The American Beagler Forum

we're under constant debate among friends about our hounds. i'm looking for everyones input to the question above. do you favor your front running dog that controls 75% of the chase. or your best check dog that may run toward the end of the pack but recovers 75% of the hardest checks. this is from a hunting view standpoint. were talkin rabbit dogs today. what do you consider your most valuable pack hound and why?

Excellent topic! I look forward to reading the replies!!!
Personally I currently enjoy my front end dog because every chase is exciting....hot....and heavy! I love the pressure this dog puts on a rabbit.
On a running rabbit... this dog is hard to handle!!! But I've also saw him look silly on those rabbits that just don't want to get up and go!

I only have two hounds, both bitches and both are 10 months. One doesn't have the nose or patience to work out the tough checks most times, but my squall mouth bitch has the nose to do it. I am running right now in highs of -10 celsius with about 18" of snow, if it weren't for my little squall mouth bitch we wouldn't run anything, so I'll take nose and patience over foot anyday JMHO.

I prefer my front running dogs, because I like that strong drive and effort to catch the rabbit. I think everyone is looking for that happy medium between speed and control, people just have diffrent ideas where that medium is. Some start with speed and try to get more nose (me), others start with nose and try to get more speed. Thats why I prefer my beagles that run up front, that is where I started and I hold the traits of those dogs most important. JMO!!!

Sandy Valley,
So where does your new dog fit in? I would say he probably has more nose and looking for speed isn't he? Hope everything is going well.

Mike

I prefer a hound that consistently gets the tough checks.... Almost all races have checks and if you can't find a dog that will recover it you will be on and looking for the next rabbit in a hurry.... That doesn't mean your front runners can't recover the check because I have seen some awful good front running dogs that can gobble up the checks too.... My only problem is when those front runners start creating some checks that a little flatter speed hound wouldn't have had....

I would have to go with the jump dog because without that rabbit nothing else matters, seems to me that it is easier to get a pretty good track and check dog than it is to get that decent jump dog. JMHO.

Jeff

Hey, he's doing very well, still knocking the rust off of him. You are absolutely right, he has more line control than speed. Thats why I want to breed him to some of our female to try to keep our speed, and get a little tighter line control.

Also, I was going to edit my last post to replace the word nose with line control. I don't think it's fair (even though I accidently wrote it) to say speed means less nose, we have some pretty fast dogs that have plenty of nose, but I believe you do some lose some line control.

It depends on which day.
I have one that is the "do not leave at home" dog, but have others that turn it on certain days under certain conditions.

To me teh most important thing is hunt and the ability to find a rabbit to run. Where I hunt, rabbits are generally few and far between. Four chases a day is not uncommon. The best day this year was 11 chases.
So I need a dog to find a rabbit, then be able to run it. I don't like a skirting/slashing dog.

I have an older gip that will shine on days when the scenting is tough.
She will dig around on a track and turn it into a rabbit after other dogs work through the area and move on. If she is working a track and call, she will start to whine and wimper. I know to give her time to figure it out. We have left her behind because she was too busy to come in, and 45 minutes later we hear her running a rabbit by herself. We then had to go back to her and get the other dogs in on the chase. She has done that quite a few times. On days where the scenting is good and heads up running, she is too slow on the track (med speed) to contribute.

I have been hunting one of my neighbor's dog this season. The dog is T Farmer, and he is definitely a "do not leave at home" dog. Very powerful, honest mouth, and tons of hunt. I have a little gip that is coming on nicely and I feel that in a year or two she will be the "do not leave at home" dog. She shows up every day to work hard and not quit.

I have one running male and two bitches, along with a couple of pups. My male is "my most valuable hound". He's the front runner, and really drives the rabbit, but he is also my best jumpdog and retrieves all the bunnies for me, even if it means fighting another dog for it. I will say however, the hunt is much more pleasurable if you have a good check dog along too, Trot can lose a check trying to cheat and sometimes it seems like he's never going to find it.

I have a young male that consistently jumps rabbits. When I am loading up to go, he gets the nod a lot of the time because of that.

I like the fast running front end dog but I think most of the time the fast front running dog seems to get the most checks as well.

I like fast dogs but very few can do it without causing unecessary checks. A front runner must clean up his share of the checks or he will be looking for a new home......Ive only seen two dogs run the front and still get the majority of checks.....JR's Top Gun Tyke and Rob Fullers Tails dog......both dogs owned the front, and it was rare for either dog to get outchecked.....Im still in search of mine, and expect to go through many dogs to find it.........!

i too like my front runners that pressure the rabbit.however if they dont pick it up pretty quick my slower hound will. i'm thankful that i have dogs that can cover both ends. i also think it doesn't really matter as long as they can circle it till you can kill it. they are responsible for their game. have to have that jump dog in our pack too, on days when the're sittin tight i'm glad shes there. nice posts guys! i love to hear from other beaglers out there. it opens up new ideas to everyone. thanks!!!

When I go gunning my best jump dogs go with me!!!!!!!!!!