Training meets about to start
The Masters have said that training meets will start as soon as there is enough corn cut for us to find somewhere to go. These meets are harvest reliant and at the moment, the persistent rain is causing a rather slow harvest. Training meets are usually arranged at fairly short notice, however, once meets start to be arranged, you can be fairly confident there will be a meet each week. The meets are usually on Sundays, but occasionally on Saturdays if there is some event that we do not want to clash with on the Sunday. Keep an eye on the Meets/Events page, which is updated as meets are arranged. Whether it's your first time out or you have been hunting with us before, I recommend you visit the Etiquette page.

Puppy Walkers Wanted by Jeremy Whaley MBH
Now look at those bright little eyes, the little slobbery mouths, the large flapping ears, aren't they cute? And the puppies are nice too! I would like to see if there is anyone who would like to "walk" puppies this year. I have two couples to get out, so I need two volunteers, because puppies are best walked in couples. So what does Puppy Walking involve? Well the idea is that you take a couple of 10 week old puppies and keep them at your home until they are big enough and confident enough to go in with the older hounds.

The advantage of having puppies "walked" outside the kennels, is that they will see more and experience things they wouldn't find growing up in kennels. The Puppy Walker will teach the puppy its name, teach it to walk on a lead and show it as much of the outside world as possible. They do not need to be kept in the house and house trained and they definitely should not be taught to sit, beg, or die for the Queen! If you would like to have a go or ask any questions, please get in touch with me.

Disturbing News Story on Pedigree Dogs. Opinion by Jeremy Whaley MBH

No doubt many of you will have seen the disturbing television program "Pedigree Dogs Exposed" on BBC 1 on Tuesday 19th August, or read the story online. Now I like the fact that we have so many different breeds of dogs, but I think there can be little doubt that the "show ring" has produced a fanatical obsession with producing a distinct type of dog regardless of whether some of the physical features required cause health or welfare problems. The bloodhound is no less affected by this trend than most other pedigree breeds.

The bloodhound faces three major problems. Firstly very few are kept in this country and therefore the available gene pool is very small to start with. Secondly, some of the physical characteristics required by the Kennel Club as a "breed standard," do not in my opinion produce a dog that is fit for purpose - hunting. This is precisely why packs of bloodhounds use mainly cross bred bloodhounds. And thirdly, a disproportionate number of bloodhounds are bred for the "show ring" and thus their physical faults are not weeded out by their failure to work.

Now don't get me wrong, I have seen a number of very nice pedigree bloodhounds, usually in working homes, and there is a need to have a breed standard, but that breed standard should not require physical characteristics that are likely to lead to health or welfare problems. With the bloodhound I take two big issues with the KC breed standard. Firstly there is a requirement for the bloodhound to have loose skin on its head and neck - " Head furnished with an amount of loose skin, which in nearly every position appears abundant, but more particularly so when head is carried low; skin then falls into loose pendulous ridges and folds, especially over forehead and sides of face. Nostrils large and open. In front, lips fall squarely making a right angle with upper line of foreface; whilst behind they form deep hanging flews and, being continued into pendant folds of loose skin about neck, constitute the dewlap, which is very pronounced." All this loose skin poses a serious threat to the health and practical use of the hounds eyes, ears, and possibly mouth. It can also make the hound front heavy.

Secondly, when referring to the hounds gait, the breed standard says it should be "Elastic, swinging free." In my experience any animal that has a "swinging" gait has structural problems, usually hips. Indeed the very thing I try to avoid when breeding our pack bloodhounds is this typical bloodhound swinging gait. Such an action is inefficient and uneconomic in terms of energy, both of which seriously undermine the hound's ability to hunt.

I know there are bloodhound enthusiasts working within the Kennel Club to try and get a more healthy version of "breed standard bloodhound" and there can be little doubt that much of the KC's work is beneficial to dogs on the whole. But I don't think they will have much success until they change the criteria they use when looking at a hound/dog. The main criteria for bloodhounds should be that the hound should be physically capable of hunting. Loose skin, wrinkles and a "swinging" gait not only compromise the hound's hunting ability, they can also cause health problems. The South Downs Bloodhounds is a very young pack of hounds (only 6 years old) and as such I freely admit many of our hounds do not yet possess enough bloodhound physical characteristics. But it is possible to produce bloodhounds that not only look like a typical bloodhound but can also carry out their main purpose - hunting. You only have to look at The Coakham Bloodhounds and The Readyfield Bloodhounds, amongst others, to see that this is so.

It's your chance to show your imagination, wit and sheer brilliance as you come up with a witty caption for the photograph on the right. If you win, you enjoy the glory of seeing your name on the website. What more could you want? Entries to captions@SouthDownsBloodhounds.com

Previous Captions

(Taken at the SDB Clay Shoot June 2008)

Captions suggested so far:

Jeremy Whaley: News Headlines. "Woman loses hand in accident at SDB Clay Shoot."