter in the north country has some pretty good snow hounds or he's sunk when conditions get tough, as they are right now. Many of these rarely, if ever see a trial. Lots of these dogs don't have what it takes to win LP trials but will defeat many FCs when the going gets tough. Most of my own personal hounds are from Maritime Canada bloodlines where they know a little about snow hounds too. There are plenty out there but field trials are not neccesarily the best place to find them. Best to go run with a breeder in your area and see how their hounds look; but keep in mind that there are many days when very few dogs look good. When you see hounds who can drive a hare when others can hardly open, you're seeing the real deal.

[poorshot]

thanks guys I will keep looking for the right bloodlines it may take awhile but it will be worth it THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS

[Guest]

FTCH Fillmore's Northern Sly, produced many like himself with brains and nose the main ingredient being needed for snowrunning. One thing I don't here mentioned enough is feet and fur. Your snowdog needs very tough feet to be able to run regularlly in bad conditions,I find the thicker fur also keeps the tails from bleeding also.Slys line keeps the feet and fur you want, I don't personally like bloody tails and feet,even if the dog runs great they are sore and losing blood all the time. Besides its ugly and somewhat cruel to beagles that just don't care about pain and bloodloss when running.Sly's not to far from you, up here in Novascotia.

[Guest]

http://www.online-pedigrees.com/cgi-bin ... ndex=16485

[Guest]

http://www.beaglescanada.com/FC%20Marav ... erjack.htm

[TomR]

Nose, Brains, desire and conditioning are the four key factors. A dog with the nose and brains along with the desire to find (run) the rabbit can only become exceptional if given the time afield during tough snow conditions. Most guys I know won't run in tough weather and will never know their hounds true potential. If you want good snow hounds feed them lots of COLD bunny tracks:) I mean cold as in cold weather! Pete, a Canadian bred beagle isn't the best hound to run on snow if your running cottontails. I would have to say a hound raised on Snowshoe hare won't fare with me on cottontails in northern Indiana. You might check out some guys in Michigan (lower) that run cottontail and hare. Cottontails on snow are much more of a challenge and take more nose and brains than running snowshoes. I really think there is a true distinction between cottontail and hare bred hounds. Several generations raised, trained and culled running snowshoe will result in the best hounds in those conditions running that type of cuarry. A beagle bred to run fox would be another example. Here in the north of Indiana we have those little cottontails with hare conditions during hunting season. I think that makes for the toughest cottontail hunting around. Maybe I should move two hundred miles north where I could get into some of those big rabbits!:) TomR http://www.homestead.com/rusneckbeagles/main.html

[Chris]

Cottontails on snow are much more of a challenge and take more nose and brains than running snowshoes.

I think you're way off on that one. From my own experiences, I've found it much easier to run cottontails (if they'll stay up and run) during tough snow going, than it is with hare. Cottontails seem to be happy keeping a certain distance between them and the dogs; while hare will often flat outrun (track is cold before dog ever gets there) a dog when he's struggling to find the track. Tracks aren't as far apart, maybe a couple feet as opposed to 8 or 10 feet with a bounding hare -- tracks closer together are a real plus for the dog when there's no air scent to speak of. Plus the fact that 8 out of 10 cottontail dogs that come up here to run hare do a real nice job on bare ground, but can't hardly run a hare when it's tough winter going. The owner's are astonished and say things like, 'I swear, these dogs would run steady on the same conditions at home, and on a cottontail.'. Just my observations.

The original question was about a line of dogs know for tough snow running. Fact is, I know of no line (I've done some hefty looking, too) -- only a few individual dogs. Sorry to break the news.