The American Beagler Forum

A friend of mine sent this on my request after hearing it on how he judges when ask by friends in their own backyards not trials.

It is called Bad to the Bone, no nonsense, call 'em as you see'em,bury'em deep and let mother nature worry about 'em

Competitive hunt and judge and score sheet

Information. Every man that hunts sees dogs and hunting through only one set of eyes. How he uses these eyes depends on many things. Not the least of which is his years of experience, philosophical bend, emotional make-up, and basic honesty I have over 45 years experience and the philosophical attitude of socrates who professed to "know this only, that he nothing knew". In addition , I strive for the emotional strenght of a Zen Monk and the basic honesty level lf atleast as good as the next man

I have been asked to judge this hunt and by the best in me, I will do so. I will do so seriously and without prejudice. I will do so with a plan and a valuation system that awards points for doing things that I like,search for and I feel others should seek outr in their dogs. Finally, I will do so without interference. Let anyone who does not like this,speak now and pick another judge. There is nothing in this for me and I do not want any grief.


I will award points based on what I see and hear. Points will be based on a range of 1-5 with 5 being highest and one being lowest. Ndgative points will also be awarded for anything which does not contribute to a good dog or a race. Pay attention here: As an example- A dog may role in or eat crap and while this may not affect a race, if I see it, it affects me and I will deduct for it because it is not a good habit and we should no contribute or condone it. Now, you know what to expect form me so if you want to continue

Let's get in on


Date
weather conditions
Dog age vs Dog age

Categories
General size: cnforms to standards. Dog is healthy with good hair and teeth No Dew claws
Soialability Is Not shy Does not fight, growl, hump other dogs, bark or crap in the box, eat crap ETC
Hunt: Must have plenty and be under control at all times
Hunt: Can find a rabbit
Handling:Must come when called-General
Handling:Catching them up when ready to go
Handling: Leads well. does not struggle to get loose
Trash: Cannot do (-5and +5 scale)
Backtracking:Cannot do (-5and +5 scale)
Mouth: One that makes you feel good to listen to
Mouth: Plenty of it but not to much
Mouth: Uses it in right places Can't bark around
Running ability: Generally can run a rabbit
Running ability Does well with other dogs
Running ability: To fast (yes is a negative point)
Running abilityTo slow (Yes is a negative point)
Running ability: As good as expected for age
Running ability: Cuts and slices (yes is a negative point)
Running ability: Doubles and gets in off loses in a hard, quick and honest manner
Pick ups heard (3 points for each)
Pick ups seen: (5 points for each)
Quality of Pick ups: can pick up a go hard
Sight cures the blind: (5 points for each good thing)

Man, sounds like this guy knows for which he speaks. Promote the good, diminish the bad and know the difference.

Bob-Michigan

IF EVERYONE DID THIS OUR HOUNDS WOULD BE BETTER IN THE END

If every one did this there wouldn`t be any dogs in the feild.they`ed be another breed of house pet

I KNOW MINE WOULD BE GONE

MY ONE JUST GOES NUTS TO GET OFF THE LEASH AND THE OTHER IS A BIG 15

chuck r wrote:If every one did this there wouldn`t be any dogs in the feild.they`ed be another breed of house pet

we have a " BINGO"

Chuck as I have read many of your post and would believe you to be one that judges and looks at his dog with open eyes. I have heard you really have nice dogs and i am sure you have had to cull (I did not say destroy but cull from your kennel to get the hound you presently have. You must have some sort of guidelines of which dogs you keep. As a president of a beagle club and someone whom would like to believe that trialing promotes better dogs, I can not always believe trials do. I have ran with IFC GRCh that are not as good as they titles lead us to believe. I am sure you already know that. I believe if 5 guys go out into the field together with similiar running styles we can decide as a group which dog is the best for that day. Basically we are going to pick the dog that contributes the most to the race and not the dog the distrubts the race. As a judge whom as judged dogs in trials for 17 years there have many an instaint that i have not brought the best dog back, but by the rules the lesser dog won. I have been the owner of the lesser dog that one. Their is no perfect system. This system is not perfect or meant to be a system at all just an idea of what to look for when doing what i am going through right now. I have three 13 mnth old dogs and they are all doing a fine job, but I will have to narrow them down or cull (again i am not saying destroy they may fit into another mans standard). Since they are all pretty even at the moment and young I will continue to evaluate, but if the time comes when i have to choose and they are al still equal i will look at size disposition, handling and other measures to making my decision. I guess it goes back to the statement what kind of dog would you own of you had to feed your family, Every man has an opinion of what a dog should be and whatever his measure is he should stick by it and not let any trailing system decide what he is going to feed

Well said Acres. Keep what suits you and forget about what others think!

Golden and Cutthroat ,I agree with you both. I am pretty hard on my own dogs when it comes to what I expect from them.
Yes I have spent a considerable amount of money, and have culled and made sure some of the dogs I have had do not continue to produce more of the same. I honestly beleive if more breeders did this ,it would truly inhance the quality of dogs
we are trying to produce.

My hounds will not suit a lot of beaglers out there and that does not make any difference to me. I do have the best pack of hounds I have ever owned, they are oversized, sometimes a little rough, and yes sometimes I could could kick there butts.


My question to you Golden is, are you really bettering the breed by giveing a title to these lesser dogs and haveing them bred to? I am not a trial person as I have stated, I have been in trials and have handeled dogs for other hunters.
One in particular,a big name down here,the dog would not go any where,the judge turned his back and this guy walked his dog away from the cast. Now this dog is a big name stud . Not trying to be a jerk just asking.

Golden Acres said:
"I guess it goes back to the statement what kind of dog would you own of you had to feed your family"

I would want the one you give all the minuses to. I want the one that's too fast, swings, and cuts and slashes. Why? He wants the rabbit the most and will do what it takes to get it the quickest. If my family is depending on me and the dog, I dont want to wait for 5-10 minutes in the check area because the hound looks good working it from inside out. That kind of waiting could cause a loved one to starve to death.

Chuck this is the point I am getting to. Some dogs with titles are worthy of the title but some dogs are not. Pick what a person wants in a hound and go judge the dog under your criteria and his pups and make a decision on the standard the breeder sets. The guy whom wrote this is his criteria not mine. If not a trialer over size would not be an issue to some. I did not put this on here to say this is what a hound is it is what this person would like to see in hound. No hound is going to have everything i want or yourself but striving is what keeps us running everyday and breeding these little hounds. i have had people say i would not own one of my hounds that i like and I can certainly respect that not everyone want the same thing.

Hey Golden,
Your right, I respect every ones choices of what they want,I`m not knockin anything. There has been much talk on here as to what is dood and what is bad. To each his own.It`d be a heck of a world if we all liked the same thing.I guess we`d all own Patch`s :
bigsmile:

I`d like to meet you and run if ya want to I`ll be up last of Sept then Drummond in Oct

Chuck will be on Drummond same time as you and Red Dog and maybe do some running or have a couple Barely pops at the Northwood.

Golden, I don't think anybody on here uses beagles to feed their family although there was a time when my dad did. We used curs and feists for this because they would also tree squirrels and coons, catch possum and a number of other things which we did eat to survive. Now I think It is much cheaper to buy hamburger. I also don't think the trial rules are sacred. If they are not producing quality dogs, maybe they should be looked at. I especially like some of your original statements about dogs eating or rolling in excrement. Seems to me, this may seem very minor but, if a dog is doing it then it is not looking for rabbits and if you are judging and a dog is not looking for rabbits, we have a minus point situation.

Coming from a person who judges a lot of trials with 17 years experience, perhaps more should pay attention to you. JMO

Bob