I want to list the qualities that I breed for in my hounds and I will explain a few in detail.

All these qualities are based on my personal desire of what I want in a Rabbit Beagle and is my personal opinion.  I  know that all beaglers do not agree on what they want in a beagle, and that is okay, but these qualities are what I desire and I breed for:

 

    1. 13" & 15" beagles:   As set forth by AKC regulations and standards. 

    2. Line control:  The beagle should run the line and that alone. They should stay close to the check area or lose because that is where the line is at.  It is okay to move out to search, but they should search from the inside out.

    3. Speed Control:  A good line control beagle should not run faster than the conditions and his ability allows.  Running faster than he can control causes him to lose the line and that is what I don't want to happen.

    4. Contributes to the pack:  When running in a pack each hound should contribute to the progress of the line.  If one hound gets the check, the other hounds should honor the lead hound and not compete or disrupt the flow on the line. Some field trialers call it "putting ducks in a row".  A good pack should never lose the line and make running the rabbit seem effortless.  That's what every rabbit hunter loves to hear, a good race.

    5.  Kennel manners:  I don't tolerate barking in the kennel, especially at night.  I've noticed that most of the problem of barking at night is caused because the dog is nervous in the kennel, so I stay away from shy hounds.

    6.  Hunt:  I want to talk about this quality a little more in detail because this is the most desired quality for most rabbit hunters who contact me.  Most of the rabbit dogs I sell are to rabbit hunters and that is good.  And almost all of them only ask about this one trait.  To me I rate it lower than the others because the desire to find a rabbit should be the easiest quality to breed into your bloodline. 

Why I say that HUNT is the lowest and easiest on my list of qualities to bred for.

 

When I was running good 'ole country boy beagles in the 70's and 80's they were whatever my dad bought me that would run a rabbit. Some of them were given to me.  I remember a pair of males my dad bought from a friend for $150, and I think they ran a rabbit?  I don't remember because I spent all my time trying to catch'em.  All they wanted to do was find a rabbit, they didn't know what to do after they found it, but they sure could jump one. I spent more time in those years trying to catch dogs; it made rabbit hunting no fun at all.  I decided when I got back into beagling later that I wasn't going to put myself through that again.  I found out I had to spend some serious cash to ensure that.  Believe me when I say it is worth a little extra money to buy a better rabbit dog and have fun hunting rabbits.....not "hunting" your dogs.

 

When people ask me how a certain hound hunts that is for sale on my site, I tell them that it probably doesn't hunt as hard as they are used to, but that my hounds obey. I breed and train my hounds to hunt, search and stay busy, but stay close. Hounds should hunt where I go, not wherever they want.  My hounds stay close to me, within 20-30 yards, and are ready at all times to my tally ho.  A tally ho is when I jump a rabbit, they respond to my command very quickly.  This is a quality that they also need to have for field trials.

 

Bottom line on hunt, my hounds hunt medium, but handle great.  I prefer a hound that will stay busy and keep attentive to me and my commands.  This enables me to hunt my pack most anywhere, and many places that alot of other people can't because they can't control their hounds.