The American Beagler Forum

When you are going to buy a puppy what should one look for? I mean I know that you want to watch the standard, but what are some things in a puppy that can get better? Do you just pick the puppy that is closest to the standard and hope for the best? Can you get a good show pup out of two parents that are not being shown?

simplepaliving wrote:When you are going to buy a puppy what should one look for? I mean I know that you want to watch the standard, but what are some things in a puppy that can get better? Do you just pick the puppy that is closest to the standard and hope for the best? Can you get a good show pup out of two parents that are not being shown?

Most likely you will not get something show quality from someone who isn't active in the show ring. You need to go directly to good show breeders who have been around a while who know their lines and what they'll produce.

Leah

Same thing goes for hunting quality.
You most likely will not get something of hunting quality, from someone who's not active in the hunting field.

***A hound without hunt is just another dog***

Find what the total package consist of and go to those who have the most of it. Note, there is no perfection...Best of luck... Patch

OR you could go to someone who strives for BOTH show quality Conformation with HUNT!!!!!!
Not all well Known Show breeders have good quality Dogs, just as great hunt breeding Don’t always have the good conformation needed to show!!!!!!
A lot of this is just learned over time. the best place to look for conformation I will agree is in the show Lines So if all your wanting is a SHOW dog then Go to them BUT if you are wanting a good dog that will hunt and has show potential then go to those who strive to do both There are a lot more out there than you may think!!! More and more hunt folk have improved on their overall conformation realizing that a dog with good conformation will add to the hunt. If it were me and I was just starting out again I think I would look to those that actively participate in BOTH hunting trials and conformation shows I feel this is where your best chance lies in getting a great all around hound.
IMHO a good place to look would be in the UKC where they strive for the Total dog Not knocking ANY of the AKC conformation Folks they just don’t seem to be as interested in the over all hunting Ability...
Now that I have that out of the way LOL
When we are looking at a pup we LOOK to the parents first!!!!
We look for attitude as well as conformation disposition like are they outgoing, gentle ECT.
We usually look for the most active curious type pup then look at their Conformation such as shape of head, ear set, topline, tail set, shoulder and rear angulations at 8 to 10 weeks you will get a LOT better idea of what the overall conformation of the dog will be than you will at say 6 weeks.
BUT the biggest will be trusting in the breeder if they don’t have any idea what the pup is gonna look like then I would pass.
This is where a good mentor comes in handy LOL Look to those that have been doing it for some time and they will be able to give you some Good advice But all in all it’s still a crapshoot LOL.
All I can advise you on is Look to the breeder and get REFRENCES don’t just go on their Word Ask the breeder if they can give you a reference to somebody that has purchased or received a dog from them before.
If you would like contact one of the folks on here Like Cindy(Honeypot)Or Leah(windkist) for Show dogs and Hal Davis, Dan(Touchstone), The McVays(Sundown) for Hunt and Show lines just to name a few We also have select puppies for sale now and again.

TC
Crewse-N-Beagles

TC wrote:OR you could go to someone who strives for BOTH show quality Conformation with HUNT!!!!!!
Not all well Known Show breeders have good quality Dogs, just as great hunt breeding Don’t always have the good conformation needed to show!!!!!!
A lot of this is just learned over time. the best place to look for conformation I will agree is in the show Lines So if all your wanting is a SHOW dog then Go to them BUT if you are wanting a good dog that will hunt and has show potential then go to those who strive to do both There are a lot more out there than you may think!!! More and more hunt folk have improved on their overall conformation realizing that a dog with good conformation will add to the hunt. If it were me and I was just starting out again I think I would look to those that actively participate in BOTH hunting trials and conformation shows I feel this is where your best chance lies in getting a great all around hound.
IMHO a good place to look would be in the UKC where they strive for the Total dog Not knocking ANY of the AKC conformation Folks they just don’t seem to be as interested in the over all hunting Ability...
Now that I have that out of the way LOL
When we are looking at a pup we LOOK to the parents first!!!!
We look for attitude as well as conformation disposition like are they outgoing, gentle ECT.
We usually look for the most active curious type pup then look at their Conformation such as shape of head, ear set, topline, tail set, shoulder and rear angulations at 8 to 10 weeks you will get a LOT better idea of what the overall conformation of the dog will be than you will at say 6 weeks.
BUT the biggest will be trusting in the breeder if they don’t have any idea what the pup is gonna look like then I would pass.
This is where a good mentor comes in handy LOL Look to those that have been doing it for some time and they will be able to give you some Good advice But all in all it’s still a crapshoot LOL.
All I can advise you on is Look to the breeder and get REFRENCES don’t just go on their Word Ask the breeder if they can give you a reference to somebody that has purchased or received a dog from them before.
If you would like contact one of the folks on here Like Cindy(Honeypot)Or Leah(windkist) for Show dogs and Hal Davis, Dan(Touchstone), The McVays(Sundown) for Hunt and Show lines just to name a few We also have select puppies for sale now and again.

TC
Crewse-N-Beagles

Some of that will only come from experence. How many great show dogs never finish because the owner doesnt understand handling a dog, or great hunters never learn to hunt because the owner is yet to learn how to train a dog. Everyone in the dog games gets to go through the learning curve. Most of us that have been around for a while know what breedings produced pups that were good at one or the other or both. A clasic example being the Chace Manhatten x Glen Ivy breeding. (now you know where Parker and others got their ability to run) Without that firsthand knowlage a person can only rely on the opinions of others.

tom

Blunder n.
A usually serious mistake typically caused by ignorance or confusion.
v. blun·dered, blun·der·ing, blun·ders
v.intr.
1. To move clumsily or blindly.
2. To make a usually serious mistake.
v.tr.
1. To make a stupid, usually serious error in; botch.
2. To utter (something) stupidly or thoughtlessly.

The name suits ya

Running a cookie around the ring is different then chasing a rabbit through briars. I may be new here but I aint new to dogs.

Briar Beagles wrote:Blunder n.
A usually serious mistake typically caused by ignorance or confusion.
v. blun·dered, blun·der·ing, blun·ders
v.intr.
1. To move clumsily or blindly.
2. To make a usually serious mistake.
v.tr.
1. To make a stupid, usually serious error in; botch.
2. To utter (something) stupidly or thoughtlessly.

The name suits ya

Running a cookie around the ring is different then chasing a rabbit through briars. I may be new here but I aint new to dogs.

First off,,, let me introduce you to "Blunder" (and believe me, he earned the name)

Now 14 years old "Blunder" has quite possablly seen more days in the field & marsh hunting than you have. He is also an "All Age Qualified " Retriever with Master Hunter passes (if you even know what that all means)
Oh, and by the way, I ran a dog in my first field trial in 1949 at the ripe old age of 8 and have been running dogs ever since (can you say the same????)

BTW the name is Tom

(hint) It might be a good idea to find out who people are, before inserting foot

Go to them BUT if you are wanting a good dog that will hunt and has show potential then go to those who strive to do both There are a lot more out there than you may think

This is what I want to strive for.

Briar Beagles, that was downright nasty and uncalled for. Don't make me open a can...

Bev wrote:Briar Beagles, that was downright nasty and uncalled for. Don't make me open a can...

I agree and having Known Tom for a long time and living in the same Area I can tell you he knows his dogs, Has been involved in field trials and conformation showing for many years. I cannot believe the closed minded nasty people that occasionally show their true colors on This forum.

Leah

Leah, I've been moderating Beagle forums since 1998. No forum's immune, some just use better English than others, lol.

Bev wrote:Leah, I've been moderating Beagle forums since 1998. No forum's immune, some just use better English than others, lol.

"Tom" has fairly thick skin

Do get a kick out of people thinking I'm Blunder instead of reading my signature tho'

An old time Chessie breeder/Pro retriever trainer gave "Thunder" the name "Blunder" when he was judging a picnic trial and Blunder was just 5 months old, because he said Blunder was the only puppy he had ever seen that would take a cast right through the center of a Russian Olive,,,,,,,,, TWICE!! I still haven't figured out if that is a sign of persaverence & courage,, or a sign of stupidity You would think a dog would go around that thorny thing if it had a lick of sence.

tom

Bev wrote:Leah, I've been moderating Beagle forums since 1998. No forum's immune, some just use better English than others, lol.

Oh I know.. been on the "net" for 10 years now.. Its amazing how some folks will say stuff on here they'd never have the guts to say to anyone in person.. Its as though they have a license to be stupid or something...LOL

Leah

Simplepaliving,
Another thing when purchasing a puppy is go and visit the kennel, see how the dogs are cared for. You won't want a shy puppy, you will want a puppy that is ready to interact with you.

You won't want to get a sick puppy so you will want to look at the cleanliness of the kennel and how they are housed.

These are some steps you should look at, now this being said, look at several kennels not just one. Look at what help they will offer you if you purchase a pup, will they help you find contacts for like training, will they let you call them if you have a concern regaurding the pup. This is something that should be offered.

Then you look at the puppy moving freely out in the yard, watch its gait, it should be smooth and effortless looks like gliding basically, the pup shouldn't look like he is making choppy steps now this is at a slower trot not the gallop. Look at how he walks straight away from you the feet should line up front to back, the pup should when stopping pretty much self stack him self, have the show stance look. This won't be perfect, but is an indicator he has a good body structure. Look at how the puppy's top line looks, is there a big dip before the tail? If so will have a low tailset, bowed up in the back will have a roached back, you will want a fairly straight back, a small hump at the loin is proper.

The angulation on the post Southern Beagles posted on another post is what you look for in minature. Get to know that diagram well before going and looking for a puppy. This will all help you.

The head is another big piece to the puzzel, you will have to determin if the pup has to snippy of a nose, at such a young age it is hard for new comers to this to recognize, but just imagine the pups snout continues to grow and and features around it only grow some. Look to the parents, which one is the pup similar to with head features? This will give you an idea of what the pups head will simulate. The head should be in porportion to the body, the body should be balanced. The ARHA site used to have a real good diagram to look at and give good examples of incorrect and correct features go to that site and see if they still have that posted.

Blunder: I am not sure why you quoted me and then followed up with your coment ? Was there some hidden meaning to that post? Well basically exactly this gal is new to beagling and she was asking for simple direction that was what I was trying to do is let her know that just because a dog has a CH or FC in front of his name don't mean a hill of beans, we all know how many dogs get those CH and FC and it ain't because the dog is the end all and be all to the Beagle world it is because some folks will Promote a hound or a kennel till finally someone gets wise to em.

Simplepaliving, Excellent question! Glad to hear you are interested in both structure and hunting abillity. A few beagle breeders are striving to help the breed reach its potential in both structure and function. The format you want to participate in or the style of running you prefer will be part of the equation. Some bloodlines run faster, some are very slow, etc. Structure (the standard) is practically the same for all the registries. The show beagle people in your area could help you with learning correct structure. Send me more info and I could put you in contact with someone in your area. Dan M, Touchstone Kennels, NE Ohio