One complaint is the emphasis that some judges put on the rear dog touching the front dog during the run.  In many instances the back dog has no choice if the front dog cannot make forward progress.  Again, this is a subjective judgment on the part of the judges.  The rear dog is not always the offender, but is usually penalized.

 I have always felt that judges should agree on the score or placement of the dog or dogs before ordering up the brace.  Obviously, this isn’t always done when it takes the judge’s considerable time to figure out second series.  It is even more disturbing when judges take five or ten minutes to figure out third and subsequent series.

 What is a “split”?  Somewhere along the line some judges have determined that if a dog drifts several feet off the check and hits a line while the other dog works off the point of loss and finds the line, this is a split and both dogs should be caught and given another rabbit.  It would be interesting to hear how various judges handle this scenario.  It is not as simple as it sounds.

 How do we choose which dog will run with the bi-hound.  I always thought you should use a dog that had interference from his brace mate and as a result deserved another chance.  This often does not appear to be the case.  How do you choose what dog will run with the bi-hound?

A frequent complaint is “short runs”.  The problem is trying to define how long in terms of time or distance is adequate.  In my opinion it is not possible to set a specific time limit or distance that a brace should run.  One possible answer is that the brace run a sufficient distance or time that both dogs have an opportunity to defeat the other.  This would make for a good discussion that we all could benefit from.

 

First, let me say that I find it very disconcerting to hear that a competent judge would only consider looking at one hound in a brace whether it be either the front or back hound.  In my estimation If this happened or is happening at the present time then the quilty party should not be judging licensed trails.

 

A hound can be faulty whether it is be in the front or in the rear and the judge must distinquish the difference.  Michigan judge John Islander, Sr. once answered such a question for me,  When I first started beagling many years ago I asked John the following question. “What does a hound have to do to establish that it can run the front?” John answered. “It just has to cut out some of the work that the other hound has missed.” Ralph Gillum once told me that he believed the reason many  judges had problems with second series was that they were choosing hounds that didn’t cut out any work for them selves. 

 

So my question is the same one I brought up earlier–Why should a man be selected for a judging assignment  if he only considers a hound on one end of the run.  If this is happening or has happened in the past and the man is just succuming to a trend that is going on at that time then he is doubly quilty. First, for only considering a hound on one end of the run and second for following the current trend in order to get  judging assignments. 

 

Please give this subject some objective thought and send in your replies. Lets clear the air!