The American Beagler Forum

I am fairly new to beagling and I have a two year old beagle that was started late and this is his first hunting season. Before we had snow on the ground he ran great, short checks long runs and few losses. Then we got snow here in Newyork and I,ve run the dog on the snow and he looks like a fool. We first had about two inches of snow and he was still running pretty good. Then we got about six inches and it froze on the surface and he couldn't stay on a rabbit, and at a check he would run back on the line about twenty feet and start over again and not able to work thrue the check, didn't look good. Today we had warm weather and the snow started to melt on the surface and he ran a little better, at about noon it got really warm and the snow was really wet l again. My question is, is this normal for a young dog on his first year on snow? And also what are the easest conditions for a dog to run on? Is it bare ground with warm temps or snow etc. What are the best scenting conditions. I've been running this dog solo and he has a lot of hunt and runs well but so far on snow he's a little disappointing....Deerhost

Yep. That's normal. Avoid running the pup with dogs real proficient in the conditions if she isn't managing to run on it solo. The time a young dog spends working hard tracks will pay off as soon as scenting improves. Still give her lots of praise and keep it fun for her. She is trying and will get better. I have some young dogs and can relate. Still taking them for the physical conditioning and experience. They jump them and on the worst days only run them a few hundred yards. They seem as dissapointed as I am. Have seen improvement and then it warmed up for a couple of days and they looked better than ever.

Don't get to depressed, I think a lot of dogs are like that. I have a young dog that was doing great until the weather got cold and the snow got deep. She struggled for a couple times out. I just kept bringing her and she got a little better each time out. The more you run them in those bad conditions the better they'll get. That's just been my experience. Then, when conditions get good, they'll really do well. I think if there's snow on the ground it's better when it's warm and the snow gets soft. Dry, powdery snow, or snow with a crust seems to be more difficult for the dogs get any scent on. Same thing for bare ground. I think when its damp or a little wet it's a better day for running on. Just my opinions. Good luck with your hound.

Thanks for your input ........Much appreciate it. Makes me feel a little better.

I've been wondering for years, is it training/conditioning in snowy, icy conditions...or is it more genetics? I guess we just don't run our hounds as much as we should come bad weather, because we have the genetics..! It has to be just getting them used to those conditions..!?

It's all relative. Running dogs in any condition you'll find ones that are naturals and you'll find ones that manage to hold their own thru experience. With cold and snow it's no different. There are the elite, very few that are proficient at it and then there are rest that for the most part are mediocre but with constant exposure get better as they gain more experience.

NorWester wrote:It's all relative. Running dogs in any condition you'll find ones that are naturals and you'll find ones that manage to hold their own thru experience. With cold and snow it's no different. There are the elite, very few that are proficient at it and then there are rest that for the most part are mediocre but with constant exposure get better as they gain more experience.

Very well said....