Speed Question???

[sunsetredbeagles]

If you have a pack that runs 6-7 in speed and buy a pup that u know is 8-9 in speed,will the hound that is very fast slow down and run with the speed of your pack or will it pull the rest of the pack because it is in the line the dog came from to be fast?

[Dale L.]

My experience has been that if a dog is going to be fast he is going to be fast and not slow down with rest of the pack. Usually it can go the other way. The slower dogs will sometimes try to speed up if they are competitive which can cause them to get rough. This has just been my experience and I am by no means an expert.

[BCBeagles]

We have some variance in our hounds with speeds of 8 down to a 6 or so. They run well togther. The fast ones may overshoot and the ones packing in behind clean it up and it really leads to good running once they get a rabbit or two in on the day. It can be a little crazy to start! LOL. I am talking 10-12 hounds though. Not 3-5, JMO.

[mybeagles]

I base speed on a dogs solo speed. If you base it on what they do in a pack, oftentimes your basing it on their competetiveness, or lack of brains to slow a little and run the line.

Speed is the rate they can run and keep contact with the scent line enough to keep the game going. Many, if not most dogs running wild through the woods are just rough, not fast.

That being said, if you pup has any brains it will usually run at a slower rate than your older dogs until it gains the experience and confidence to go faster. If it consistently runs out front of the two adult dogs you either have an awsome pup, or a wild fool.

Giving your pup plenty of solo time will reduce the chances of it trying to race ahead of the older dogs, but in the end, if its bred to be fast or overcompetetive or rough it will eventually come out.

Mybeagles

[sunsetredbeagles]

In a nutshell that was my question:If it came from faster dogs,would it hurt the pack or help?Just don't want a much faster pack than i have already.Thanks for everyones comments on this.

[cjcocodrie]

I would be surprised if you were succesful with this venture. If that pup's bred for foot, he's not going to hang back and so you'll either gain a pack that follows his lead and is faster than you'd like (that concept eludes me) or end up with him running far ahead of them if he's clean enough to hold his own rabbit, and dodging about ahead of them if he's not.
CJ

[bill huttozac]

Regardless of how fast or slow a pack runs, team work and keeping the tracks between their legs is most important. We all love and admire a "level" pack and speeds varying from 6 to 8 or 9 in a pack is neither level nor does it make for bringing out the best in each dog.

[REDDOGSTTF]

From my personal experience, not a pro by no means, just a gun dogger!...........The more I solo my dogs the faster they get. All of my pack ages between 13mo and 4 yrs. Now, like stated before, most dogs will gain confidence, but the competitiveness will come out sooner or later. All my dogs want the front. Then again, (I DON'T CULL FROM THE FRONT ONLY THE BACK). No such thing as (TOO FAST) for me!

Long story short, if your pup has it in him, its going to come out at some point and time. With that said, I have buddys with (fast) hounds and the pups were flat med. speed. Who's to say? IMO........There is no guarantee in this game.

[BCBeagles]

If they can get the job done I dont care if they are pulling up the rear or leaving them standing!! If they all contribute they will be a "level" pack within reason. I personally like about four that want the front, and the rest to be where ever they can get in the shortest amount of time possible!! LOL. You will always need a few "anchor"hounds as we call them to reign in the crazy ones, lol. Our bunch can look like a mess for a rabbit or two as I said, but once they settle in it is okay by our standards of bringing them back to the gun in a satisfactory fashion.

Try it out and see one guys 8 in speed is another's 6. I think this is the hardest variable to give an accurate call on, JMO, region to region it is different from what I have seen.

[cpuckett]

i personally want a dog that wants the front of the race, but if it aint the fastest i want them to fall into place were they fit,i want them to run with the rabbit between there legs head up and rollin but have the brains to gear down on rough days.if they are not the fastest and they go to swingin and sworpin there self plum out of the race they won't stay here long.but to answer your question with my opionion is if your pup turns out to be faster then your other dogs then he will be.he will not slow down just because they can't keep up.

[deerhost]

When were talking speed you also have to talk about roughness. Like a beautiful and Crazy women, We all want the best looking women we can find but some are so crazy that its not worth the beauty. Better to take a women with a little less beauty and a little more level headed. Dogs are the same way, you want the fastest dog you can get that is not running over the end and loosing the line or blowing the run. Just like the women, I would take as much speed that I can get but not if they are going to be too rough. The pup will be what ever speed he is breed to be. If he can run the front and do it clean then you got a winner. If he runs the front and is rough and blows the line he may pull all the dogs behind him and blow the run. You have to give him a chance and see. If it were me and I wanted to pick up the pace of my pack I would opt to get a pup that is just a step or a step and a half faster then the pack I have with not such a wide range of speed. Just my opinion...Deerhost