The American Beagler Forum

why are their some FTC that CAN'T run on snow ? should that be a requirement ?

FTC means they meet the CKC requirement. FC means they met AKC requirements. IFC means they met both. Most trials are run on sod. They will usually be fast hounds that push hard for the front and can hold it long enough to satisfy two judges.

This is why you can't place all your stock on the fact that a dog is titled. If the judges do not look for the same qualities you desire or the hounds are not run in the conditions you run in you will likely not get what your looking for.

I think it would unrealistic to think AKC or CKC is going to place requirements on their titles that will guarantee a dog will perform to every imaginable expectation. If you just do your own evaluation of the hounds and breed/cull accordingly there is strong possibility you will get hounds that meet your expectations for both field and trial.

Purchasing or breeding to a hound based on a title is a crap shoot. The less you know about the bloodline and the owner of the dog the bigger the gamble. No shortcuts in this game of Beagling !

Mybeagles
Good post!!

transman63, It would be nice, but as mybeagles has said it would not be realistic , I think he has given a good answer as well as some good advice. I really wouldn't care if some FTChampions could not run on snow, I only care about the one I am breeding to. The fact that the rest can't, would be of no concern to me. That is what mybeagles meant when he said one should do their own evaluation. But I get your point a FTC that can't run on snow sounds as ridiculous to me as it does to you!

MYBEAGLES it helps me understand a little more so thank u for the post. but would you say snow dogs are arha dogs,or ukc type dogs, or maybe spo ,or something different altogether ?

Not all dog that won on snow is snow hound. I heard weird stuff could happend at snow trial. U can't always depend on the result. Believe only what u see. On day that nothing could run for more than 10 yards, n u have dogs placed very high that never place before. By winning a trial like that does not make that dog a snow hound.

Sao

Don't totally agree

Depends more on the line of dogs. A old stud dog up here, is a FC. I heard of a time he was entered in a snow trial, won the trial and then was taken the next day hunting. Large pack. I've seen a lot of his pups drive without any problems on snow.

Research is key.

Transman,

There are good, bad, and ugly in every format. It's my opinion that the slower formats have a higher percentage of dogs that perform well on snow but that's not a "blanket statement". Ran with several slow dogs that were complete fools on snow and I've also watched some fast hounds that surprised me on snow. Not many fast hounds will slow down enough in extreme conditions to be effective but if you see one it's impressive. A pack of fast hounds in tough conditions can often results in no race at all. Although individually they may be able to gear down and run one; in a pack they generally render themselves ineffective.

There are those that believe the fast dogs do better in bad conditions because they stay up tighter on the rabbit. I don't believe this for a second, but as long as im not feeding them it's of no concern to me. In the end, everyone migrates to the style of hound that makes them happy.....All colors of the rainbow in Beagling which is what makes this board interesting to me.

Good read keep it up !

What's the name of that stud dog tallpaul?

thank's for your commence . marry xmas....

If your looking to find out if a dog is a snow dog. I would pay very little attention to the title they hold. I would pay more attention to the line they go back to and what region the line comes from and also if the owners and breeders hunt on snow. Its safe to say that a line of dogs being bred in the far south may not run very well on snow and vice versa. Snow dogs are breed out of need. The need to be able to run in the dead of winter on snow by people who hunt in those conditions. Most trials are run in spring and summer and so they tell you very little about how the dog runs on snow. Most trials are run during those times of the year because most beaglers hunt during the fall and winter....DH

Good post DH.

Harehunter37 wrote:What's the name of that stud dog tallpaul?

FC Valley's Freckled Bandit

Last couple times he couldn't finish the deal (with breeding) I took my female to him and it's not looking good.

Not to stir the pot either, but the question of running on snow differs from region to region. UP, up state NY, (snow belts) is different from downstate MI, IL, IN. From years past I've seen some great hunting dogs, drove with determination, whether it was 2 feet or 6 inches. Wish I had video.

But I do agree, there are some great snow dogs/hunting dogs that are own by guys that just hit the bush every weekend. I miss some of those days, frankly I would rather, hit the bush trying to take a couple hare with friends, than sit and take a judges opinion.

In general I seen Branko bred dogs tend to do well on snow, but just makes sense, being where his kennel is at.

Speaking of just the states that get snow One would think the further north you go the tougher running would be. But I come to think otherwise, For example here in southestern New York we get less snow and warmer temps then futher north in New York and even further in canada and Maine. But when we get snow what hapens is, we will most times get temps just above freezing a day or too after the snow and what that does is it allows the snow to melt just a bit on the surface. In the evening the temps drop again and the surface of the snow freezes and get crusty and icey. That type of snow makes for the toughest running. Since we may only get snow a few times a month we are stuck in those conditions. Up north further the temps dont go above 32 often enough for the snow to ice up and even if they do it snows often enough that you constantly get fresh snow to run on. Thats just my opinion. I drove 5 hours north from my home one year to hunt hare with a friend that lives in watertown new Newyork. We had snow but on the drive up it warmed up and rained on the snow and that eveing the snow had a sheet of ice on the top. The next day the dogs had a hard tme running on it. I was ready to give up and go home. My buddy suggest that we drive an hour west and north to the Tughill region which is a higher elevation. I told him if we can barely run here what makes you think we would run up there. He replied it will be snowing up there. I thought he was crazy. Sure enough we drove to the Tughill region and it was snowing and we had fresh snow and killed some hare. My buddy said it snows almost every day up here....DH