sample size

[BCBeagles]

I don't know that sample size has as much to do with your input as does what caliber of dog have you been around? Have you traveled a bit to see other's best? Have you gauged your "best" against there's? Have you been out with a hound that thoroughly humbled you? We all can call good or great, but do we know what this entails in all aspects under the eyes of different folks?? Seeing a bunch of average dogs just makes you think a "good" dog is a "great" dog. Go out and see others you may requalify your kennels. You may have more than you think, then again you may have less???

This has greatly improved the quality of hound I put down to run rabbits. I was dealing in average dogs before so my standard was lower. I have a couple good hounds now, great is a pretty strong word, I don't know that I have a "great" hound, compared to some I have witnessed.

[likeemfast]

The problem is, with me. is that once you have had that "Great Hound" now you try and do all possible to see the next great one. 30+ years later, still looking and breeding. That one perfect hound makes you realize what a real good one is supposed to do.

[See low]

The problem is, with me. is that once you have had that "Great Hound" now you try and do all possible to see the next great one. 30+ years later, still looking and breeding. That one perfect hound makes you realize what a real good one is supposed to do.

your are right on track in my opinion

[augerhead]

I don't know that sample size has as much to do with your input as does what caliber of dog have you been around? Have you traveled a bit to see other's best? Have you gauged your "best" against there's? Have you been out with a hound that thoroughly humbled you? We all can call good or great, but do we know what this entails in all aspects under the eyes of different folks?? Seeing a bunch of average dogs just makes you think a "good" dog is a "great" dog. Go out and see others you may requalify your kennels. You may have more than you think, then again you may have less???

This has greatly improved the quality of hound I put down to run rabbits. I was dealing in average dogs before so my standard was lower. I have a couple good hounds now, great is a pretty strong word, I don't know that I have a "great" hound, compared to some I have witnessed.

BC, Agree with what you are saying maybe it doesn't take owning a good dog to know a good dog. But this is the issue, to many of us have a way of making excuses for or dogs, or faulting some one elses when we get waxed. We are defensive about our dogs, but if you have been through a few, you are forced to except it. Prime example of what i am saying is a few years back i had some dogs i thought were pretty nice I did not dread anybody> Then along came Jill an 8 mth old pup that could pretty well out run all of mine home dogs.If you have only had Mossberg 500 all your life you are probably going to think a lot of them but that may be because you havn't had a Remington, or Browning. Not trying to degrade anyones opinion or preference, I'm just saying some of the issues we debate on here seem crazy, statements are made that don't make sence to me at all. Maybe those statements that are way off are just because of the sample size of dogs you have owned.I guess I a man has never owned a dog with a real good nose that didn't bark off or cold trail then it might be hard for him to understand that they are out there. JMO

[BCBeagles]

I agree with above, but what criteria pushes them to "great" status? I have seen what I thought were great hounds at times, what makes you classify them overall as "great", Just asking for opinions, sorry for off topic.

Some of my criteria would be: Consistancy(one of my most important), Adaptability(handles what is around them ex. scenting, heat, pack pressure, etc.), Ability to perform when others fail, Toughness, Comes back strong from a mistake, and overall aiming to please with the desire to perform on a regular basis.

Just my opinions but I think we use Great too often. I think it is situational. I have seen great performances out of just good ole dogs, does that make them great? If they have that performance again and again then it makes them great, IMO.

[BCBeagles]

I have been in that situation with the "Jill" dog, she wasn't 8 months and she wasn't even a female. It makes me happy for the person with the hound better than mine, but mad that I don't have that. I WILL GO OUT and try to get that!!!!

I have been humbled, doesn't bother me at all. Makes me think and evaluate and that leads to action. I want to enjoy my hounds to the fullest. IF I HAVE TO GO OUT AND BUY OR FIND the best i can I WILL. Sometimes the best ain't always up the road or in the next hollow over. Get out there and get humbled, you will have better hounds for it!!!!!!

Good running to all!!!

[augerhead]

by BCBeagles » Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:26 am
I

MEEE TOOO>

[likeemfast]

Jim, i do know exactly what you mean about greatness. Its amazing when you have ONE hound that does it all day in and day out. At this time i have a kennel full of stock out of Daddy Rabbits Pretty Boy Floyd, pretty fair medium fast gun dogs IMO. Are they great? Nope, they have great days, great runs, great days afield, but are not IMO greatness like i have seen. I have had that one hound that if i could bring him back for just one week i would drive all over the country to run him with some of the great ones from today and let the dogs do the talking. I could go on and on and on about how he hunted, check work(when he had one), flow on the line, how in gun season it always seemed when he jumped a rabbit it was heading toward you but when pleasure running he just jumped them to run them, etc etc etc but it wont bring him back, he was something very special. You could breed him to anything and get a pretty darn good hound. Ive had 3 or 4 hounds that have made a pretty good pack, but greatness im still looking for. I keep trying and trying and maybe one day i will see another one like him, maybe not. If i never see another one it wont be from lack of trying tho. I will say this tho, and i definitely have said it before on here because it is so true when it comes to what some guys think are great hounds. As my dad has told me many times,[quote][/quote] Bruce, some guys dont know what a good dog is. (SO TRUE IT IS)

[dog]

See the problem i have is this , if i like what i have and think they are great then why is it wrong for me to not want to go chasing all over the place trying to find what someone else thinks is great ? the mossberg , remington , browning comment is exactly what i am talking about , if i carry a mossberg and shoot 4 times and hit 4 times and you carry a browning and shoot 4 times and hit 4 times , the only thing left that you can brag about is " well mines a browning " if i go out and my average dogs jump and run 6 out of 6 rabbits back to the gun for kills and your great dogs jump and run 6 out of 6 rabbits back to the gun for kills , the only thing left to brag about is " mine done it with a couple less checks " or mine ran a tighter line " and so on , but in the end the result was the same , we both had fun , 6 rabbits jumped , 6 rabbits ran , 6 rabbits killed ! the only difference is i didnt have to go through 200 dogs and countless headaches to do it ! i have ran with alot of different guys and dogs , some were good , some were bad and some were great , some of those were mine , some were theirs , i have never knocked a dog unless it was mine , it is not my place to tell someone what they should like or own wether i would own them or not ! my dogs have to satisfy me and their them , that is all that matters ! and in the same note , it is not someone elses place to tell me what to like and own , thats why i dont trial , im the only one who has the right to judge my dogs , i feed them ! how many dogs ive owned and how long i have been doing this has nothing at all to do with what i like ! and just because someone else has owned more dogs than me doesnt make them right either ! after all , it might be the opposite , it took me less dogs to find what i like !

[fasttrackpa]

Likeemfast We should get together some time and drop some hounds...PA is not that big of a state.

[hhbeagles]

I would say 50 or 60 soe good some not so good

[augerhead]

Likeemfast,Good post!






dog, no problem with you liking your dogs or your guns, feed and shoot what you like!! Some people want more than the end result a dead rabbit. I don't even shoot rabbits don't get much a of a thrill from that.Nobody is trying to impose there views on you, if you don't want to discuss the qualities of a dog or you experience don't reply. Pretty simple.The statement about guns was not to discuss wether they would kill a rabbit or not but to try to explain why there is different opinions on dogs. I think you explained it to me you don't care if there were fewer checks,or they ran a better line ect. I do!! Thats what I 'm trying to say we have different expectations out of a dog so we can't debate faults or qualities. I'm all about the dog, trying to have a truly great one, so the stuff I am talking about doesn't matter to you, you want to kill a rabbit. Asking people how many dogs they have owned was just a post to see if they had the same sickness that I do.A lot of people like to fish, just want to catch a mess to eat, Some may want to catch a trophy, some don't even like fish they want the thrill of being a good fishermen, competing with other good fishermen. All of them like to fish but they a totally different and would have a hard time debating about there fishing equipment.

[See low]

See the problem i have is this , if i like what i have and think they are great then why is it wrong for me to not want to go chasing all over the place trying to find what someone else thinks is great ? the mossberg , remington , browning comment is exactly what i am talking about , if i carry a mossberg and shoot 4 times and hit 4 times and you carry a browning and shoot 4 times and hit 4 times , the only thing left that you can brag about is " well mines a browning " if i go out and my average dogs jump and run 6 out of 6 rabbits back to the gun for kills and your great dogs jump and run 6 out of 6 rabbits back to the gun for kills , the only thing left to brag about is " mine done it with a couple less checks " or mine ran a tighter line " and so on , but in the end the result was the same , we both had fun , 6 rabbits jumped , 6 rabbits ran , 6 rabbits killed ! the only difference is i didnt have to go through 200 dogs and countless headaches to do it ! i have ran with alot of different guys and dogs , some were good , some were bad and some were great , some of those were mine , some were theirs , i have never knocked a dog unless it was mine , it is not my place to tell someone what they should like or own wether i would own them or not ! my dogs have to satisfy me and their them , that is all that matters ! and in the same note , it is not someone elses place to tell me what to like and own , thats why i dont trial , im the only one who has the right to judge my dogs , i feed them ! how many dogs ive owned and how long i have been doing this has nothing at all to do with what i like ! and just because someone else has owned more dogs than me doesnt make them right either ! after all , it might be the opposite , it took me less dogs to find what i like !

so let me get this atrait.. you like what you have and think there great? you refered to the browning mossburg comment as if it made no sence,,, now your moosburg can shoot 4 times and hit 4 times... does this mean the browning is a better gun... here is what to do... go get you a nice browning and then find a guy with a mossburg same condition and offer to trade the browning for his moosburg just see what happens... just for my sanity if you run up on a guy this weekend while running your beagles if he takes a dog and beats yours in every way would you at least consider trying to trade with this guy?

[dog]

Sample size.Seems it would be hard to make some of the statements that are made on here if you havn't owned a few.

dont look to me like you only ask this question to see if some people had the same sickness as you , looks like you ask this question as a way to say " if you havent owned a mess of dog then you dont know what your talking about " thats what i read from it ! as for the gun statement , i took it exactly like it read also ! i see it all the time , out to impress , high dollar guns , high dollar dogs , dog boxes , trucks , high dollar electronics , trucks clothing , none of that stuff runs a rabbit ! some of us down to earth people still take this rabbit hunting stuff for what it should be , an enjoyable hobby , not a competition !

[dog]

Dont believe i said a mossberg was as nice as a browning , What i am saying is everyone dont have to own the best of everything to have fun or enjoy something , obviously some do , to each their own , but dont tell someone their wrong when they dont agree with you ! no i wouldnt try and trade dogs , to me , if that dog beat my dog in every way it would be an insult to the guy to ask to trade , and i dont make a habit of insulting people ! obviously some do ! i have guys i run with all the time , we have awsome chases quite regularly , the number one rule we have is it is not a competition , if you make it one it will be the last time you run with us , dont care who's dog does what better than someone elses , we all have eyes , we know when one dog was better than the other . when i want better i will get better , dont need someone trying to convince me i need better nor is it my place to convince someone else they need better . like i said everythings not a competition to some , if someone want to be competitive , thats great , good for them , i wish them the best of luck with it , but just because i dont want to dont mean im wrong or dont know what a good dog is . i have ran with dogs that were better than mine that day but also done things that if they were mine i would have give them to the first person that showed intrest in them , to me it is the whole experience , not just how a dog runs a rabbit , nothing will get a dog a new home faster than not listening , i dispise a hard headed dog , can stand one that hunts to deep either , dont care how good they are , i cant get rid of them fast enough ! i know there are people out there that dont care about that stuff , i do ! then again some people will drive a truck that cost 50 grand and gets 12 mile to the gallon just too , i dont see much sence in that but some do !