The American Beagler Forum

I plan on attending a few trials (arha, ukc) next spring with a gyp that is now 13 months old. I am gun hunting her this season as part of finishing her off. Here is my question.

Do you guys do anything special when finishing a young dog to prepare them for trials.

I race horses for a living so I understand physical needs for stamina and conditioning, but I am wondering if I need to be working on the mental demands that come with competition. How do you finish a hound for trials?

greg
neat question. Try to expose the bitch to as many diverse and common occurances that you would expect her to be exposed to. She might not kennel with others or travel well. Try to keep all as normal or make it that way as all dogs dont react the same.I would love to have a dog shrink on staff for some of the problems ya run into but best try to keep it simple and regular . L&S monk same routine different place

Hunt her with as many different dogs as possibile.

solo,solo,solo then take her and solo some more,especialy if she is to be ran arha lp.teach her to leave the check erea strong on her own if she waits for another dog to reasure her the other dog will take the check.solo time builds their confidence to where they run like they are the only dog there.you need a good check dog to compete in lp.

Is a hound that is run by itself all the more likely to fall apart or choke under the pressure when it comes time to run with 20 or more hounds trying to do the same thing when it gets to the big show? Ive never trialed or even been to one, however wouldnt it be practical to have the hound experienced in the same circumstances one would expect it to perform to its maximum potential?

solo alot and also run it with different dogs then it is used to running with in ukc they either run in 4 or 5 dogs packs depending on format. When you think your dog is ready go to couple of small trials to get both your feet wet. If I take a young dog to a trial i dont expect alot the first couple of times some dogs need to adjust to travel and running with different dogs. They will get better with age and experience. good luck

Good Tips so far
Solo for confidence
Pack with alot of strange Dogs
and this is a biggie get her used to somebody walking up on her while she is running and going with her that sometimes scares alot of young dogs.

When they say strange ..... I would say strange to her not to you. No trash probably goes unsaid but, some people I have seen run with anything people bring. I would probably take her to a couple of trials without the entry just so she get used to it and you have the freedom to figure out what is transpiring during the day. This way you will be at ease when the time comes and she will pick up on that. I have taken young dogs twice and when I return with the older dog I was running, the younger one had pulled the stake out of the ground luckily they were caught both times and tied up when I asked aorund just different location. Get a Kennel cough shot just to be on the safe side.

Good luck ,
ps you might look up a UKC PP Hunt,
cya, Hunter

jeffro wrote:Good Tips so far
Solo for confidence
Pack with alot of strange Dogs
and this is a biggie get her used to somebody walking up on her while she is running and going with her that sometimes scares alot of young dogs.

very good tip,i had a dog that was skiddish around strangers so i would have different people run along like a judge till he got used to it.

Hey Monk, send me one like the one Swamp Dawg is braggin on, the one that ran her first cottontail 45 minutes check free.... 13 inch or under, please

Larry I am sucked dry ahhhhhhh aint no more here that are going anywhere. Might find ya a hoser or mischief pup that is the right size. young and vigorous but doubt she would ahhhhhhh she is pounding em now. L&S monk

OK I might go try to beat Swamp out of his.... better take some serious money, I guess.

Thanks for the info guys. Jeffro, that was a heck of a tip. I would have never taken the judges effect on the dogs into account. After reading your post last night, I ran along with this gyp this morning and couldn't believe how much it disrupted her at first. I can imagine that a stranger would have a real effect. This is something we will have to work on.