Something to Bark about........

Something to Bark About

Recently attended a trial which I will not name but it is close to a very large body of water. That morning on the way to the trial, I was running late.  When I got to the club, I noticed that I must have left my prefilled applications on the kitchen table at home. When I walked into the club, I explained to the Field Trial Secretary that I would have to fill them out by hand if they could wait for me to do so. The Field Trial Secretary said “yes” no problem but could I hurry because it was almost starting time. Then I asked where are the entry forms. The person said over in the corner on the table with all the other papers. I went over and grabbed a few entry forms. Walking back to fill them out, I walked past the secretary looking at the forms. I said something must be wrong because these forms are already filled out and the name of the dog on this form is “Confidential”.  Also, the other entry form shows the name of the dog to be “Top Secret”. Then the Field Trial Secretary told me to throw them back on the table since they should be in the National Archives and find some that are declassified to use as my entry forms.

 B O L 

  (BARK OUT LOUD) 

Back in the day when brace beagling was establishing itself in its glory, one of the major problems was land area on which to compete. It was no small endeavor to purchase farms but through tireless efforts we managed to purchase land that became "beagle clubs" and this glorious sport flourished. 

Throughout this period no sacrifice seemed to great and a considerable network of clubs established areas where our sport flourished. One cannot imagine the amount of effort and sacrifice necessary to acquire a farm with the express notion of turning it into a "beagle club". We persisted with no small sacrifice until we owned the grounds, developed them, paid the taxes, thus enabling us to conduct our trials. Lebanon County became the showcase area and Les Camauf spent a work week every week working there. The spectacle of charlatans selling this land and putting the money in their pockets must have made him "roll over in his grave." My mother used to preach that ill-gotten money was never the means to anything positive. Might I put my mothers curse on ill gotten gain from the

 sale of a beagle clubs.

Robert Hartman   

Front Dog vs Back Dog

When following a brace of dogs, everyone has their own opinion of the type of dog they like.

Years ago, judges credited the dog with the most checks to win the brace. Today if you own the front

dog in a brace, you want the judges to pick them up quickly before anything goes wrong. Then on the other paw, does that give the back dog enough time to overcome the front dog in this game of inches and opinions.

Something to Bark About!

It is that time of the year, the field trails are heading East and South. I would like to thank Coraopolis Beagle Club for all the great work they do with the trials and thank all the people and organizations that help in making these events a success from the Pennsylvania, International and the National braces. Most people don’t realize the commitment of all the people on the committees that oversee these events plus all the number of hours put into the running grounds themselves.

PS – This includes all the ladies in the kitchen making breakfasts and luncheons and the steak dinner was great too!

Also, another club that is deserving accolades is New Eagle Beagle Club which has the Eastern and a number of license trials including the outstanding conditions of the running grounds under the leadership of Alfie himself. Anyone who has been there knows what I mean. I can honestly say I am not a member of either of these clubs I just call them the way I see them. Hey maybe I should be a judge. I think they both should get five barks each.

Bark! Bark! Bark!  Bark! Bark!

Merry Christmas – Happy New Year! Get those derbies and futurities ready for next year!

  Something to Bark About

First of all, wish all is well with Bob and Lynette. Heard you had an incident in your travels and hope you are all well. Hope to see you soon.

Now that the Federations are over, I would like to congratulate all those who did well and everyone else that participated in the events. I understand that in one of the events, not everyone could come to an agreement on a subject. Then at another event, things could have gone a lot better if we would have had more rabbits to participate in the fun. The four other major events went great. Those who were involved with the keeping of the statistics of the dogs for each event, all those who put in many hours on the grounds and clubhouses and the people who try to accommodate everyone…fantastic job. Also appreciate all the awards that Abba gave out. I understand when you have people coming from many different states, in this game of inches and opinions, not everyone is going to agree with all of the outcomes that the judges make especially if you don’t follow every brace. We should remember that they were picked to do the best job that they can. If one or two people don’t agree with their decisions don’t let it affect the outcome of the trial. Remember you can vote for someone else next time.

Now I hear talk that some of the Federations are considering going to a three-day trial rather than a five-day trial. I guess each one will make that decision on their own. The only part that I can’t understand is why some Federations run the derbies on the last two days of the trial when they have the least experience trailing the rabbits and the older dogs on the first day. You would think it would be easier for the derbies to go first when the strips are less disturbed. Another thought, if one is going to judge in multiple Federations, can we at least have the individual judge in a different class each time if possible? This way we can eliminate some of the barking that a judge likes a certain type of dog.

We need to understand that a lot people travel long distances and many hours to participate in this great sport. Everyone should try it at least once.

 Let’s continue to have fun.

 Bark! Bark! Bark!

A LITTLE BIT MORE TO BARK ABOUT REGARDING THE FEDERATIONS

While thinking about the Federations, there would be no problem if all six of them would agree to go with the same profile three days each or five days as it is now. What would happen if not all the Federations would be in agreement and some want to stay with five days and others want to go with three days. How would the points be calculated when you have a 13” and 15” class versus a combined class to find out the overall winners. 

In my opinion, it needs to be all one way or the other. Let’s make it easy.