Real Jobs for Hounds
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By Chris Robinson
There are lots of opportunities for dogs and their owners these days, a veritable plethora of sports that provide mental stimulus and physical activity for the dog. Some, like agility for example, are designed to do the same for the dog’s owner. But for almost every breed, there is one type of work for which they are uniquely suited. In other words, the work the breed was intended to do, their “real job.”
For hounds, like the breeds in the sporting group, this is hunting, whether it be for game animals or in the case of Bloodhounds for people. It is the job that produces the most animation, enthusiasm and sheer canine joy in those lucky dogs that get the opportunity to do what they were meant to do. It’s almost an ironclad guarantee that you’ll never get the kind of animation and intensity from your dog in the show ring as you will, almost at the slightest indication, that you are headed out to hunt. Trust me, dogs may be color blind but they know blaze orange and every shade and type of camouflage from Realtree® to Mossy Oak®, from desert to tiger stripe, from woodland to the new digital stuff, from brown to winter white when they see you take it out of the closet. They also know exactly what’s up when you grab your whistles or when you pick up whatever firearm you use for hunting or with Bloodhounds, when you reach for their tracking harness. So, let’s take a look at these real jobs for hounds, what they are and what you need to do with your hound to be able to participate in these activities starting with open field coursing for the sighthounds. Keep in mind, however, that it may not always be easy to find events to acquaint you with these hound real jobs particularly if it involves hunting as most hound clubs, like sporting breed clubs that hold field trials or hunt tests, keep a fairly low profile in order to avoid the unwanted attention from animal rights people.
Open field coursing is an organized sport in which hounds get to pursue jackrabbits. Before anyone says, “Oh, the poor little bunnies,” let’s get a few things straight about jackrabbits. We’re not talking about fluffy little white Easter bunnies here. Jackrabbits, among other things, are ideally suited for these trials. They are big and fast. They can hop up to 20 feet at the time when frightened and achieve speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. This is about the same speed generated by stakes winning Thoroughbreds. For example, the great racehorse Secretariat ran the mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes in two minutes and 24 seconds. This averages out to 37.5 mph for the entire race. The speediest sighthounds can only run about five miles per hour faster than a jackrabbit. They are agile, able to make a 90 degree turn at full speed on a dime, they know the terrain and they have escape and evasion skills that have been honed by generations of near misses by coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, foxes, hawks, eagles and owls. In any chase, they are more than a match for most sighthounds which is why the jacks escape about 85 percent of the time. Of course, if the hounds catch a jack, they will kill it. Contrary to the romanticism that Walt Disney and others have promulgated over the years, killing is what all canids, including dogs, do. They are, in fact, predators that rank pretty high on the food chain. Even the most fluffy little toy breed that rarely is allowed to get its paws dirty will kill birds and small rodents given the opportunity and it is only through serious training along with more than 200 years of selective breeding that sporting dogs can be persuaded to not bite and shake birds they’ve retrieved.
In many states, jackrabbits are rightly classified as pests since their appetites are enormous with each jack consuming as much as a pound of green vegetation each day. Their food tastes are decidedly catholic. As long as it’s vegetation, they’ll eat it. They attack vegetable crops with beans, beets, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, carrots and peas among their favorites. They eat tree and berry crops, herbs and ornamentals. They gnaw the smooth, thin bark from young trees. In many cases they completely girdle the tree causing it to die. They also gnaw and cut plastic irrigation lines. In addition, they carry a disease called tularemia or “rabbit fever” which can be contracted by humans if they handle an infected rabbit with their bare hands. And they breed like, well, rabbits. A doe can produce up to six litters with as many as eight leverets in each litter. So, don’t waste your sympathy on jackrabbits. It’s for sure that the farmers in areas plagued by these pests don’t feel sorry for them. In many of the western states, they are such a problem that they are not classified as game animals which means that can be killed at any time by any legal means. So, having disposed of any romantic ideas about jackrabbits, how would you go about getting involved in open field coursing?
The first thing, said Eddie Kominek who, with his wife, Selma, participates in the sport with their Afghan Hounds, one of which is a dual champion, is that unless you live west of the Mississippi, you have to be prepared to travel very long distances. “Off the top of my head, I know it is legal in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming but the sensible thing to do is check the game laws in the western and southwestern states to see what the state hunting regulations are and, in most states, you have to purchase a small game hunting license. Then you have to get your hound and yourself in condition. If you don’t live in one of the states where the hounds can free course regularly, that means lots of free running and road work. As for the hounds’ human partners, you can expect to walk anywhere from six to ten miles in a day through tall grass and frequently rough terrain. You’ll also have to carry enough water for your hound and for yourself along with lunch for you, snacks for the dog and at least a rudimentary first aid kit. One other thing to keep in mind is that porta-potties are either few and far between or nonexistent which means you should probably pack some toilet paper. If your dog is new to this sport, it’s also a good idea to outfit them with GPS collars and handheld units. As far as training the dogs for the sport, they just have to do it and gain their experience that way as there is not too much you can do to mentally prepare a hound outside of actually putting them on live game through organized hunting or free coursing. If you are close enough to one of the OFC clubs that offer puppy hunts for teaching and exposure purposes, you can get your hound started as young as six months of age. The more experience your hound has had with live game, the better they are at this sport,” he says.
The major benefit of OFC for sighthound breeders is that it is the ultimate test of breeding stock, according to Kominek. “You might never see your hounds give 100 percent of their effort lure coursing because their heads may not be in the game, the course is poorly designed or the course is too short to ever test endurance. But, in the open field, running for more than a mile-and-a-half at top speed, you get to see what your dogs are really made of. It also imparts perspective to everything else you do with the dog–dog shows, lure coursing, racing–because you get to see hounds that have been selectively and purposely bred just for chasing live game unlike what you may see in the show ring or even a lure coursing event. I use my mental pictures of these true working hounds when I sit ringside at a dog show. You learn to appreciate what qualities are important in a sighthound such as up on the leg, moderation in angles, balance, soundness, strong bone, good feet and so on. But, it is not easy to get into OFC. For one thing, it is difficult to get to an event as all the appropriate game is in the west. Also, OFC organizations are very secretive about hunt dates and locations because of animal rights activists so you have to get to know someone who does it and they have to vouch for you to ‘get you in.’ In addition, you have to be able to live with the scary feeling you get having your hound off lead so far away from you in the desert and out of earshot. Waiting for them to return from the course can be nerve wracking. But, in the end, all the effort and worry is worth it because this is what these hounds were meant to do,” he states.
What if your dog was intended to do its hunting by scent, not sight? Billy and Mandy Bobbitt have hunted with their Beagles, in Mandy’s words, seemingly forever. They each owned a hunting pack before they were married in 1968 so they have extensive hunting experience with the breed. But, the things that make a Beagle a good hunting dog would also apply to Bassets, Dachshunds and even the coonhound breeds. “Most generally a Beagle that conforms to the standard for the breed should be able to hunt well and for many years. But, unfortunately, fitting the standard doesn’t tell you a thing about the necessary desire and ability to hunt rabbits as well as whether it has the discriminating nose that can figure out where the rabbit has gone. You can’t predict hunting ability in a pup for months and sometimes even longer. We take our pups for long walks off leash. When they start putting their noses down and exploring different scents rather than playing, they are making progress. Then we start taking them out with older, reliable dogs or a dog that searches for rabbits when encouraged to do so and speaks or barks when they have rabbit scent. They set a good example for a pup. We hate to give up on a pup who doesn’t show much interest as sometimes the ‘bell’ rings late. We hunt our Beagles in a pack and sometimes we get a pup that wants to work at his or her own pace and that doesn’t fit our hunting style. But that doesn’t mean that a Beagle like that won’t be useful to someone who hunts with only a dog or two” said Mandy Bobbitt.
She added that if someone wants to get started hunting with their Beagle, the first step is to take the dog to an area where they are likely to encounter rabbits, such as briar patches and areas with low cover. “Encourage the dog to explore as you walk along but occasionally call the dog back to you so they learn to keep in touch. You don’t want them to go very far away but you do want them to explore and, of course, when they come to you, give them a treat–food or a toy–as a reward for responding. If you have a bit of luck, the dog may ‘jump’ a rabbit and the best response, if this happens, is that the dog will chase it usually until it’s out of sight ‘speaking’ as he chases. But, if he chases but doesn’t give tongue, that’s almost as good. Even if the dog comes across a rabbit trail and ‘feathers’ or wags his tail at the interesting scent, it’s a positive sign. Just don’t get discouraged. Keep continuing to expose the dog to areas where there are rabbits. One thing you can do that will usually speed up the process is bringing along an older Beagle that knows how to hunt rabbits. But this isn’t essential. Watching your dog progress and learn more and more about running rabbits is just a great deal of fun because you are watching him become adapt at something Beagles were intended to do,” she says.
Jim Corbett, the secretary of the American Black and Tan Coonhound Club, said much the same about starting to hunt with one of the coonhound breeds. Now before this goes any farther, once again, here’s a brief wildlife lesson for Canine Chronicle readers that may not have a lot of raccoon knowledge. While not quite the pests that jackrabbits are in many areas of the nation, raccoons definitely are trouble. Females in search of a den site often rip off shingles, fascia boards or rooftop ventilators to get into attics. Once inside the attic they tear insulation on the walls or on heating and air conditioning ducts to line the nest. When they get in the attic, they’ll use an area as a toilet and the ceiling beneath may become stained with urine accompanied by the stench of their eliminations. Also, parasites, particularly roundworms, they carry may infest the attic and migrate to other parts of the house. They constitute about 40 percent of all rabies cases diagnosed in the U.S. Uncapped chimneys are often used as den sites as are spaces beneath porches and decks. Doors covering crawl spaces are frequently damaged in an effort to den beneath a house. Raccoon damage to gardens and crops is quite common with sweet corn at the top of their hit list. They climb the stalk and tear it down to gain access to the corn. What’s more, damage almost always happens right before harvest. Other fruits and vegetables are also raccoon targets and they are frequently guilty of rolling up newly laid sod looking for worms and grubs. While raccoons are not nearly as prolific as jackrabbits–they only have one litter per year which averages about four kits–there never seems to be a shortage of these masked bandits and hunting helps keep the population levels in check since a full grown raccoon has few enemies in the wild.
“When we first started with coonhounds in 1971, we went to some UKC events,” Corbett said. “Fortunately, mentoring is very strong in the UKC field world and we were invited to some events and, more importantly, to fun days which are potluck events with lots of training opportunities. We made new friends who would take us hunting and show us how to teach our dogs to ignore deer, elk and skunks but get raccoons. A dog does or does not have the instinct to pursue anything with fur. The trick, with those that have the high prey drive, is to teach them what to chase and what to ignore. Every breed has a purpose even if that purpose is to be a companion dog as is the case with some of the toy breeds. Coonhounds are supposed to have a natural desire to pursue fur-bearing animals. This instinct is an integral part of the breed standard but it is impossible to determine in the show ring. So, the only real way to find out if any hound has it is to hunt with them.”
For one hound breed, the Bloodhound, the ultimate quarry is human, as in search and rescue operations or in mantrailing, either at organized events or when that skill is actually needed to track down a lost child, someone suffering from a mental disorder, or an escaped criminal. Becky Irving has been a search and rescue canine handler for 25 years. She said, unlike many of the hunting activities which are instinctive in most other hound breeds, Bloodhounds need some very specific training for doing Search and Rescue, law enforcement trailing or mantrailing as a sport. “The first, of course, is basic obedience. It is important in a working environment to have a dog that will sit at an intersection until the light changes or wait quietly while a person with a dog passes by or not steal someone’s lunch from an outdoor café as you pass by. So, you need a dog that will ‘sit’, ‘down’, ‘stay’, ‘wait’ and ‘leave it’ on command. We start dogs, if possible, as pups by putting them in harness and introducing them to the ‘firetrail.’ Someone stands in front of the dog waving a hat or a piece of cloth and calls the puppy’s name while the handler holds on to the harness. The assistant drops the hat or the piece of cloth about 10 feet in front of the pup and then runs about 50 feet away from the pup. The handler then walks the pup up to the dropped cloth or hat and when the puppy’s nose touches the article, he gives the trailing command. The pup will usually run to the person who dropped the article where they are rewarded with food or a toy by the assistant. This process usually goes on for about two weeks until the pup consistently puts his nose on the ground and is not using any visual cues. The training continues adding turns, cross tracks, aging the trail, and distractions.”
Irving noted that search and rescue, law enforcement trailing or mantrailing is important for Bloodhounds because they can trash the house or become a not-so-pleasant member of the family if they are not given an outlet for their inquisitive nose or be given the opportunity to satisfy their need to hunt. “These activities give a Bloodhound a chance to use all the conformation assets a Bloodhound has to have to help locate missing persons or criminals or just plain have fun,” said Irving. “Bloodhounds that get to do the work they were intended to do are much more contented than those that do not,” she says.
So, there you have it, hound lovers. There’s a real job out there waiting for you and your hound to try. Speaking as someone who has frequently had the pleasure of seeing my retrievers and pointing breeds do the job the breed was designed to do, in the dog world, it just does not get any better than that.
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Posted by ralbee
on May 22 2015. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured.
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