UKC Master of Hounds Apprenticeship Policy; Other Coonhound News

Coonhound Advisor

October 9, 2017

Source: Allen Gingerich

UKC Master of Hounds Apprenticeship Policy

The Hunt Director format was implemented several years ago where clubs could choose that option opposed to using a Master of Hounds for their UKC Licensed Hunting Beagle Hunts. The few differences between a Hunt Director and a Master of Hounds are that the individual serving as Hunt Director:

Is not required to be a licensed Master of Hounds.

May enter a dog they own in the event, if handled by another individual.

Does not rule on questions brought in from the field (those questions are ruled on by a panel of three individuals).

Otherwise, just like a licensed Master of Hounds, the HD is responsible for assuring all event procedures are followed and is responsible for the Event Report be complete, accurate, includes all required signatures, etc.
A majority of clubs are choosing the Hunt Director format option because of two common factors. 1) There may be an issue finding a local licensed official; and/or 2) the HD may enter their dog(s) in the hunt. Thats all good and is a good option for clubs to have. With fewer clubs using the Master of Hounds format, individuals that passed their test to become a licensed Master of Hounds are sometimes finding it very difficult to get their apprenticeship program completed. For this reason, UKC allows for individuals to serve their apprenticeship under a Hunt Director, provided the individual serving as Hunt Director at the UKC Licensed Event is a UKC Licensed Master of Hounds.

An apprentice is subject to the same restrictions as the Hunt Director. Their dog may be entered in the event, but may not be handled by the apprentice. An apprentice must remain at the clubhouse at all times. All decisions must be made by the Hunt Director. In the event a question comes back for a ruling, the matter is resolved using a qualified three-person panel. This applies to the Hunting Beagle Format.

Dog Not Yet Transferred to New Owner with Regard to Multiple Entries

Q: Whenever a new owner enters a dog that has not been transferred into their name in an event, is the event official required to split the entries when that same owner has another dog entered in the event? Heres an example. Dog A is owned and registered to Allen Gingerich. Dog B is registered to Todd Kellam, but was recently purchased by Allen Gingerich. The Transfer (on the back of the Registration Certificate) shows that Allen Gingerich is the new owner of Dog B, but has not yet been transferred/registered to him. May/should Dog A and Dog B be intentionally split or drawn to different casts?

A: Owners having multiple entries in an event are only intentionally split if the dogs are registered in the same owners name. The registered owner is the name on the front side of the dogs Registration Certificate. Multiple entries may not be intentionally split otherwise. The individual the dog is registered to is what the official must go by. Per the example given above, Dog A and Dog B may not be intentionally split or drawn to different casts.

The only two exceptions to this rule are: 1) a dog(s) that was single registered on the day of the event or is still pending UKC registration; and 2) a non-registered dog(s) that is entered in the event. These entries should be split, if possible. This policy applies to both Hunting Beagle and the Performance Pack formats.

The following four (4) topics apply to the Performance Pack format only.
1. Master of Hounds Certification Judge Requirement

Licensed Certification Judges only may be used as a Master of Hounds at a UKC Licensed Performance Pack Event. This is pretty straight forward. Individuals that are not licensed Certification Judges may not serve as Master of Hounds.

In the past, Masters of Hounds were not required to pass any type of test or be licensed to serve as such. Requiring the Master of Hounds to have a Certification Judges License is an effort to assure event participants that the individual is qualified.

2. Required Number of Entries in Registered Category
Performance Pack requires a specific minimum number of entries in each category in order for the category to be allowed Championship points or wins. The change made is relative to the Registered category only. In the past, a total of 10 entries were required in the Registered category. The change now lowers that minimum number to requiring a total of five entries. Each category requires a minimum number of entries as follows:

Registered five (5)

Champions three (3)

Grands two (2)

3. Six Dogs Entered in Category or Six Dogs Remaining in Finals
In Performance Pack, we have five-dog casts. However, when there are a total of six entries in any one of the three categories, all six are drawn out in the same cast. In the past, a category with six total entries would have been drawn into two casts, with three dogs in each cast. The two cast winners, one from each of those two casts, would have then competed against each other in a final to determine first and second place in the event. Now, those six entries are all drawn out in one cast, and instead of having just one winner/placement, you have two. The highest scoring dog in the cast will place first, and the second highest scoring dog in the cast will place second within their respective category. See Rule 9 under Placing Dogs In Events.

If this is a Registered category, then both dogs will earn championship points as well as State Race points. If this is a Champion category then two Champion wins are not available, therefore, the highest scoring dog only will place in the event. However, the second-in-cast dog will receive second place State Race points. The same would be true for the Grand category.

Also, in the event there are only six dogs remaining in a semifinal; those six dogs will all be drawn out together in one cast. This cast would now be considered your final, and the dogs are placed according to score. This is true for any one of the three categories (Registered, Champs, and Grands). The intent of this rule change was to eliminate two extra hunts that also eliminates two extra judges as it would have created under previous rules.

This rule does not apply in any other scenario of the event other than when you have six dogs entered in one category, or there are six dogs remaining in a semifinal. Example 1: Lets say you have 11 dogs entered in the Champion class (or any other category for that matter). You would draw those 11 dogs out in three different casts and not make it one five-dog cast and one-six dog cast. Example 2: Likewise, when you have 11 dogs remaining in a semifinal. You would draw them out in three casts and you would be required to have a final round, unless of course no dogs are eligible to advance from the semi to the finals.

4. Running Into Darkness

A section in Rule 8 covers finals casts that run into issues with darkness. The wording for that is as follows:

b. {In Final Casts Only: If 30 minutes have been used and time out is called, due to darkness, the hunt may be called and the dogs placed by current scores. If failure to begin hunt or the cast has been judged for less than 30 minutes, dogs are placed by reverting back to previous round scores. Master of Hounds shall make a reasonable effort to complete hunting time.}

This rule should be easy to understand as written. It is imperative that judges use common sense when it comes to issues with darkness at days end. Obviously, the objective must always be to try to get the hunt in. However, if it simply gets too dark, where judges cannot judge dogs in a fair manner, only then should this rule come into play. It should also be noted that it would be in our best interest to always try to get at least 30 minutes in even if it may have been obvious before the hunt started that theres likely no chance of getting the whole hour in.