The American Beagler Forum

just wondered everyones opinion on this. at what point does a dog run out of chances at your kennel? would a man be wrong for being honest with himself and giving up on a dog before he give it one last chance? lastly, when you do decide to give up, how many have kicked themselves for doing so? --- i refuse to make excuses for any dog

well heres my thoughts i know what i got in my kennel and what i don't got. I can pick every fault in my dogs but i don't beleave in a perfect hound so i think you have to know what faults you can live with. Now as far as when i give up on a dog well it depends on alot of things but i like to give most dogs until there 2yrs or sometimes 3yrs. but i want keep any dog that doesn't try and start by a year old. but dogs are funny i can recall 6month old pups that started great and was doing awsome by a year old and seemed then they started going down hill but on the other hand i can remeber alot of late starters that made better hounds. one fine example was a bought a 15 or 16 month old male once that the man said was started and was to hard headed for $30 well i worked with this dog for the next year or so hunted him hard 4 or 5 times a week and it just seemed like one day it just really turned on and he made one of the best dogs ive owned yet the same man that sold him to me offered me $800 when he turned 4yrs old said couldn't figure out why he let him go. it takes time and patience and some people don't have that. i don't get to run dogs as much as i did before so i know it takes me more time to develop a hound the way i like.

I think if a dog that has been given ample opportunities in the field, he should be showing you something by 2 years. If not then I would think about finding it a new home. Some folks have more patience, some less. Like jlboomer said, it also depends on what someone is willing to put up with.

Totally agree with the two above just said.
I had a male that was a year old and just no good at all in the woods. I had patience galore but I had to decide to either let him go to a pet home or keep crying about it everytime I took him out (3 days a week). It just wasn't working. Found a fantastic pet home, first hound I let go. It's hard to do but I had 2 others to concentrate on and trial plus a pup.

I usually give my young hounds 18 mos to show me something,But really most of us at this point know that our hounds should start by 8 or 9 mos. I guess it's hard to admit to ourselves that we do really have a bad one.I give my hounds every chance that I can but there comes a time when enough is enough.

everyone should give a hound a honest evaluation. I gun hunt and run trials they have to do both. I can't feed 20 hounds so I keep what earns the right to stay. If they dont' suite me for both there is always someone out there that will take care of and appreciate the hound.

Some people will never have competitive hounds for just this reason. They have a dog they LOVE and they dream of how good the hound could be (only if). They breed to it keep what I would consider culls and hope that some day a fairy will come by and sprikle magic dust on the pups and make them rabbit dogs.
I say it is time for a reality check,If it aint got it in it it can't come out. If you don't get a extra smile now and again let it go

If you dont know if a dog is going to make it after a gun season, then you arent a houndsman anyway. To me it will never take until a dog is 2 years old to know if it is good enuff to keep.

I start judging from the time they start. They have to show some positive in the areas that I set as a goal when I planned the mating. Once I am convinced that the dog doesn't have enough positive qualities to make me smile when I have it in the field, he will be on someone else's feed sooner than later.
Life's too short and feed and other care is too expensive to waste on a dud.

mike crabtree Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:45 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you dont know if a dog is going to make it after a gun season, then you arent a houndsman anyway. To me it will never take until a dog is 2 years old to know if it is good enuff to keep.

A gun season will tell the tale. Totally agree with ya Crabby.

Hatfield wrote:Some people will never have competitive hounds for just this reason. They have a dog they LOVE and they dream of how good the hound could be (only if). They breed to it keep what I would consider culls and hope that some day a fairy will come by and sprikle magic dust on the pups and make them rabbit dogs.
I say it is time for a reality check,If it aint got it in it it can't come out. If you don't get a extra smile now and again let it go

Shells are cheap and time is of the essence. . A turd is a turd not matter how much you rub it.

mike crabtree wrote:If you dont know if a dog is going to make it after a gun season, then you arent a houndsman anyway. To me it will never take until a dog is 2 years old to know if it is good enuff to keep.

I don't think keeping a dog longer than a year makes anyone less of a houndsman than the next guy. Some folks, myself included, don't have the luxury of going through a litter or 2 of pups every year to find a dog they like. I understand some people here need to move dogs to make time for the ones they want to keep, but does that make them more of a houndsman?. Just wondering.

I'll give them 3 years or more if I like them and they continue to show improvment. I gave up on a hound at 1 year once and he is one of the best males in this area,he retrives and runs with speed and control and hunts hard and jumps alot of rabbits. The worst part is I can't buy him back .

To Ded Rabbits By the time a dog is a year old he should be showing you something to make you think he has potential. If you aren't seeing any glimmers of above average ability after a gun season then the dog is probably going to be average at best. Now if you aren't giving the dog any time in the field to develop that is a whole different thing, but if a dog is getting ample running time then you should see something to make you think he is a keeper by the time you make it through a gun season.

Hatfield - You are dead right buddy, when it comes to dogs HOPE is not a course of action. Make them show you the money and if they can't then move on and get something that can.

Big Dog

Well guys and gals I may get a lttle flack for this but this is what I do with my dogs. I raise about a litter a year and I will keep all of those pups until they are 10 months old unless I raise a really big one which I do sometimes. I expect at 10 months to see some potential, at a very minimum sticking tight with my old dog and working the track but I perfer they be trying to run by then. At 12 months old their started or gone.

Right now I have 14 dogs running and they were all but one running by 9 months old. At 2 years old I dont expect to have put an old dog with them to stay after a rabbit and I won't very many times. I have been raising rabbit dogs since I was 8 years old and I learned a lot from some of the older men that I have been lucky enough to know but I will be 44 on veterans day next month and in all of those years I have learned more from the dogs than anything else.

I expect to do this for a long time to come so I have drawn a line (so to speak) in the sand and I will except nothing less than that. In 10 years I expect to have as good a dogs as I have now maybe better and to be raising less to get them. I believe your kennel is only as good as the worst dog you own.