Evaluating Hounds At Trials

[whiteriver]

I think it is very difficult to just pick one .it seems to me they are all interwoven into a complete hound . A couple people made great points in that if a hound is not talented no amount of conditioning will give that hound "talent ". To be fair though in most cases ,there are exceptions like boomer stated , you need a combination of ABILITY ,CONDITIONING ,andI THINK HEART !! i am considering ability to include brains ,hunt,honesty,etc.....

the biggest problem i see is guys that take a young dog and will not or dont know how to get the max out of a pups potential , most of u guys know to make a serious trial dog u are talking hours in the field !!

there is somthing else i thought about while reading this :You ever see a hound run and u say wow that hound has "IT". Now im not sure what IT is but if u have run hounds long u know what i mean .A hound that just has a nack for getting it done under pressure and jus being a flat out "winner"!! I have only seen a few with this gift i guess u would call it ,but when u see one u have no doubts !!


GREAT THREAD AND POSTS !!!!!!!1

[JIMMIE ABSHIRE]

Sorry I guess i misunderstood the question , how is conditioning not the edge? I have ability to make money but if i sit on my butt how is that a edge compared to hustling?

[CPC]

Hustling all day and you still may not accomplish much, without the ability to use your tools wisely.

I have seen hounds hustle or stir hard all day and never jump a rabbit. JMHO

[JIMMIE ABSHIRE]

Good point, bad example . I can take a decent bred dog , even a good rabbit dog or for that matter a grade dog , And 8 out of 10 times win trophies . Case in point , ever hear of Earl bruner ? Just some ol backyard breeding ran to death 7 days a week with 200 plus rabbits killed yearly , and rooms full of trophies. They were conditioned and it showed whenhe dropped on ya.

[SilverZuk]

Ability is the only thing on that poll that matters.

Nuttrition and conditioning can be changed.
Size doesn't matter as long as the dog can perform.

[Pine Mt Beagles]

AND
ABILITY IS INHERITED,,,,,,,,,,,,,

PINE MT BEAGLES

[CPC]

Who is Earl Bruner?

[island ridge hounds]

my hounds get ran once a week if they need it or not. i don't know how
you could do it but i think ability and conditioning would have to go hand
in hand. i know from experience that having a pretty fair country dog
will win you a cast of two but when it gets down to running one cast after
another more so with heat you better have a conditioned hound and a
tuff hound. with the type of pressure trial hounds put on each other and
the speed they run with, they must be in shape. all though if they didn't
have the ability more than likely they wouldn't have to worry about it. in
cooler temps i think ability would win out. so to answer the question, heck
if i know. but with conditioning comes more experience thus more ability.
bwall

[tnbeagleman]

I voted ability , but I agree with Fuzz Brains, I've seen dogs with ability but just didn't have that "rabbit smartness" that other dogs have , I do for sure know that condition makes a world of difference, A dog with the ability and in good condition is going be hard for anyone to beat. I have to work for a living and don't have a lot of time to run dogs and when they get out of shape they don't please me at all, but it is not their fault that they are out of shape, so I live with it. I don't see much of what I call "rabbit smartness". I don't own one now and have not for several years . One that has the ability to just somehow know where to go jump that rabbit and then has the talent to hold that line without being persuaded by other dogs. "rabbit smartness" Most of the dogs that I see in trials today that jump rabbits do it in one way or the other, they either just hunt hard and finally find one or they just ramblin around watching the other dogs and bump one up by accident, very few pick certain areas to hunt and and jump a lot of rabbits quickly, That takes brains.

[Steve Mikkelson]

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[full circle kennel]

i think something is to be said about size. sure, a hound has to have brains , ability and be well conditioned to give him an edge . but something that most overlook in a compettion dog is SIZE. i too have never thought of size being important BUT: think of a 250lb man in a shoving contest with a 120lb man. after awhile, the small man learns that he cant move the larger man very well .and from a dogs perspective if the big dog leads the pack and can run his own rabbit he WILL force the smaller dog to slot up behind him.i.e. this is what i call being shouldered. this will give him an advantage, whether or not the individual dog can use it no one knows

[MasonsBeagles]

Interesting Responses. I know there are more factors that could give an edge, brains etc. In retrospect I consider Nutrition a part of conditioning, brains could also be defined in ability.

From the responses I can consider then. A super dog with all the ability in the world owned by a working man that can only run a couple of times a week (at most) feeding the cheapest dog food he can buy would still have the advantage over a guy with a little above average hound that has the means to run his hound 4-7 times a week feeding a top of the line feed (like Pro Plan).

Just my opinion I think conditioning pays a bigger factor in evaluating hounds than we realize.

Good Discussions.

[Greg H]

In many ways conditioning (time in the field) raises the dogs ability. Gifted or not the more opprotunity a dog has to hone its skills will raise their abilities to the highest possible.

I'll use Micheal Jordan as an example. When he retired he was at the top of his game. The best in the game. Yes he was blessed with a God given talent which he still posessed when he returned but his lack of conditioning for the game made him an above average player. That and the fact that he was a few years older. Tho' he could still play at a high level, he was not the dominant player that he once was.

Same could be said for Tiger. Look what corting a wife did to his game. Precious time was spent pleasing his wife to be that would have nomally been dedicated to praticing. He gets married, settles in, more time to practice and boom back on top.

That being said I don't believe all the work in the world could have helped some of the dogs I've had over the years.

[MasonsBeagles]

good post Greg H.

[JIMMIE ABSHIRE]

In many ways conditioning (time in the field) raises the dogs ability. Gifted or not the more opprotunity a dog has to hone its skills will raise their abilities to the highest possible.

I'll use Micheal Jordan as an example. When he retired he was at the top of his game. The best in the game. Yes he was blessed with a God given talent which he still posessed when he returned but his lack of conditioning for the game made him an above average player. That and the fact that he was a few years older. Tho' he could still play at a high level, he was not the dominant player that he once was.

Same could be said for Tiger. Look what corting a wife did to his game. Precious time was spent pleasing his wife to be that would have nomally been dedicated to praticing. He gets married, settles in, more time to practice and boom back on top.

That being said I don't believe all the work in the world could have helped some of the dogs I've had over the years.

At least 22% of the responses make sense to me . Jmho