216 Forty Years Beagling 



is not the dog built for it the proper type to breed 

 for? In other words a miniature foxhound? As 

 I understand it, the beagle standard calls for fox- 

 hound type. If this is wrong as some men seem 

 to think and as the winning type of show beagle 

 seems to indicate, then the sooner the standard is 

 changed to fit present conditions, the better. How 

 is the 'beginner' to know where he is at? 



"In G. M. W.'s 'Advice to a Beginner,' I note 

 that the said 'beginner' will find, contrary to gen- 

 eral opinion, that there is very little difference in 

 the type of the best bench and working hounds.' 

 Without wishing to dispute G. M. W., I would 

 like to have him name a few of the bench champions 

 who are also champions in the field. 



"I have never heard but one dog who enjoyed 

 the double honor, and he was, as I remember, not 

 by any means of the type that is winning on the 

 bench today. I confess that I have never seen 

 many of the field winners, but I am told by one who 

 has been a many time attendant at the trials that 

 the best dogs he saw run were the foxhound type. 

 And why should they not be? For the work for 

 which he is intended, is not the foxhound the ideal 

 type? And his work being so similar, why should 

 not the beagle be what the foxhound is? Is it pos- 

 sible that the long, heavy-bodied dogs, with their 



