Selecting the dog. 109 



do, the main point is the staying quality, the 

 speed, scent and endurance; the intelligence 

 and the particular style of ranging or beating 

 the ground for trail as well as to run it once 

 found, with great speed. 



Some say a fine looking hound should be a 

 good hunter. Well, any hunter of experience in 

 the handling of hounds is fully aware that it is 

 not always the dog which carries the prizes at 

 the shows that is the best dog in the field. The 

 same thing exists with the horse. Some people 

 claim that it all depends on the breeding, others 

 on the training. The fact is that both are re- 

 quired as well as the right shape the dog should 



have to be able to stand hard work day after day. 

 * * * 



The most essential thing to the value and 

 working capabilities of fox hounds is purity of 

 blood, declares another. Too much care, there- 

 fore, cannot be taken in selecting and breeding 

 fox hounds. Hounds for running the red fox 

 should be selected from the best possible blood 

 that can be obtained. I like a hound with a long 

 clear voice — one that can be heard at least two 

 miles away on an ordinary calm day — and one 

 that gives tongue freely when running and trail- 

 ing but not one that gives tongue when he has 

 run over the trail and lost scent. 



