The American Beagler Forum

I was just wondering if you guys think that trialing a dog all the time could hurt their performance such as developing bad habits blowing up etc i have a dog i would like to trial in akc arha and ukc do you guys think this is a good idea or not thanks for all the opinions in advance

Some guys will say SINK OR SWIM, but i wont put to much pressure on a dog trialing it till i feel its mature enough to handle the pressure!! I have personally seen many of dogs that have developed bad habits or became as i would say Ruffer from running in trials weeks after week!! Just my personal experience which isn't as much as alot of people on here but just what i have seen for my own eyes!!

Depends on the age of the dog, the style of the dog, the format you run in, the amount of run/solo time they get between trials, etc.

Thats a pretty loaded question without much information about the dog in question.

in my opinion as far as nkc and ukc goes if he blows up in an hour cast he wasnt worth feeding to start with. if a dog cant ever handle pressure he will never be the elite athlete.

I agree, if they cant run with the big dogs stay at home on the porch!

thanks for the replys the dog i am talking about is a 4 year old hound real nice dog was just told by someone not to trial him in a lot of different formats he said that he didnt think trialing him about every weekend would be good for him also another big trial guy said not to trial in arha lil pack if you want to run akc he said it will mess them up everybody has there own opinion but i dont think it would hurt to trial a well seasoned hound a lot would like to have some more opinions thanks

Now knowing the dogs age i dont think trials will hurt him as long as you run him during the week and dont just drop him in trials every week and thats the only running he gets!!! Good luck with him and hope he does well for you!!

dogwhisperer wrote:in my opinion as far as nkc and ukc goes if he blows up in an hour cast he wasnt worth feeding to start with. if a dog cant ever handle pressure he will never be the elite athlete.

I understand that some do the "sink or swim" and while I may not always agree that's the best approach I still say to each his own. But what about the dog that was never gonna be "elite" but maybe would have been just a good dependable rabbit dog?? But instead got blown up by too much pressure?? That's the part I've never completely understood about the sink or swim method. For those that are only looking for elite dogs do you just cull everything else that you blow up? Or do you sell a blown up dog to someone else?

I know it probably isn't coming across like I'm not judging but I'm really not, I'm just curious.

I know you started this post inquiring about putting your dog in too many trials and would it give them bad habits.I haven't been to a trial now in a couple of years,just lost the interest in the thrash.But,when I did it was only with an older,broke dog that I knew couldn't be corrupted.
For me it's all about the dogs.I expect them to operate in a certain way so I can enjoy them when I take them afield.I found many years ago that if you continually run your dogs with strange dogs that you don't know anything about [trash runners,mouthy,back trackers,fighters,skirters,reachers,etc. ] all of which can and will be found at trials that you put an awful lot of pressure on your dog and many times they can end up getting ideas in their heads that it takes me time and effort to then erase.
This isn't just about trialing. Years back I would run with anybody,didn't matter if I knew them or their dogs.Found out that there are a lot of folks that have some real sorry dogs.Run with those dogs enough and you can start hating yours as the whole hunt turns sour.
I'm probably kind of particular as these days I only run with a couple of friends and we have some good dogs that do it right.
When you get into competing your dogs there's a lot of pressure folks put on themselves and their dogs.If you keep throwing your dog in the fire every weekend don't be surprised if he gets burned [or at least a little crispy around the edges ].

I agree with Shady Grove......I don't like running with trash and unfortunately a lot of what I've seen at some trials is just that in my opinion.

Bunnyblaster wrote:

dogwhisperer wrote:in my opinion as far as nkc and ukc goes if he blows up in an hour cast he wasnt worth feeding to start with. if a dog cant ever handle pressure he will never be the elite athlete.

I understand that some do the "sink or swim" and while I may not always agree that's the best approach I still say to each his own. But what about the dog that was never gonna be "elite" but maybe would have been just a good dependable rabbit dog?? But instead got blown up by too much pressure?? That's the part I've never completely understood about the sink or swim method. For those that are only looking for elite dogs do you just cull everything else that you blow up? Or do you sell a blown up dog to someone else?

I know it probably isn't coming across like I'm not judging but I'm really not, I'm just curious.

i guess if you consider a dog that wouldnt be able to handle a little pressure a good rabbit dog then by all means do what you have to do. it sounds as we disagree from the beginning on what a good rabbit dog is. As far as culls go they wont be forsale. To each his own as you stated before

DIXIEDOG wrote:I agree with Shady Grove......I don't like running with trash and unfortunately a lot of what I've seen at some trials is just that in my opinion.

Shady Grove Beagles wrote:I know you started this post inquiring about putting your dog in too many trials and would it give them bad habits.I haven't been to a trial now in a couple of years,just lost the interest in the thrash.But,when I did it was only with an older,broke dog that I knew couldn't be corrupted.
For me it's all about the dogs.I expect them to operate in a certain way so I can enjoy them when I take them afield.I found many years ago that if you continually run your dogs with strange dogs that you don't know anything about [trash runners,mouthy,back trackers,fighters,skirters,reachers,etc. ] all of which can and will be found at trials that you put an awful lot of pressure on your dog and many times they can end up getting ideas in their heads that it takes me time and effort to then erase.
This isn't just about trialing. Years back I would run with anybody,didn't matter if I knew them or their dogs.Found out that there are a lot of folks that have some real sorry dogs.Run with those dogs enough and you can start hating yours as the whole hunt turns sour.
I'm probably kind of particular as these days I only run with a couple of friends and we have some good dogs that do it right.
When you get into competing your dogs there's a lot of pressure folks put on themselves and their dogs.If you keep throwing your dog in the fire every weekend don't be surprised if he gets burned [or at least a little crispy around the edges ].

100% on the money. This is the exact reason I quit the coon hunting trials. Every weekend you get cast out with guys and dogs you may not know very well if at all. ALL of the things cited above that one doesn't want in their dogs is there in these trials and being hidden, trust me, I've seen it all over 20 years behind coon hounds. Automatic strike dogs, trash burners, rough or flat out alligators at the tree have ruined a many tree dogs in these nite hunts. Then one has all the arguing, bickering, twisting, none enforcment of the rules and flat out cheating trial after trial. All of this took the fun out of compitition hunts for me and turned it into work and a hassel. ALL I can speak to is what I know to be a fact and witnessed with my own eyes. I can tell folks that I witnessed men have a complete personality change right before my very eyes as soon as the dogs were cut loose. I like Shady Grove am real picky with who I hunt with, period be it with or without dogs. Folks, I can tell you I sense a lot of those very same things right here on these boards without ever casting a dog!

I haven't posted on this board in a long time. This thread caused me to think back to a time when I ran with whatever was brought to a hunt. I had 3 females that started out good. I found a group of guys to run with, and it was like peanut butter and jelly. The dogs worked well together, but I only ran with these guys.

The guys I hunted with were another group. When the season opened, I was proud to drop my ladies on the ground. We ran all season, and somedays I was totally dissatisfied. I would drop 3, and the other houndsman would drop 12. Of which, only 2 were getting anything done. We were bound to have a trash run of some sort every Saurday. Thankfully my dogs handled very well, and I would only let them join the pack if I knew it was a rabbit. My two along with his 3 would be hunting and the remaining 10 would be running up and down the road.

Long story short, when the season closed; my girls looked like GARBAGE! They were wild, loose, ruff, and useless. It took me a while to get them back to normal. The next season, I began to speak up, and not run with the culls. Things eventually got better, and the little princesses turned out to be really tough. By the time they were 3, you couldn't shake, but I still didn't run them with anything.

That's the risk you take when you trial. You don't know what you might end up running with. A 4 year old dog should be sound enough to handle his own, but I don't know if I would require him to do so. If you reall want to trial multiple formats, I would suggest doing it one format at a time.