OPINIONS ON LITTLE PACK

[rabbitsmoker]

Had a friend tell me that i had a champion little pack hound if she only had more checks is it true if you have a rabbit dog that can hold a rabbit a long time without loosing it and run it hard wouldnt do good in little pack because they get most of thier points on cks this may be a stupid question but im not a trialer just pleasure and have been told my dogs are to fast for progressive pack and dont swing wide enuf for littlepack my dogs run a 7-8 speed with a 10-15 foot check never over 20 on a bad day

[jlcopeland]

if your dog jumps it and stays locked on you wont need any checks no breakdowns no checks for the other dogs in the pack only run them an hour have to have good rabbit to stay up an hour with that much pressure on him in my experience litlle pack favors a wider searching dog in the check area but a lot of people favor a dog that works close check area guess it depends on the rabbit and scenting conditions on any given day

[tinymwoods]

A good rabbit dog is a good rabbit dog is a good rabbit dog.

[hoppy]

sounds like you have the kind of dogs i like!!! you should come run akc with us!!

[raccoon crk kennel]

dont worrie no matter how great your dog is on track there will be one in the cast atleast that will cut your dogs guts out and breakdown the race cause it cant handle the track then you have a chance on your dog coming in and picking up and cleaning up the ck! it is hard for a great track dog to do well in lp, if they dont get the strike or the jump but drive it to the hole there not givin their true reward. but seldome does that happen because of scent conditions or cutting swinging hounds. i love lp style hunts but theres faults in all formats!

[raccoon crk kennel]

one other thing,i like a swinging dog to a point but if the judge is standing watching the ck area and theres two dogs swings 100yrds out of his or her sight and picks up the rabbit, they cant give a ck to any dog cause they never seen the dog who picked it up first. and a true great inside ck dog most lp hunters hates because while there dog is on a tearing swing the inside worker will close ck them. they dont have to cover as much ground and closer to the scent and to the judges. so all this being said, pick your poison! nuthing wrong with eather type dog i personnally like one that can drive the rabbit like it has a stearing wheel on it then swing 25 yrds at the most in a ck.

[wildcatfan0309]

i use to just do average in the lil pack hunts when i run rough dogs
its when i went to cleaner running dogs that i really started to excell in lil pack
im sure others have a different opionion than i do
but i just championed a dog in lil pack and he has one win toward grand now that runs as clean as they come
dont get me wrong not any ol clean average rabbit dog can get it done in lil pack
you got to have a dog that works the check fast and will claim it at the first fuzz of a scent of rabbit to beat the rough swingers
and some times in some situations you just aint gonna beat the swingers
more than not though i think you will come out on top with a good clean ,hard working, fast claiming rabbit dog

[sbeagler]

there are factors that come in to play. like are they rabbits running big? or are they circling small in dense briars setting not geting up til dog roots them out again? i seen rabbits set down in weeds or grass the dogs over run reaching losing the rabbit me and another fellow had been there and heard the rabbit sneaking beside us to set down while they had run him. after they failed to get the check we talked 10 minutes. no dog got it finally we had to step on the rabbit to get him out the bed.the whole time he was just 5 feet away from us and dogs. these dogs gambled reaching not working from inside out. some hounds i have known to win state or big 5 hunts would have not got this rabbit up either as they reach out to soon and too far. in another cover or area where rabbits run bigger and its more open then might been effective to reach, scenting has lot to do with it, can a dog stay close on the rabbit with his smarts and nose they have if its a fast type hound some can do pretty good some cant, or is it a picky set tight rabbit requiring patience, or is it sucky scenting to pick along.once saw a 10 year old slow dog win a hunt as no other dog could run in the thicket on a frozen hard ground- never won again.again dpends on your part country and cover and way the rabbit run in your areas. seen same with hare some clubs i viisted run like crazy, others run twisting turning like a cottontail.why some guys bring a checky dog and a pound the ground hound depending on the scent for that day. another topic calling checks by sound agreeing IS THAT GOOD RELIABLE HMMMMMM seen some extra bark dogs win where they done this in ARHA cause thick steep rugged terrain. believe in scoring marked lines holding trials where u got game can see to judge. also hunted with some dogs that have success in trials that got checks but caused them by over running keeping going. hit n miss running. hunted same area fast dogs too but cleaner ran lot longer between checks fewer blown races even with fewer dogs in the pack.difference worked checks from point first before reaching out scoured check area not losing their cool gambling. some days u might win with that dog if open plenty rabbits, but get where is thick rabs twisters tricky set down and tight dog has to be smart if u want to have a good day hunting. i wont feed a dog that cant solo a rabbit by themself and stay up close on him. i see rabbit want dog through right behind soon after without 50 yard dashes then falling off long time. u see what they do without help to see if they can pound be a threat to the rabbits life then decide and see how the pack effects their ability on the front.

[Deron House]

You should take a look at PKC, there are no checks, an honest dog is what wins.

[cris axtell/coal hill ken]

sbeagler you do not score checks by sound in little pack. checks are scored by a judge seeing them.

[dhoundman]

The word judges is most of what you are to exspect on the kind of dog that wins. It is tough to judge dogs ; been thier and no one ever likes what you judge exsept the winners.
So the best thing is run the dog you like and if you trial keep in mind that the judges [CAN NOT SEE EVERY THING] so if you like your dog and you kill rabbits the way you want to [ DON'T WORY BE HAPPY] cause you feed them not the judges
And word to the young judges you can only call them the way you see them so do your best and if the dog is great he will get seen by more then one or two judges if they trail him enough.
Olsd man says great dogs are made not just heard of
In order to be heard you must first make the dog great then let people see him and soon or later the dog will be talked about [IF IS GREAT]

[toldyouso]

If u truely have a good dog it wins in any format. you take a older dog that use to cut slash in some of your eyes cannot handle the track and put 5 to 8 years on him he will glue to a track like a brace hound and win in akc as well as little pack. you go to pkc or ukc when the brush is thick and a dog with nose beats u all day long go in december and a footy dog wins all day long. Lets remember there dogs. some are trial dogs some are hunting dogs and some are fertilizer but most are to kennel blind and donot want to man up and eliminate the problems this is why so much junk is running around just my opinion.

[GCbeagler]

My opinion of Little Pack.
Little Pack trilas by far draw the larger # of entries at club hunts & the big hunts but I have noticed the following over the last several years about the quality of the LP dog..
Dogs continue to get rougher usually <20 minutes of running in a hour with the rest of the time spent handling the dogs due to their in ability to keep a track going. The judge/judges having to call dead track 3-4 times in 1 hour to move the dogs due to them lossing the rabbit they were running normally don't even make a complete circle isn't my ideal of what a pack of rabbit hounds should do. Then you go out with the winners pack and the dogs just stand around or follow the judge around until he kicks up a rabbit for them to run. Just not my ideal of a rabbit hound!

At least this is what I've observed over the years as a member of Three Rivers Beagle Club in southern IN.

I'd much rather have a pack of dogs run for the whole hour than be constantly handling and moving dogs so maybe slower is faster if they keep circling the same rabbit for a hour!

Just my opinion.

D. Young

[square E beagles]

I run little pack in Mo and im just saying that if my dog stands around and waits for me to kick him up a rabbit he wont be around verry long im not saying i have super dogs but im not scared to dump them on the ground with any format of dog its all in what kind of dog you like to watch run thats just me.