How Do Hounds Of Today Compare To Hounds Of 20 Years Ago?

As I look at some of the pictures and the history of the breed on http://www.finleyriverchief.com some questions come to mind. They are:

Are the hounds of today more likely to slick tree then the hounds of years past?

How much lying at the tree is considered too much?

Are the money hunts partly responsible in the change in the tree style if there is one?

What percentage of slick trees is considered to much?

What strain or bloodlines appear to be the biggest liars?

Would a hunter that is only a pleasure hunter consider them real coonhounds?
Remember The Past, That Is Where The Present Came From!

Don

RiverBottom said:


Joined: Aug 6, 2008
Posts: 2
August 16, 2008 3:53 PM
I had a hound out of Tarheel Casey, grand pup of Carolia Casey that was born in '79. Slick treein'est dog I ever owned. I think slick treeing is a lot more common now days, but it isn't new. On the other hand, there were more dogs back then that wouldn't tree at all than there is now days.

The best ones tree quick and have the coon. They are just as hard to find now as they ever were, maybe harder.

ruby54501 said:


Joined: Jul 30, 2008
Posts: 1 August 26, 2008 11:23 AM
After breeding old Mear's Finley River and Spring Creek Rock line for almost 20 years. I don't ever remember having trouble getting a dog to tree. Most comp bred dogs today are hot nose one bark tree dog with no tracking ability just tree happy. If you can't run and tree a hot coon today and have the coon I would say that is a problem. We still love to hear the dogs on track and check the tree to make sure the game is there and not waste time on a track speed and they now how to move and get treed. After 20 years me and the husband and some friends can't remember having a slick tree only once in a great while maybe a pup once a year. But then we never had the kind of dog that couldn't finish a track they started and have a coon in a tree. To me a slick treeing dog just don't have the nose and just gets tree happy. But then that is one of the things the guys love about that old Finley River line we have they are such super hard tree dogs. Now everytime some one gets us to breed outside the line then yes we do seem to not have as good of track and tree quality we are us to. But then the guys tell me its all in the breeding and the quality of the breeding that keeps the track and treeing genetics going. Most of the dogs are getting so big and heavy that can't even hunt all night like the use too either.

I am sorry to say that it appears that there may be more slick trees today then 20 years ago. It seems like some have gotten involved in the sport who are more concerned with competition hunts then what makes a real coon dog. There is a difference.

people started breeding so many hard tree dogs to hard tree dogs and ignored the tracking ability. to me, since the tree is the end of the track, a dog must have the tracking ability first and foremost to be accurate tree dogs.some talk about dogs being 80% accurate is the highest % of dogs and no dog is 100% accurate. i believe if a dog has the tracking sense it will finish the track to the right end. it was true 20 yrs ago and is true today. i just think some use it as an excuse for the ignorant breeding that made the slick treeing idiots so abundant.it don't matter how loud and how hard a dog trees if it aint got the coon.i think the reason dogs are differant today is because hard tree dogs got so popular because they sound good,but 20 yrs ago it was all about having an accurate dog being the most important ability.i have hunted and bred the same line of red eagle dogs off finley river dan for many years. the main reason is because of the track power that makes them accurate. i have never had to give up any tracking traits to still have the type of hard tree dogs produced from the old blood.

i hunted for 32 years and i can tell a big difference in dogs then and now and i agree with u i think the hunts has hurt alot of the breeds the slick treeing and most od all the noise thats why i quit the hurts and just hurt with buddys and i still hurts the houses blood and dont have that touble out od them