ok, we are considering getting a Beagle puppy. It would be mostly a family pet but it would also like to use it for rabbits and grouse. What I want is the good, the bad and the ugly. Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Also any pointers to other other resources would be helpful.
We are on our second beagle. Our first one lived until he was 15. They are great pets; lively, intelligent, loyal and loving. Our current beagle came from hunting stock, and his nose is amazing. Both of our beagles will do anything to please their 'parents', and they train quickly.
Our first beagle was the biggest chowhound I have ever seen, but our current one would rather hunt, chase a ball, or carry a stick than eat.
Here's Huey...
(http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac67/peastes/IMG_2524_zps9d67f82b.jpg) (http://s886.photobucket.com/user/peastes/media/IMG_2524_zps9d67f82b.jpg.html)
Good looking hound. How are they if left alone for 4 hours.
No doubt it depends on the dog, but ours are just fine. We trained both beagles to a crate from the start, and if we leave for a while and they were left inside, we just put them in their 'box' and they do fine. They are really happy to see you when you come home.
Another thing; if a beagle gets on a trail, you will see his nose to the ground and his tail in the air, and good luck calling him back. And they do have a voice that they love to share, and there is great music in a beagle's bay.
(http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac194/stiknstringer/Ladyslasthunt_zps1873404d.jpg) (http://s899.photobucket.com/user/stiknstringer/media/Ladyslasthunt_zps1873404d.jpg.html)
This is Lady, one of the best beagles I ever had.I got her and her sister Nelly for $95. The two I have now cost $1000 each but aren't nearly as good hunting.My point is you never know what they will be like.
the good- fairly easy to house and crate train. Playful and loving dogs. The bad- like has been said above, when buying a pup, you never really know what kind of hunter it will be, even if both parents are great hunters. I've had both, excellent hunters and ones not really worth a darn. They all loose there hearing once their nose gets full of scent. Get one that likes to run deer and you'll have a heck of a time breaking them from it
If you enjoy barking, barking and yet more barking at absolutely nothing then get yourself a beagle and a good set of ear plugs..
QuoteOriginally posted by JD Page 1965:
If you enjoy barking, barking and yet more barking at absolutely nothing then get yourself a beagle and a good set of ear plugs..
That has not been my experience. Our dogs will bark and bay on a trail, and speak for their dinner, but incessant barking hasn't happened with us, and if we had a barker, that dog would be wearing a bark collar.
Is this the face of a barker, or a little canine angel?
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Try to research both parents of the pup for good hunting stock. Spend as much time as you can with the pup. Give your pup as much opportunity as possible to jump and run rabbits or find a puppy pen to give the puppy plenty of rabbits to run. After your pup knows what he is supposed to be running then put your pup on a hot deer trail and use a shock collar to let the pup know what there not supposed to chase. Yes prepare to get up in the middle of the night and yell at the dogs to be quite if they are outside kennel dogs they will bark at anything that comes into yard. I crate train my pups from the start so they travel well to your hunting spots. Good beagles live to chase rabbits and won't leave a track unless you shoot the rabbit or they loose the scent. Beagles either you love them or hate them. I have always owned hounds so I love them. Good luck have fun.
QuoteOriginally posted by JD Page 1965:
If you enjoy barking, barking and yet more barking at absolutely nothing then get yourself a beagle and a good set of ear plugs..
LOL!!!!
Have loved beagles all my life. The part about hard to call off trail is certainly true. Many a rabbit hunt ended with carrying ours back so they wouldn't hit another trail.
We seldom used leashes and could have used them.
Hard to get a more loving dog.
I squirrel/rabbit hunt with my treeing feist (also an excellent choice as a solo hunting dog/family pet) a lot....love hunting with dogs. Get a pup from hunting parents to increase your odds. Get an electronic shock collar and learn how to properly use it, and you'll save a lot of headaches.
Our beagle, Shoey, is 10 now and has been a house dog from the beginning. I used to take her out hunting around the house but she just started wandering farther each time. She would go out of sight and wouldn't come back until she decided to. Very frustrating. I finally just stopped trying to hunt with her.
Now she just stays inside and alternates between eating and sleeping.
Pro: The most friendly dog I was ever around, especially with my 4 little granddaughters.
Con: Absolutely will not come when called unless you rattle a box of treats. Also sheds 11 months per year.
Any one use one for blood trailing?
Weve had beagles most of my life. They are family pets and great with kids. I love hearing them running rabbits. They can be hard headed some times though.
I grew up chasing rabbits and pheasants with the family beagle. When I was old enough, I followed beagles with the scatter gun and teamed up to take a few bunnies and pheasants. We got another beagle last year to keep our old Labrador, Rainy, company. Ruby loves to chase sticks with the lab and likes to play mock battle with the house kitties. She's great with the grandkids, other dogs and cats. Ever since Ruby was little, whenever we took her for walks or just down to the barn she was on a long rope and soon learned "heel, here and sit". Beagles are happy, smart and have great dispositions. Did some training with a rabbit an owl killed in the yard in late November. Ruby loved finding the bunny at the end of a fairly long trail. I'm taking Ruby bunny hunting in southern Wisconsin with a bunch of fellow Wisconsin Traditional Archers this weekend. Hope to hear lots of beagle music.
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Ruby with Rainy's stick.
Beagles are terrific pets and can hunt just about anything. I've owned a few and hunted with several dozen.
As some have stated, buy one who's parents are hunters. Due to their popularity some beagles come from puppy mill type breeders and will either have health problems or not want to hunt. If you are new to hunting with hounds try really hard to go hunt with someone who has them. You should also consider buying a dog that is already "started", meaning it has been trained to hunt.
Not all of them bark. I had two that would only bark when running rabbits. They did not bark when the doorbell rang, or even when other dogs came in the yard. Sadly, both died after getting their 2nd snakebite. Wish I had 'em back.
Thanks guys, some great and consistent information. Hunting will be secondary to family pet, but I live in the woods so plenty of opportunity.
Any thought on whether male or female is better. Will not be breeding.
My first beagle Trump with our first bow killed rabbit over 50 years ago
(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/Ron_1st_rabbit.jpg)
Since then there has always been a beagle in the LaClair household. If you want a beagle to mind you keep them as a house pet. A beagle kept in a kennel will not respond to commands as well.
This is our current beagle Dolly the day I brought her home.
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She makes herself right at home
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She goes everywhere with me, even to deer camp
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(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/Dolly%20rides.JPG)
Many people are spot on with what they are telling you. I also grew up with beagles my father has three and I have these two.
Yukon Cornelius and Elmer Fudd
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First off beagles are hounds which means they are stubborn, don't take that as not smart cause they are extremely intelligent. I found that my wife and I had to be very consistent with training. Good thing is beagle tend to be food driven and very small treats go along way when training. Get a fresh rabbit hide and let them chew on it when they are a puppy. Get them started young. Once they know sit stay and come start with them in the yard with distraction and get them to come back to you. This will help later on in the field. I run both with shock collars and gps collars. They both come in handy for training and recovery.
My two are family pets before rabbit dogs but they hunt well. As for male or female. My father has all females and I have males. They are all great family house dogs. Some says the females are more driven but I have not seen that with ours.
Feel free to ask any questions in a p.m if ya want. I will try my best to answer them.
Matt
Dolly watching her baby pictures on the computer
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She loves to hunt and when she's not hunting she reads about it
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(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/Longbow_bunny.JPG)
I took a beagle, "cricket", from a friend who's life was changing dramatically and for a totally kennel raised dog, she walked into the house, proclaimed the couch was hers and learned the rules, including house breaking, right quick.
Yes, she barked / bayed, especially on the trail, but not so much in the house. She wasn't a great bunny dog, but she absolutely loved to go after them and I took her out each year for a few hunts. I liked to watch her and hear her and she just did what she was born to do.
As she aged and was more stiff, I had her on a blood trail and she helped me find a decent buck that had eluded me till then.
I am not a hard core beagle fan, likely won't own another, but I sure did enjoy watching and listening to her.
When I was younger, I went on a hunt with some friends of my FIL who were NUTS about bunnies and beagles. There must have been a dozen dogs in that pack and hearing them open up was awesome ! Would love to experience that once again.
ChuckC
I grew up with beagles and loved them. My daughter and son both have hounds as family dogs. None of them listen worth a hoot but they are loving pets. For me I need a dog to sit stay and come when I want them to so I migrated to labs.
Cutest dog on the planet. I had one way back in 1971. He proved to be an escape artist when let out. We spent many a day searching for him. To compound the problem we had two small children so we had to eventually give him away. He was a good rabbit dog though.
My best hunting dog was a lab and he was a waterfowl specialist but could do creditable duty on birds. My son did take him one day to run rabbits unbeknownst to me and they got 8.
Great dogs. Here's one of mine, he's part redbone. Trained to run rabbits. He does like to finish them off after being tagged with a blunt. He's great on squirrel too, I just have to get them before he chews them all up. My other beagle is learning well from him.
Here he is trying to snag some bird food and getting busted while he's at it.
(http://i.imgur.com/oezizpw.jpg)[/IMG] (http://i.imgur.com/NiJ4Qj4.jpg)[/IMG]
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We have two beagles now. I originally wanted a weimaraner, but my wife was terrified of dogs, so we got Missy instead. The second one two years later was entirely my wife's idea! I trained Missy to blood trail and like most beagles, she is all nose.
Two years ago we were blessed with the birth of our son, Desmond. Desmond loves both Missy and Emma, and they love him! it probably helps that now he is a great source of food, but from the day we brought Desmond home, Missy especially has been near him every waking moment.
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They do shed a lot, they are incredibly smart. We had to put a child lock on our fridge long before Desmond was born after an entire loaf of banana bread went missing and we found the wrapper in Missy's bed. On the plus side, neither bark unless we rile them up or they see/smell/hear something outside that shouldn't be there. By the way, the howl of a beagle puppy is one of the sweetest sounds you will ever hear.
I acquired Missy expressly for blood trailing. She is never off leash as her recall sucks when she is determined to find the source of a scent. Both our beagles have given us incredible amounts of joy and I cannot imagine life without them. I think we are a beagle family for life.
I bought my first and only beagle with my paper route money when I was 12. My grandfather always had beagles. Now my uncle still raises them. Hes written 4 books about them.
I think his web is www.beaglebard.com (http://www.beaglebard.com)
Dolly and her kitten buddy
(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/dolly%20and%20Tommy.JPG)
When she was a puppy she liked to chew on my whiskers
(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/dolly%20likes%20my%20beard.JPG)
She turned out to be a real good hunter, she trys to copy me
(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/Dolly_hunts.JPG)
My experience with beagles is limited to one, had him 17 years. I dearly loved that dog, as calm, loving and mild mannered a family member I could imagine. He was also stubborn as a mule at times, he would go through periods where I could see the wheels in his head turning "I go out the door to pee.....so it must be ok to pee on the door". As for hunting grouse with a beagle.....not sure I'd expect much there.
Mr. LaClair, that hound of yours is killing me! :biglaugh:
QuoteAs for hunting grouse with a beagle.....not sure I'd expect much there. [/QB]
Yeah, I've had ones that barked on them, but they'll pretty much accidentally flush grouse and pheasants. That being said, my dad's beagles when he was growing up actually chased them until they flushed. Pheasant, not grouse.
Well, as you can tell by the pics they are ridiculously cute.
Our beagle "fletcher" "fletch". Is one spoiled pooch. He sleeps in our bed with us under the blankets by our feet he's very warm he feels nice on a cold night. He loves being under a blanket. He sheds year round especially after he cuddles with you and you give him a good scratching . So wearing a black shirt or pants are out of the question. He's a great watch dog he's Always looking out our front window up,and down the street and he barks and bays at any thing that moves out side if some one walks by with a dog he will bark and bay long after they walked by. You can hear him 3 blocks away. He does,get annoying. We should of have named him Flair "AKA" Rick Flair AKA Nature Boy. Because Woooooooow!!!! Is what he does.
We got him after I read an article by Darrel Quidort. "All Dogs Go To Heaven". He wrote how beagles are great rabbit hunting dogs and there easy to train just take them hunting.
Well like,everyone else says he gets on a scent and does not know his name and will not listen to you. And will not come back. Beagles walk by scent not by sight. Have you ever seen the bugs bunny cartoon where the hound is sniffing a rabbit trail and bugs bunny is standing on the side of the trail leaning against a,tree eating a carrot and watching the dog walk right by him that's my beagle, he has had rabbits within spitting distance but won't lift his head up off the scent trail to look up and see the rabbit right there in. Front of him He does have quite the vocabulary of barks bays yodels yelps, and yips. He also make this funny kind of a popcorn popping sound when he's on a hot trail.
As far as blood trailing he was still a pup when he found a huge doe that I gut shot. When we first brought him to the shot sight he took up the trail that the deer came in on. I thought this isn't going to work well my wife took him and tried again and it took him a little bit ( he was gathering information) and boom he found blood and then he was on the trail there were times where we did not see any blood and he seemed to be getting what we thought was off the trail and we pulled him back to what we thought was the right direction. Turned out we were wrong we were In 4 ft. Of tall grass and the thickest brush and he knew where that deer went. Had we trusted him we would have found her a lot sooner.
To attest how smart we got a electronic fence that takes up to 4 weeks to train your dog to stay in it boundries Fletch had it in a day and half.
My wife and I say this is our one and only beagle. But, I can't imagine life without him.
Tim.
as far as male vs. female, I've found that the females tend to be less hard headed and slightly more willing to please you. I had one beagle that would run grouse, her voice would change to more of a yip when she was on a grouse, but they are not pointers, you have to be right with the dog if you plan on getting a shot when they flush.
one other thing, as far as a hunting dog goes, a lot of trial dogs (which generally have excellent hunting lines) are bred and geared for speed. Personally, when hunting with the bow, I like a medium to slow running dog, around here, a fast dog on the track will cause the rabbits to hole up fairly quick, where as with a slower running dog, the rabbits will just lope along, staying ahead of the dog, stopping now and again to check if the dog is still on them. makes for more shot opportunities. :archer:
We have a dog that's half beagle.The other half cattle dog of some sort.I took him back to the hog pin I mean I carried him there and put him down close to a rabbit and he ran back to the house.
Many, many years ago a friend had a hound the was half beagle and half Black and Tan hound. Her name was Rhubarb and she looked like a Black and Tan hound but hat the build of a 13" beagle. That was the best hunting dog I ever walked behind. She would speed up for Snowshoe hare and slow down for cottontails, she would work the base of a tree if a squirrel was up there and she would range right in front if a grouse was present and then flush. I would have a beagle in a heartbeat if it was like her.
Ron, I believe you be guilty of spoiling your dog
In regard to sex of your future dog, I would recommend a female. I have had both male and female Beagles and English Setters. I have also owned a female Doberman. I have a female chocolate Lab and English Setter now.
Female dogs bind more to the family and people, while male dogs bind more to the property. They do bond to the family, but they are protective of their territory. I have found male dogs to be more stubborn than females. I have found male dogs to bark more and my male hunting dogs would pee on anything that didn't move. If I didn't keep moving they would have peeed on me too. Many people believe that a male hunting dog is a better hunter, since they feel the males are larger and more aggressive. I have found my females to be smart, receptive and as good hunters. Gee it sounds more like I am talking about humans!
With a female dog you have some other concerns about when they go into season. One of my English Setters would go into season right in bird season. Therefore while hunting with other dogs in the area it becomes a distraction, since you would not her bred that way. If you do not want to breed her you can spade her.
The good thing about dogs is that you are their hero and their love is unconditional. I read an article in Gun Dog by a famous trainer. He stated that a smart adult dog has the mind and intelligence of a two year old child. Would you train a two year old child using corporal punishment. Don't do that. Think of your dog as a two year old child and train it appropriately.
One mans "stubborn" is another mans "tenacious" or "dedicated". Hard to pull them off of a hot trail but, THAT is what they're for.
Love beagles.
homebru
That makes sense what Gil said about males being territorial of there property my beagle Fletcher is very protective of his yard he will relentlessly bark and anybody passing by our yard.
I'm sure the neighbors just love it :rolleyes: too.
Unless you plan to breed I would get a female fixed right off the bat.
We have a white lab next door and when she goes into heat we have one love sick beagle. To the point he keeps us up at night pacing and whimpering through the house looking for love out the window that faces there house.
Looks like a beagles puppy is in our future. Anyone got good sources for training beagles, specifically. I know there are general training techniques and also breed specific techniques. We want to get this right from the beginning.
We did clicker training with ours. Beagles are good driven like no other. Short training sessions to avoid frustration for both parties and lots of venison liver for reward.
I have been training dogs for years, and I will share a few insights.
1. Give a new pup lots of socializing. Hold it, love on it, handle it. You want it to associate you with security and love. You also want it to be willing to have you touch and mess with any part of its body - that comes in handy later for thorn removal etc.
2. Take the pup everywhere. Get it used to unfamiliar people, children, noises, sidewalks, etc. You want the pup to feel safe and confident wherever you are.
3. Noise condition your dog slowly. Dogs have an instinctive fear of loud noises and a thunder shy or gun shy dog is something that you can prevent.
4. Get a bell collar for the dog and put it on the dog whenever you hunt train or hunt. The dog will associate the bell with going hunting and you will know where the dog us when the cover is thick.
5. Get a pinch collar or choke collar and use it to teach leash manners. Learn to use it properly.
6. Start early to teach: here, sit, stay, etc. Basic commands are the foundation of all training.
7. Make sure that the dog gets to have lots of fun.
8. Anything positive (treats, petting, etc) can and should be used as a training reward.
9. A simple harsh tone of voice of vocal sound is usually all the punishment a dog needs if you introduce that doting puppy time.
10. Be consistent in training. A dog will try to figure out what you want, but. Dog is fairly easy to confuse.
Good luck. Beagles are great dogs. Feel free to PM me for more training tips as you go. I am happy to be of help.
Thanks Joe, I appreciate the input and will definitely take you up on the offer for help.
Basically what everyone else said, but I have to tell you about our "Tucker". Second beagle for us after we had to put "Jake" down at 14 human years.
Two different dogs you'd never meet. Jake was pretty quiet and laid back. Tucker is quite aggressive and vociferous (don't get to say THAT much!).
Tucker is a great mouser, way better than the cat. We live in a 125+ year old farm house which must have a hole or two in it... so sometimes I find the cat with a mouse cornered and waiting on it. This is usually first thing in the morning so I want that cleaned up before the girls get up. Get Tucker, show him the cat, he barges right in, slight flurry and here he comes with the tail sticking out of his mouth. Right out the door, problem solved!
Squirrels cause him no end of pain, but occasionally I see him coming with one, don't know how he does that.
Beagles are great to have around.
I disagree with smokin joe about the choker collar. I think the pinch collar works much better. My dogs Ive had loved the pinch collar. The problem with chokers is they will choke them. Pinch collars do not and are more effective.
Let me clarify:
A "choke chain" collar - when properly used - does not choke the dog, in spite of its unfortunate name. When used properly, always on the end of a leash with a responsible human holding the leash, it startles the dog with momentary pressure and noise applied by the trainer. Choke chain collars also must be properly put on the dog so that they automatically and instantly release pressure.
Never use a choke collar as an everyday collar. Never leave a dog unattended with a choke chain collar on. It should only be used with a leash and a human holding the leash. The leash should be slack and only momentarily "popped" to startle the dog into paying attention. Constant pressure on the collar is not productive for training or healthy for the dog.
Repeat: In spite of the name, you don't "choke" the dog with one. You "pop" it to startle the dog with pressure and sound.
A pinch collar does pretty much the same thing, and is easier to learn how to use. But again, only "pop" the dog, never use constant pressure.
Have never owned them but love the breed and would like to have a pair to hunt with someday. One day years back I was hunting with my bird dogs and a trio of beagles was running a rabbit.... I called my dogs to me and healed em and before I knew it the trio of beagles came running to me and would not leave me alone lol...... My labs weren't real happy nor was their owner either. He lined em and walked them out and about fifteen minutes later here they came again..... I guess they figured out how much I like dogs :)
Read the 2015 bunny bash post makes one want to acquire a couple of good beagles :)
Rabbits with beagles can be a ton of fun. They sure are hard to hit with an arrow. But the music of the beagles howling makes up for all of the lost arrows.
Never hunted rabbits with dogs but having hunted upland birds with dogs my biggest enjoyment is watching the dogs work doing what they love and we're born to do.
I wouldn't trade a beagle for the world. I lost Copper this past summer and although I used him to blood trail, the sucker would run the pee out of a rabbit when I gave him the go ahead. It was his true passion. We actually killed a few in front of him last year.
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My current beagle I got from the dog pound and has one of the best noses of any beagle I have ever had. He is also the most hard headed one too. I had to get a tracker, shocker collar for him. When he hears me pick up his collar he knows he's going hunting and can hardly contain himself.
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All my females listen better then the males and stayed close to home unless I made the mistake of letting 2 out at the same time then they would go hunting on their own. I almost always have 2 in the house. Right now I have Mickey and a 14 year old Frannie. Frannie will still go hunting but can't keep up with Mickey, plus she's almost deaf and can't hear me or Mickey.
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Poor Mickey was bit by a copperhead but had a 100% recovery. I sucked the Venom out as best I could. He was bit on the snout just above the nose.
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They can be a bit ridiculous.
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Here's my female. She is the alpha in out of the two and would flip me off while she runs away if she could. But a good dog otherwise with strong prey drive, doesn't want to please as much as the male.
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We had a beagle when I was 5-6. On several occasions it saved the life of my brother and I from rattle snakes when we lived out in the middle no where. It took a few bites and laid around a few days but did fine with it.
It ended up getting eaten by coyotes. It would go out and scrap with them and did it one time to many. That is the country life though.
One thing though is they bark and bellow a lot. Keep that in mind if you live in a city.
I have had 8 beagles over the years and none would bark at the door. You just teach them what you want and don't want. My male now will go out the doggie door and bark during the night lately. One night real soon his going to bed wearing his collar. :scared:
You are 100% correct joe. Thats put in a way I was thinking. Exactly. Great explanation.
Any opinions on the difference between the 13" and 15" varieties.
Yes. It is more important to go with proven quality of the litter and breeding than size -- either size is good. Some say that a 15 will push a rabbit harder and faster than a 13 will.
My own personal preference is for the 13, if all other things are equal. They are a little more cute as adults because of there size and I have found that cute will often win points with the lady of the house. It doesn't hurt to stack the deck in ones own favor a little.
Depends on what you want, longer legs tend to move a little faster. If you are going after snowshoes longer legs is what you want. I have heard of people using coon hounds for snowshoes.
(http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy291/biggamefish/thecrew.jpg) (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/biggamefish/media/thecrew.jpg.html)
The guy on the right is supposed to be a 13" both parents were 13-14" at the shoulder but he run 16 3/4". The other guy is 14" on the left. Yukon (left) is definitely slower on a rabbit. As pets though the difference in size doesn't matter
13" dogs don't eat as much. LOL
It's usually a speed thing. But I have seen some slow 15" dogs and some super fast 13" dogs. Sometimes the terrain hunted makes a difference also.
I prefer the smaller dogs. We hunt some thick cover here and it's easier for the smaller dogs to get through. When everyone's worn slick and your a half mile from the truck a small dog is a blessing if you have a hard head who doesn't want to lead. :banghead:
bretto