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Dog show judges study coonhounds with an expert in the breed
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Robert Urban shows Ruby
Black & Tan Coonhounds were originally registered in the American Kennel Club as Black & Tan Coon and Foxhounds. That is just one of the unusual facts that Robert Urban, vice president of the national club, shared with the judges who came to North Branch Park, New Jersey, to study the breed.
The breed is known for their lovely long ears that hang in graceful folds, “giving the dog a majestic appearance.” The long ears of the Bloodhound, Basset Hound and Coonhound all serve the same purpose: to stir up scent on the trail. When the dog dips his head to the ground, his ears form brackets that trap scent and funnel it to his nose.
Scent hound people spend a lot of time thinking about scent. Their dogs are so attuned to scent that their noses move constantly. Until you realize that scent is all around us, that it drops to the ground, that a breeze can move it and push it up against a fence, for instance, scent is simply something invisible. But it is more real to Bloodhound and Coonhound and Basset people than to the rest of us.
Police and military K9 handlers know a lot about scent. Search & Rescue canine handlers learn how to work with it, moving their dogs until they are in the ‘cone’ that will lead to the source of the scent. Mantrailing Bloodhounds are sniffing the old cells that are constantly sloughing off humans. The more upset a human becomes, the faster the cells slough. That’s why a police dog’s attention will be drawn to a perpetrator, even if he is trying to hide in a crowd. His emotionally tense state is known to the dog, even though it can be disguised to the sight of observers.
At the seminar, Urban showed judges old time photos, from the early 1900s, that featured hounds that would still win in the ring today. Urban pointed out that show hounds would look perfectly at home in one of the old hunting packs. Apparently, when the breed obtained the optimal shape for coon hunting, the breeders kept to it.
“They are extremely cold-nosed,” Urban said.
Several judges looked confused. Was Urban saying we should touch the nose to check its temperature? Finally, someone asked, “What do you mean, ‘cold-nosed’?”
“They follow a cold trail. They can follow a trail that’s 48 or even 72 hours old and stay right on it and go right to the coon. That’s what they’re great at.”
When judging Black and Tan Coonhounds, judges should realize the breed is extremely noise-sensitive. “Bad enough we are usually on first thing in the morning, when the microphone is screeching,” Urban sighed. “Garbage trucks, noisy traffic, kids screaming -- you’ll see them with their ears pinned back and tails tucked under them.”
It’s interesting that a breed renowned for its courage, strength, and power, a breed that will face down bear, cougar and other big game, can come undone from loud noises made by 10 year old children. “Don’t jangle keys in front of them!” Urban warned.
The Black and Tan Coonhound has the oldest history of the coonhound breeds with the AKC. They were accepted in 1945. Starting in 1995, the AKC started adding Black and Tan Coonhounds from a coonhound registry into the Foundation Stock Service. Urban let us know that 80% of the membership of the established national club voted against that. “However,” he admitted, “there was not as much of an influx as we had feared.”
During the break, judges chatted in groups. One pointed out that the influx of new dogs could be good news. As long as judges stuck to the standard, the AKC breeders might have an advantage over the newcomers. There were now more dogs to show against. Since the newcomers would be less likely to hold closely to the AKC standard, that meant more dogs to beat.
Then it was back to studying. “We do NOT want overweight dogs,” Urban said. “It’s bad enough we have overweight handlers.” After chuckles from the crowd, he allowed that a judge is more likely to see thin hounds. “I don’t penalize it,” he said. “A dog out running coon at night is going to be thin.”
Breed seminars are not like your old school courses. You leave having gained knowledge that is likely to stick with you. And there is no worry about losing your scholarship. The teachers don’t issue report cards.
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