The American Beagler Forum

Ihave amale that has been started since he was 6 months old. He is gonna make a year old this month,lots of hunt,no quit in him, knows what a rabbit is just does not bark hardly at all. Do i need to run him by himself,will he ever open up like he should? When he does bark he has a beautiful voice. What should I do any advice would help. PLEASE HELP ME.

I'd hang on to him and run him as much as I could with a couple of dogs, I have a female that will be 7 in August that started at 8 months but didn't start opening a lot until about 1.5 to 2 years old. She is a fine dog now, never ran off game and opens right.

From what I've been taught by the guys on this board , you will need to solo him some and solo him some more . He will gain confidence hopefully
and start using his mouth properly . If you have been running him with faster stronger hounds it will cause him to silence .


Goodluck ,
Buddy

what do you want from you dog? Is he honest mouth or no mouth.Will he open when the rabbit is up at all ? lets hear some more about what he is doing. I HAD a walkie talkie my 6 yr old called a radio. (FUNNY TO HEAR HIM) my dan dog is med fast . he will not open till the rabbit is up. When he opens shoulder your gun.

He will open if he sees the rabbit or is real close to the rabbit,he has a very honest mouth the rabbit is definitely up and running he just barks every now and then.

Run him solo or with dogs that he can have the lead regularly.The good tight mouthed dogs I know of wont open a lot unless they have the lead.I like a tight mouth dog because you know exactly whats going on in the pack when you cant see them,they generally dont cold trail at all and dont mess up a pack with their babbling in the check.A tight young dog will open up more and more with confidence and experiance but will always be tight.Also,don't let anyone tell you it has to do with a sub-par nose....nonsense.

Buckeye bob-hit the nail on the head, thats how I like them Ken

Down side of tight mouth is he will slip or steal the line and run it a long ways before he opens. That ain't so bad, but it will cause his packmates to lose focus on what they should be doing in a check. They will be nervous about him stealing the line and getting way ahead. I have 2 like that now and too little mouth can be almost as bad as too much. A dog should tongue always, and only, when making progress on a true line. Running it just a little ways to make sure is not a bad fault, much preferable to tongueing the same footprint over and over.

One of my first dogs was a male I got for $15 (this was the 50's) and he was a good one but only tongued every 20 -30 yards which was why he was so cheap. He could solo for hours and was a good jump dog. He never got any more mouth and I kept him til he died.

im with the other guys on solo time
ya cant give em enough of it
try some vitamins
i have a dog out of jasper with the same problem and only needs a win to champion
and vitamins are helping him

The biggest mistake I ever made with a hound was to let one go that had only one thing I didn't like and that was that he was too tight. An old houndsman told me that by the time he was 3-3-1/2 yr. old he would be just right. I let him go and he was right. WHen a good rabbit hound gets some experience, he will open more.

I'm with Ramey, lets not hold trial on a hound that not a confirmed thief. I'll bet this is a case of a young hound just not sure of himself yet. A steady diet of rabbit tracks and pack work is likely to bring him 'round...

As I get more into just running what pleases me I have found that I enjoy a dog thats a bit tight on the jump. Of what I have here at the house now I can say if one opens the chase is on or will be shortly. The female that I am most fond of did at an early age slip the line a bit, but as someone said age does help alot. At 3 y/o she is a tough little girl.

I Have a couple sisters that will be two in July and they are both tight mouthed. When they open up the rabbit is up in front of them. They run no trash and are very honest with their mouth although I personally would like some more talking on the track.


Grizzle

Tight mouth, loose mouth. I prefer dogs with a correct mouth. I don't like tight mouths nor do I like babblers. I prefer a dog that has a good mouth and isn't afraid to express himself when he smells a good track.

Let's not forget about brains. A dog must have a good brain that can distinguish between an old track and a fresh track or to give extra good mouth when he's close on a rabbit. I have a dog who's big bawl mouth changes to a rough, loud, raspy chop when he gets close on a rabbit. I thought there was a strange dog running 50 yards ahead of the pack. If I had not seen it I wouldn't have known it was him. I have owned several bloodlines that were tight mouthed. The breeder told me their noses and mouth would line up and be in sync when they hit 2.5-3 years old. Well, they didn't stay. I had pups that could claim a check and run a line at one year old, so why wait for a dog to develop when I had pups the same age doing it now? Exactly, the tight mouth dogs left. Not saying they didn't develop into good dogs later, but I was always taught that a bird in hand beats two in the bush.

Some dogs will develop more mouth later, some won't. Some dogs have loose mouths as pups but tighten up as they get older and run more. Some don't. You have to know the line of dogs you're running. If not you could be wasting valuable time. I know, been there, done that.

Let me add, it all depends on what your goals are, what you expect out of a dog and what you're willing to tolerate from a dog. I'm very critical of dogs I feed and run, I want perfection or as close to it as I can get. However, perfection in my eyes may not be the same in someone else's

sounds like a pretty good hound to me,But the big question here is does he suit you? And really you are the only one he has to satisfy,Denny