The American Beagler Forum

i have a little ireland pup.i'm new to this bloodline.if anybody knows anything about them please let me know,it would be much appreciated.

I know a bit about them. They were bred as hunting beagles by Tom and Velta Dornin in Va. They were well known for being complete hounds; excellent conformation, field ability, tractability and temperment.

Is the pup you have line bred descended from Little Ireland?

yes,the pup is.i was wondering how the over all charterstics of little ireland hounds are.how is the hunt in them,are they any good on track,how do they handle etc... what are the goods & bads?this pupcame from a guy in new milton,west virginia.his name is bernie pennington with penn patch kennels.all he has ever raised & handled is little ireland.he said these dogs he has has yellow creek in them also.yellow creek will bring me a lot of mouth but how much?he said yellow creek dates back about as far as little ireland.could you tell me how the ''up to date''little ireland hounds are?you know the modern day hounds. thanks, boss hog.

also,how is the line control in these hounds?

also,how is the line control in these hounds?

I have had limited experience with this blood line. The ones I have owned were medium speed with a lot of hunt and good line control. Also had very nice conformation and a good nose. had a tendency to open on cold tracks. I think Woodpont kennels in Pennsylvania or Ohio and another kennel near Huntington, WV, (Lavalette?) ended up with the original blood line when Tom and Velta went out of business

There are no modern Little Ireland hounds; the Dornins are no longer breeding. There are descendants from Little Ireland hounds but not many are pure; most have been outcrossed at some point.

The Yellow Creek is way back in their pedigree. The Dornins aquired some Yellow Creek females as foundation stock many years ago. Too far back to even look at.

The Dornins despised mouthyness. The rub against their hounds was that they were a tad tight at times never that they were mouthy.

The L.I. hounds were knwon to be good hunters and I have owned some real "Jump Dogs" from them. Naturally some are better then others at finding game but I rate them real high over all. They were well known for their line control ability. Their foot speed was defined as medium to fast but the best ones were hard to put a speed on. Tractability was deliberatly and actively bred into them as a review of an extended pedigree will show. They handled exceptionally well.

I've not had the same experiance with them as Ken as far as the cold trailing goes. As I said they were known to be a bit tight not mouthy.

As far as bad points go it depends on the hounds involved. That is. some hounds might throw a particular faulty behavior at times while another will not. Do you have a pedigree?

The ediors of Better Beagling own some Little Ireland. Tom Dornin wrote a lot for their magazine.

I think Bob & Pearl Baker of Better Beagling might have been the only one to ever finish a Field Champion with the Little Ireland kennel name. That was about 15 years ago.

there were other Little Ireland field champions. But they were hunting hounds, not field trial hounds.

AndI don't beleive the hound the Bakers had ever made Field Champion

FC Little Ireland's Scotty is the only Little Ireland Field Champion that I can remember. He finished on hare I believe. He may have beeen sired by Little Irelands Mick or have been Micks litter mate. Mick was by Little Irelands Beau Brady out of a Weir Creek Buzz bitch.

I bought two hounds for Tom Dornin many years ago and went to his house and visited ,not to speak ill of the deceased but he was a farse his dogs and puppies were ALL spooks not fit to feed.I paid him big money at that time and I was a young fellow who really couldn't afford those prices he talked and wrote a good game but Little Ireland Beagles were a disgrace!!!

no i don't have a pedigree yet.i ordered the generation pedigree with her papers though.i can call mr.pennington and get her pedigree if you are interested in looking it over.

gamekeeper: If you went there and knew all that before you bought the hounds then the fool was you.