Important Notice to all Performance Pack Clubs; Other Beagle News

Full Circle

May 9, 2017

Source: Allen Gingerich

Important Notice to all Performance Pack Clubs

If you have a Performance Pack trial this month (May), youll notice two new forms included with your Event Report packet. One form is a Cast Breakdown form, and the other is a Youth Series form.

Starting May 1, 2017, it is mandatory that all clubs make record of their cast breakdowns for every trial. This form must also include the individuals name(s) who judged each cast, and the scores of each dog in the cast. Cast winners shall be indicated as well. This is to include indication of every dog, owner(s), judge(s) and scores of each dog of every series in the trial. This form(s) is to be submitted to UKC along with the Event Reports.

For clubs using a computer-generated cast draw that is printed off, those copies may be used instead as long as they indicate the judges and scores of each dog. Extra forms will be available on the UKC website, if needed. This information will serve a few different purposes. One is tracking all judges for year-end recognition as well as reference for UKC should it be needed for investigation purposes. This may also be a good time to remind clubs that they need to retain all their scorecards for a minimum of one year and made available to UKC if requested.

UKC Beagle Youth Series Starts This Month

Elsewhere in this American Beagler, you will see the introduction of a new youth series for both Hunting Beagle and Performance Pack. The rules are the same for both, but points will be separated for each format.

The second form included with all Performance Pack Event Reports is for record-keeping purposes of those youth handlers at your trial. Hunting Beagle clubs will also find this very form along with their Event Reports.

Youth Series points may be earned at any and all UKC Licensed Events. This includes Youth Only, State Championships, Nationals, and WQEs as well. A youth handler may earn points with no more than two dogs in the hunt and two dogs in the show. Any youth handling more than two dogs in a hunt or in a show must advise the entry takers, at the time of entry, which two dogs they are competing for points. A youth handler will get five points for each dog entered, so it might be a good idea for entry takers to indicate those dogs on the Results Form at the time of entry. Then after the trial all thats left is to indicate if they were a cast winner and/or any wins the dog may have earned in the show. The form must also indicate the youth handlers age. This is very important as points are separated by junior and senior divisions. Again, the Youth Series Results form must be completed and returned to UKC along with the Event Reports.

This series is set up to entice youth to hunt and show. The points they earn for either hunt or show are combined. This means that a youth doing the hunts only will likely have a hard time keeping up with a competitor that is doing both. The dog(s) that is entered in the show does not have to be the same dog(s) that was entered in the hunt. The dog entered does not have to be owned by the youth handler. It can be any owners dog; however, all applicable rules are in play when it comes to dogs being eligible for the show. Dogs entered in a show that were not eligible to be entered (not hunted on the day of the event or having less than 50 Championship hunt points) will result in no points being awarded to the handler. Not even entry points.
With youth handlers having the option to show more than one dog, this may be a good reason for those clubs, not generally having bench shows at their trials, to consider having them for the kids. Id bet most of the kids interested in this series will pass on hunt only events and be looking for events that offer a show as well. And what better way to promote the youth in the sport. Let them borrow a dog to show, if needed. Its a win-win for the handler and the owner!

WANTED! Veteran Performance Pack Judges

The majority of judges chasing dogs in Performance Pack trials are probably 35 years old or less. Many of those older guys who used to judge are finding themselves not being able to keep up any longer and are leaving judging to the more physically capable younger type judges. Thats understandable, and all good and fine; however, you guys have been the talk of the Advocates Committee recently and their emphasis on needing you more than you might think, even if you can no longer keep up with a pack of dogs.

They certainly dont expect some of you older judges to keep up with a pack or even putting you out there by yourselves. The one thing they all say is, How many times do you hear someone remark on the scoring the gallery could have gotten when the dogs came by when the judge happened not to be on top of the dogs at the time? Or sometimes when you happen to be in position to score dogs in a certain area, it would help them more than you might think. The point is, any time you can help them out, even for just a short time, it allows them to catch their breath for a minute. And any additional scoring they can get out of the pack, the better for everyone involved. So, before you hang up your running shoes, think about it and know that they could still use you and without expecting much, if any, running on your part.

Place of Refuge and the Progress Clock

Q: Im seeing some inconsistencies in judges when to comes to dogs trailing a rabbit to a place of refuge. Some judges will run the whole three minutes (progress clock) before they call for dogs to be handled, while other judges call for the dogs to be handled immediately without running any time. Which is correct?

A: I think there might be too much danger in suggesting one or the other is correct because the answer should really hinge on the place of refuge were talking about. Common sense will go a long way in making the decision on whether to stop the clock or to keep it running. There are various places that could be places of refuge that you dont really know for sure without taking an up-close look. You have holes, wood piles, junk piles, and other piles and places that could be considered as places of refuge or not. Some of which may merely be a temporary hiding spot unless pushed out.

If you have a hole in the ground and its obvious, by the actions of the dogs, thats where the track ended, then call the hole and stop the hunt time and handle dogs without running a progression clock. Of course, Im talking about situations that you can clearly see where the track ended from where youre standing when it happened. Theres no need to run the clock any longer as thats where the track obviously ended. The problem with running the clock in this type of situation is that, if youre in plenty of rabbits, youll end up in a check only to have a dog wander off and pick up a new track. Now youre awarding that dog a recovery that probably should never have happened.

Then you have those could be places of refuge that you dont know for sure if theres a hole in there or a place for the rabbit to get into that the dogs cannot. The problem is you cant go check out the pile situation to make the decision. And how many times have you thought there would be no way the dogs could get a rabbit out of such a place only to have them do exactly that? I know I just had one this past weekend where I would have thought no way until it happened and off they went again!

Trash and junk piles are, in my opinion, places that I would be quicker to make the call as a place of refuge and stop the clock before you have dogs thrashing around too much and end up with junk pile injuries. Id be quicker to do the same thing as well when dogs end up in or under residential buildings, etc.

I think the best advice would be to use common sense, consider the potential place of refuge your looking at and make your decision accordingly. If its obvious to you as the judge, then stop the clock. If youre not sure, then continue running the check and/or progression clock. If the time gets them, then evaluate the situation up close to decide whether or not the dogs made a loss or the track actually ended in a place of refuge. Of course, in situations where you cant see the dogs when the track ended, you have no choice but to continue running the clock.