Beagles - MSIN

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“Conditioning is the Key”

     As a former college football coach I can honestly say that I was embarrassed this past October when my bitch competed at Central Illinois Beagle Club in her first trial. I was not embarrassed by her will to win or her competitive nature –however I was embarrassed by the fact that I had not prepared her physically.

    “A dog can only run as fast as its nose.” This being said what happens when the nose outlasts the run? In football conditioning is everything. A team that is well shaped can overcome many things that may be lacking in talent. An individual however who is not in shape allows all the flaws to surface in a hurry and rookies get discouraged and give up and veterans rely on freelancing and tricks. The veterans cut corners and their performance suffers. How can you rely on your instincts and knowledge if you are to busy concentrating on breathing or trying to catch up?

    Now don’t get the wrong idea I’ve seen plenty of athletes in tiptop condition whom never possessed the talent to be successful. That didn’t mean they couldn’t participate full speed and with pride. It just meant they were not as talented as their competition. This you can deal with and walk away from smiling at the end of your day. I never feel like it is a waste of time or money going to field trial competitions. It is definitely a waste of time though to not coach and condition your hound before entering it. I vowed that day not to have that happen again.

     Another big thing I overlooked at the Central Illinois trial was the luck of the draw. I had talked my wife into going to her first trial and being a diehard rolled her out of bed so we could be on the road before 4:00 a.m. Of course I forgot to grab the lawn chairs and the snacks so the day started with a little uneasiness from the spouse. We arrived in plenty of time and were picked to run in the last pack of the first series, which had over 40 big bitches in it. It took no shorter than five and a half hours to get to our pack.

My wife is a real trooper but even the best cheerleaders get discouraged once in awhile. We ran well and advanced. The club took a short lunch break, drew for the second series and we were picked first pack. I realized at that time only about twenty minutes had passed and it doesn’t take an experienced beagler to figure out that my bitch would be competing against some other dogs who had been resting for quite some time. Regardless of that I was not confident in my bitch’s conditioning after the first round. Simply put the pack ran well but my bitch didn’t run long. We had a great time. I couldn’t tell you who were more tired my wife or my hound; I definitely knew neither was volunteering to drive home.

My bitch is a bit high strung and I knew she had taken the fight out of the fighter a bit early with our wait. However, that is no excuse for her obvious shaping concerns. My bitch may not have been destined for the winners’ pack that day. At least if we would have been in better condition we could have left smiling about our performance. It is team effort fellas, get them out of the pen. I truly admire the competitive nature of our hounds of choice. My bitch is no exception to that statement. We’re learning from good people.

     The other day I was sitting around having a “pity party” for myself when my grandpa said, “its nature’s way let it go.” You see I had matched my bitch when she was red hot in season with a well-known field champion. She whelped 10 puppies. Leading up to the whelping we had a string of really nice weather. I had planned my vacation around my bitch’s term beginning on her 62nd day. She decided to whelp on the 60th day and that evening surprisingly enough the temperature dropped below 30 degrees. I noticed before nightfall that she was not laying all the way out and I had to move her off of three pups.
     On the 61st day, as I was leaving for work, I pulled three pups from the box which she had placed outside her nest. I came home early from work and removed two more. I was down to five when I called the vet. I was attempting to warm one puppy up that my bitch was laying on and started to bottle feed as the vets showed up. We moved my bitch into the mudroom so as to rule out the weather.
     As evening came, my bitch would not layout and consequently was only allowing two or three teats to show. The vet worked on one of the pups while I calmed her down and forced her to stretch out. The pup our vet was working on died and then there were four. I stayed up all night helping the puppies nurse and making sure my bitch laid out properly. I walked her, fed her and everything seemed stable.
     On Friday, the 62nd day, we had two males and two females. We had lost four females in the six that had died. Friday night was good and I actually got some sleep. By Saturday morning she was nudging one of the remaining females out from under her. We took it, attempted to feed it and eventually put it back on her. Upon putting the pup back in, she grabbed it and placed the small female on her front paws and slowly lowered her chin down trapping it from moving any longer. Feeling very frustrated, I decided to move her back outside once the seventh puppy had died.
     That same afternoon we had a tornado come through our place (Missouri weather!). The strong winds blew one of my carriers a mile down the highway and I still haven’t found the metal door to it. I began to wonder what else our puppies were going to have to endure. Shortly afterwards my grandpa told me a story to help me understand and turn the page.
“Jason, when I was a young man, before your father was born, we had beagles which we raised and sold. Some were pets and some were great hunters. Of course the pets got a new zip code. I remember one of our best females had a large litter, which I had high expectations for. The day they were to turn two weeks old a retarded neighborhood boy uncharacteristically and maliciously murdered all but one of the pups. It was an awful mess and your aunt was the one that discovered the tragedy. We had been gone to town on a Saturday morning only to hear the devastating howl of the young female beagle that had witnessed her babies being destroyed. Since they were still so young, the female was trying to caress and stimulate them. Upon closer examination, all the pups were dead except for one puppy clinging to a rear teat hidden by the bitch’s hind leg.

Although the mess was cleaned up, the memory was painful and the family was filled with grief. We soon “let it go” and tried to turn the page, after all, we had one healthy pup right? As we began to wean the puppy we noticed although his eyes were open he was having problems with running into things. Sure enough the vet determined that the pup had lost its eye sight right around the time they were first scheduled to be opened, which would have been close to the time of the loss of his littermates. Your grandma remembered that the puppies had just opened their eyes the day before the incident. The thought had crossed my mind to go ahead and have the pup euthanized. The women were just beside themselves and we decided as a family to raise him. We named him Buddy.

Buddy soon learned where everything was in his pen and soon afterwards learned an area in the backyard where we tied him out on occasion. We lived next to the highway so none of our dogs were ever left to run free and especially not Buddy. Buddy was about six months old when I remember going through a real slump in finding quality beagles to hunt and train. I was really disappointed with some pups I had purchased and began to kick myself again like I had done for the last six months about the loss of Buddy’s littermates. I really put a lot of money and effort into the matching of that particular mating and had hoped to finally own a champion style hound. As I was sitting on the porch having a “pity party” much like yourself I was approached by your aunt who was teary eyed and could hardly speak. ‘Daddy, Buddy is gone. He broke his snap.’ I asked her how long it had been since she had seen him and she thought it was about an hour so we began by looking through all the sheds and near the other kennels. Buddy had never been out of the backyard. The next thing I thought of was the highway and I ordered your aunt to go inside. As I approached the highway I found myself sickened with the thought of finding Buddy dead on the road, hit by some stranger who didn’t even own dogs. As I approached the roadside, I heard the echo of a beagle barking in the opposite ditch. Buddy did not bark much so I knew he must be hurt or be trapped in a hole. I raced across the road and was shocked to see Buddy head down and tonguing while his tail worked like a wiper blade in a crazy summer storm. I couldn’t believe it, if I wouldn’t have seen it with my own eyes I would of called a man a liar. Sure enough there was Buddy tonguing after a rabbit, which was about 15 yards in front of him bouncing down the ditch. Buddy was doing quite well for a six-month old puppy but for a blind six month old he was performing incredibly well. This was way more unbelievable than the story I heard about the beagle that swam across a cove tonguing after a rabbit that had swam the trail earlier. I taught Buddy to pack in, and with the exception of speed that beagle was one of our best dogs. He was great with puppies. One thing about it, he never sight chased a rabbit and never ran trash. Buddy beat the odds when everyone had counted him out including me.”
Needless to say we still have three pups and they are a true gift. Maybe my bitch was culling them for me. Thanks grandpa, I get the point.

Like I said before my father bought two pups and we ran them on Saturday with two of mine. I don’t think I’ve seen my father grin so often in my life. I have to admit hearing that sweet music echo down through the hollers made my cheeks burn with enjoyment. My father got the shot on the first rabbit they packed in on. The came in 1..2..3..4 straight as an arrow, ready for his waiting praise. When I heard the shot I was overjoyed. I was also very relieved. I didn’t know if I was relieved because my father had bought the dogs on my word or because the pack ran that rabbit for no less than an hour and a half and my feet and back were tired from standing. We’ve had a great season and harvested quite a few. It would seem though that this particular rabbit was the most memorable.

**SEMO BEAGLE CLUB** President Mark Smith is happy to announce that the members of the SEMO Beagle Club have been working hard in order to ensure quality-running grounds for our trials this season and to ensure the longevity of our club for seasons to come. SEMO has a great tradition of fellowship and hospitality. However we recognize that our rabbit population has been declining due to poor cover and food plot preparation.
As an entire club we have set our goal to improve our running grounds and to ensure everyone that a trip to SEMO is well worth the time and effort. We look forward to seeing all of you at the trials throughout the season and especially hope that you come and support our club and witness our efforts to improve the competitive field for this incredible sport.
**If you are so inclined the club will happily accept all donations of rabbits you might be able to spare.**
The club replaced the old divider fence to ensure equal distribution of rabbits for both classes.	Here members are shown working together “to get the job done” timely and effectively.
From the road entrance to the clubhouse one will quickly notice the vast improvements made. The tree lines and inadequate brush was cleared and replaced with quality cover and food plots.	From the front area of the clubhouse beaglers will also notice the elimination of small groups of trees and the ditch filled with ineffective and sometimes unused land.
This picture is taken from the barn and kennel area. Notice more adequate use of land and a mixture of food plots. Large pilings were pushed together and burned. The club is truly a different place!	Some things never change. Here Secretary Billy Vaughn orchestrates the team effort from his mule. Assuring the beagling community of the quality we promote as a club.

A hunter from Illinois bought a black and tan from a coon hunter in Missouri on the word of the Missourian’s son. About a month went by and the Missourian got to wondering about good ole Hershel his former black & tan and how that Illinois hunter liked him.
He called his son that evening and his son said, “that Illinois man called me the other night and said that darn dog Hershel is the weirdest animal he’d ever owned.”
The Missourian said, “well, son what is wrong with him?”
“Well dad seems that the Illinois hunter said the hound was excellent one night and the worse S.O.B. he’d ever seen the next night, couldn’t get any consistency from him.”
The Missourian said quite practically “tell that old boy to hunt him every other night then.”

Here in Missouri some are getting fired up for nearby derby trials this winter & spring, while others are enjoying some rabbit hunting with anticipation of some snowfall before the season ends on February 15th, 2002. As always I have enjoyed the past year with a mixture of training, trials and hunting. I’ve met quite a few new hunters, competitors in the various field trial circuits, and just many who really love beagles. I’ve spent some hours on the Internet reading about beagles and discussing beagle topics on sites such as www.beaglesunlimited.com & www.mosportsmen.com. I also began to realize the importance and benefit of feeding a brand of dog food exclusively. I am feeding Diamond Dog Foods exclusively now and have seen much improved energy, health and weight consistency.
My wife and I have made a move to Southeast Missouri from our former home in Northeast Missouri. With the transition I have had to spread my kennel all around the state to avoid having to sell them. I would rather sell them at my pace and not be pressured into selling due to a quick move on my part. I was lucky enough to get my prospective trial dogs in to Monty Johnston at Inline Kennels.htm and the rest went to my father’s place (well one lap dog came with us, of course.) Monty’s conditioning regiment paid off for my 8 month old, as he took second in a MAB Derby Trial at SEMO Beagle Club on December 30th, 2001. Taylor Made Chase II (FC Short’s Farlap x Parton’s BB Brew) looks to be shaping up and I will enjoy taking him to some derby pack trials this spring. Thanks Monty for conditioning him for me, I know you are always full.
One very interesting topic I have been researching the last few years is the differing perception beagle owners have about what gives their hounds desire. It is very interesting to me to think that some of the most desirable hounds I’ve seen have never had a rabbit harvested in front of them.
I polled over 100 hunters and field trial competitors and asked them if harvesting helped put the hunt in their hounds. Overwhelmingly 100% of the hunters asked said that their hounds hunted harder and started quicker as pups when they were exposed to harvested rabbits. Some even went as far as to say that they preferred to bloody a pup’s snout and face with the first rabbit harvested in front of it. Common responses to questions about starting pups were “Did you harvest one for it yet?” or “Has it tasted blood?”
On the other side of things 100% of field trial people who also hunt rabbits said their dog’s desire is determined by what runs through its veins. It is in the pedigree. Some of the best rabbit dogs, field champion beagles, have never had a rabbit harvested over them. They added that most hunters don’t realize that many field trial dogs are also hunted during rabbit season. The field trials are held during rabbit season but are also competitions before and after season. A beagle owner can enjoy their hound year around.
After reflecting on this topic one will realize that the big difference between trial dogs and pure rabbit dogs is noticed most at the point of harvest. A trial dog, when shot around or when harvested in front of, will not be satisfied by the trails end. A harvested rabbit does not mean anything to a field trial dog, it will sniff it and begin to look and try to figure out why the line ended (which is good for me because I miss a lot.) A pure hunting dog responds to the gun and will claim the rabbit. The hound will compete to claim the rabbit until the owner gives her praise and puts the harvest in the coat. One of the most frustrating things my father deals with when hunting with my dogs is when we have a cripple or a “I’m not sure if I hit it.” My dogs will quite often just shut up when they come upon a dead rabbit, then hunt on. They don’t grab it, chew it or play tug of war with it. They will find it but they are not going to stand around waiting for you to claim it. A good example would be from our last hunt. I popped one and crippled it (had a lot of good excuses too for not hitting it cleanly) the dogs checked up near where I shot it. They were still searching when I approached as I walked into the area out jumped the rabbit that had side stepped the dogs and laid down. Off went the dogs. I did not go all the way to where they had checked up I assumed I missed and the rabbit had sat tight. WRONG. We got that rabbit and a little later I circled through that area again and found the one I had hit earlier in the exact spot where the dogs had shut up previously. You have to know your dogs and trust them. I did not trust the ones we were hunting with and assumed they were checked up trying to figure out where the bunny went. Instead they had finished the line and were wondering why that bunny wasn’t moving anymore. I came along and kicked up another rabbit that was sitting real tight nearby.
The other important note is perception by the owner. If I hunt and run dogs just during rabbit season then of course I will feel that my hounds get their desire and ability from harvesting rabbits. That is the only time they get off the chain. If I run year round and do not harvest rabbits, just train, then I will feel that the harvest has nothing to do with it. The reality of it all is that exposure is the key. Owners who run year around can offer a lot of exposure without harvesting and owners who run during season only offer experience behind the gun. Bloodlines are everything, but potential means nothing unless you get that hound the right exposure.
One of the best rabbit dogs we own was raised to field trial and never had a rabbit harvested over her until she was almost two and a half. She has more hunt and desire than you could ever ask for in a hound. She makes you smile every time you take her out. She is not however clean enough to win a field trial. Her pedigree, exposure & training had everything to do with her desire. Now the harvest has been added and it will help add another desirable trait to her. When we bought her she instinctively wanted to run for herself, her pedigree & exposure gave her that desire, now she wants to please us and hunt with us and the harvest and handling has helped her do that.
I really believe those people competing on the field trial circuit and those in beagle clubs should actively promote this great sport to rabbit hunters who have never seen a trial or who saw a glimpse of one on TV. There are still so many misconceptions about “field trial dogs” compared to “hunting dogs.” Most don’t even realize it is one in the same for a lot of people. I am involved in field trials because I want the best hunting dog I can own. I want to learn how to build that dog by tracking bloodlines and training. It is all for the appreciation of rabbit hunters and rabbit hunting and of the love of beagles.
Promote your sport and bring a newcomer next time you go to a trial it will benefit us all over the long hall. Make sure when you are selling or trading dogs to give some old issues of your Hounds & Hunting to new prospects. It doesn’t take long to become addicted. We all know that!

This is the true story of a lap dog named Chase. Early on I could tell Debbie was growing fond of Chase. She would hold him longer than the other two pups and she started defending him when I would say he had bowed legs and a nose like an anteater. Of course I had my favorite who I named Tyson because as a pup he was all black and an ear biter. I really liked how bold he was compared to the other pups, especially compared to Chase who was whining constantly and growing more and more aware of Debbie’s attention.
As youngsters we did lots of yard work with them and let them tag along behind a big old buck tame rabbit. Of course at three months old it is hard to tell but Tyson really looked intent on chasing that tame rabbit and didn’t stop to see who was watching or to play with a stick. I even looked back at some photos we had taken in the yard and realized it was in fact Tyson who was showing up in most of the pictures with the bunny.
I decided that when I had to pick up two of my males from Monty Johnston at Inline Kennels that I would take Debbie along and show her Monty’s operation and together we would drop these three pups down in Monty’s starting pen. I knew she would enjoy watching these pups take their first steps toward being rabbit dogs. They were 5 ½ months old, the normal time I try to get pups started. Within two hours we had two tonguing and one of the two was taking a track real nice. Monty keeps his starting pen extremely thick. His opinion being that he would rather not have a pup start by sight chasing if at all possible.
Well the pup that was taking a track real nice was Tyson and the one who hadn’t even gotten out of the rabbit feeder barrel was Chase. I took Chase out to save Monty some money on rabbit food and gave him to Debbie who was now resting with him on her lap on a nearby trailer outside the pen. I let the other two get nice and worked up and then removed them. I then coaxed Chase and Debbie back into the pen to try and get him interested. At one point I remember him whimpering softly. I couldn’t tell if he stepped on a thorn or a scent blew across his nose but Debbie claimed it as he was starting—I of course said no way that doesn’t count. I left that day feeling a bit satisfied because Tyson had started first like I suspected he would and two pups out of three had started the very first time we tried. Chase of course road home up front in the wife’s lap no better for the day’s worth of exposure.
All three of the pups running at the same time were a bit too much to handle in the area where I hunted. At that time of the year the cover was still real thick and the crops had not been harvested. So I would just take two or try and solo them. Once a week I would take an adult dog also. I had Tyson & Maggie running together and packing somewhat. Tyson really started coming on nice and Maggie was not to bad her self. Chase was still content on playing grab ass and hanging with me.
Tyson is the type of dog that never gets his head up so once he is intent on a track he is staying and I was real worried about losing him in the large bean & cornfields. I started running him with an adult dog hoping to get him to start harking in and therefore I could keep better track of him. He could still get the exposure he needed from running with the additional dog. This of course left me to pairing up Maggie and Chase.
I dropped Chase and Maggie down and on their first time running together Chase started and he went straight to running like he had already circled a dozen rabbits. I couldn’t believe it. Though, I was happy to have him started. The weeks went by and it became apparent that Chase was beginning to be the best of the three. All three had soloed a rabbit. Chase was actually getting a whiff of the good stuff while running with the older dogs. I finally had to break down and tell Debbie that Chase was probably going to be our best prospect. Debbie announced, “boy I sure know how to pick them.” In all honesty Chase was #1, Maggie was #2 and my hot prediction Tyson was a steady #3. They all had their strengths with no outstanding faults. I was genuinely happy with the cross I had made. Whether or not these pups would make trial dogs was still up in the air.
It was really surprising how Tyson had started regressing a little and showing flaws while Chase never went through any real growing pains. He went straight from zero to hero in a couple days. I suppose his brain decided that was what he was going to do. I was moving to the other end of the state and I decided to have Monty run my pups and one other dog while I was in transition. I told him I wanted to give it a month and then see what we had. I dropped them off and discussed how I felt they were progressing and we figured out a game plan. I like to write down my own observations so I can learn from guys like Monty who have seen and trained a lot more beagles than I.

On 12-02-01 I wrote in my journal:
FC Farlap x Parton’s BB Brew pups whelped 04/17/01
Chase
*Moves the line
*Will hark in and pack
*Good mouth and plenty of mouth
*Close with good foot
*Handles good
*Has soloed a rabbit
*Has a brain
*Last to start
Maggie
*Less exposure, heat cycle
*Has shown good potential
*Will pack
*Good mouth & plenty of mouth
*No major flaws
*Has soled rabbit
*Question desire and shyness
*Second to start
Tyson
*Has exposure
*Head always down, good desire
*Mouth some chop, mixed bawl
*Confirmation good
*Has not soloed complete circle
*Hesitant to hark in and pack
*Close, questioned some backtracking
*Hard Head
*First to start
Needless to say as the month progressed and I got the play by play from Monty my observations were pretty accurate. As I picked up the dogs I knew they were all running and had been run often by their shaping and by the need for extra-strength lip balm. I asked Monty, “If you had to own a big one, which one of mine would you feed?” Monty said he liked the lap dog, knowing that my wife had been giving me hell about it being her dog. The lap dog (Chase) in his opinion was going to be a nice dog. The bitch (Maggie) had some extra mouth and just didn’t possess the desire the other had, she would run for four hours then come to the gate. The other male (Tyson) he said was unwilling to stay with the pack. He was content on doing his own thing. That coupled with a bawl mouth was going to make him slower than most trial dogs. I ran Tyson cause I was still in denial even though I had made the same basic observations of him a month earlier and sure enough he was chopping on the line and then bawling at a check. I mean dig your front feet in and crack your voice bawling. Boy he can shake a brush pile with that mouth. I am going to give them until a year old before I decide on what to do. I suspect that unless the two pups are better than what I’m hunting with they will get a new zip code. I am going to trial Chase this spring and see what I end up with, hope Debbie lets me take him.
So let that be a lesson to all you beaglers and rabbit hunters alike. Don’t make decisions on dogs too early. I had two separate guys offer me $300 for Tyson at 7 months old but at 9 months old you can tell he is going to be a good rabbit dog, not a trial dog. Let your words be sweet and make sure you socialize and make companions out of your hounds. That way when you do choose to sell one the next owners will be extremely pleased and you can say in a consoling demeanor, “well honey he’s going to a good home, they have children and a big backyard.”

Conditioning is the Key	Buddy the Blind Beagle
Lap Dog Named Chase	Desirable
SEMO BEAGLE CLUB	Money is no Object