Posted on 07/10/2006 8:41:39 AM PDT by girlangler
AKC dog registry welcoming coonhounds to purebred world
By Coke Ellington Associated Press
Raleigh | The American Kennel Club is trying to make coonhounds couth.
The nation's largest and most recognized dog registry is in the early stages of a major push to add coonhounds to its prestigious rolls, hoping both to increase its membership and to assure these sad-eyed symbols of country life stick around a while longer.
"We're interested in the registration of these dogs and their litters, but we're most interested in preserving these dogs for the future," said Steve Fielder, who moved to Raleigh in late 2004 to launch the club's coonhound initiative.
To meet its targets, the AKC has found itself negotiating with governments to assure there's ample hunting land for the dogs, setting up competitive hunts and working to enlist more of the estimated 1.2 million coonhounds in the nation.
It may seem like unlikely work for a club with headquarters on swanky Madison Avenue in New York City and more closely tied to images of pouffy poodles than howling hounds, but Fielder insists it's right in line with the club's mission.
"The AKC wants to be all things canine," said Fielder, one of about 300 people at the AKC's operations center in Raleigh.
To help with its initiative, the AKC began offering free registration last year to coonhounds already enlisted with two other national clubs. The move resulted in about 10,000 registrations, up from about 500 the previous year. The club expects to have another 10,000 registered by the end of this year, pushing the total number of AKC registered coonhounds to 22,000.
Still, coonhounds make up a tiny part of the club's registry. Labrador retrievers were the most popular breed in 2005 with nearly 138,000 registered by the AKC.
Registration costs just $15, but acceptance by the AKC is invaluable to breeders and others who need or want to prove their dogs have pure bloodlines.
For coonhounds, registering also opens the way for the dogs to compete in AKC-sanctioned hunts and competitions that offer titles, trophies and cash prizes of as much as $25,000. Just in July, the AKC is sponsoring about 70 coonhound competitions across the nation, including contests for youth, field trials, water races and night hunts.
Night hunts tie most closely to the tradition of the coonhound owners across the South who once led packs of dogs on late-night winter hunts, forcing the raccoons up trees where the hunters could get a clear shot at them. The raccoon hides fetched $20 to $30 each in the late 1970s, according to Perry Sumner, a biologist with the state Wildlife Resources Commission. With demand dwindling, a raccoon hide today is worth about $5, he said.
A good coonhound can sell for $4,000 to $5,000, with some bringing up to $100,000, said David Gardin, the president of the North Carolina Coonhunters Association..
The AKC first registered black and tan coonhounds - one of six coonhound breeds - in 1945, but during the past 60 years there had been little mingling between hound owners and the AKC. Coonhound owners were more likely to register with the Professional Kennel Club or the United Kennel Club and the AKC didn't seem to mind. Now, their interests seem to have merged.
"The coonhound has been kind of like a subculture in the world of dogs," Fielder said, "but with the AKC involved the spotlight is shining on the breeds."
From where did you get that info? The breed was fully recognized by the AKC in the '80s, so it has to be before that. I think it may have been 1980 or just prior. Unfortunately, the American club site doesn't give out this kind of history. One can only gleen it from the info provided.
LOL
I think my heaviest dog was an 80 lb male spinone. I could not lift him onto the grooming table without help (and HE was supremely unhelpful in that endeavor!) I really prefer the girls for that fact that they are smaller and more managable, but I do love the males personalities.
susie
I personally think we'll never get the IMPORTANT part of the dog under control unless we impose PERFORMANCE requirements on them before they can have conformation recognition. What's wrong with simple obedience? Gee, EVERYONE should be doing that anyway (especially in America, which doesn't have a *true* dog culture and hence, spoiled-rotten dogs which half the population despises because they think it's "just how dogs are").
"They also even when they trot look as if the butt is plowing the ground."
That's what I was trying to say. That's they way they look.
My old SHepherd back in the 60's didn't look like that at all. It makes them look like their rear end is about to collapse.
Check out the Shiloh Shepherd. They have the body shape of the old German shepherds but are oversized.
I think what you are saying about the European Shepherds is they tend to be very "sharp" in temperment. I know a lot of law-enformcent agencies prefer them to American strains.
But I liked the old Shepherd of years ago.
Hey, that dog in the front is the mean lookin' one (grin).
Is that a young Ellen Degeneres on the cover? ;)
Weave poles and a Mom who has better joints than me! My co-owner/mentor wants me to do agility with her.
susie
"She is silent on track but works close and is on the coon before they go far. Once treed she will chop all night."
HaHa.
Reminds me of standing in the woods on a pitch black night with a party of (about eight or 10)'coon hunters, some holding flashlights and others with headlamps.
One looks up and says "That's 'ol Luther, he's got a track.
Another one says "Yep, and that there's 'ol Joe."
Don't know how they could tell them apart, but they could.
After they ran my butt through the briars and bushes all night I was never so glad to hear anything as I was to hear the words "Boys, h'its treed."
[quote]Owned by scouts and Indian fighters during the late 1700s, the Black and Tan was the first coonhound to be considered a separate breed from the American Foxhound and was admitted to American Kennel Club registry in 1945.[/quote]
http://www.akc.org/breeds/black_tan_coonhound/history.cfm
It's when you get up to Excellent that things can get pretty hairy. But by THAT time, you ought to be able to send your dog ahead, work away, and otherwise save steps and tight turns.
I have heard that there is one lady who works agility from a wheelchair. Have to be a very highly trained dog though!
Me too
Maddie,(Lab/Chow) hunter par excellent, coons, woodchucks, squirrel, rabbit
Guard dog, companion and genius of the dog world!
Oh, heavens, no, I do NOT want a dog who I have to make sure is not setting up a myspace page and trolling for dates! ;)
cute tho.
susie
Everybody is different which is what makes people interesting.
I love most dogs - not very fond of Rottweilers, pit bulls, and other dogs of that type.
Really like German Shepherds, setters, hounds and other hunting dogs most.
I'll send you a private message with my friend's phone number. She raises Plotts, she inherited the business from her Daddy.
She has some awesome Plotts.
Hands down it's a beagle.
I'm not sure what you mean by this.
Just for the record, I have titled dogs in obedience and hunt tests in addition to conformation. I agree that dogs SHOULD be doing other things, however, that is available.
MOST people I know who show in conformation have dogs who are trained, so I don't see how requiring something like a lower level obedience title is going to improve the gene pool somehow. Virtually ANY dog can get a CD. So, what does that prove?
If you are interested in multi purpose dogs, by all means,use that as a gauge when looking for a puppy. Of course, be aware that a CD title does not really mean much. (OK, except when you get one you feel pretty darned good about it!)
Accept AKC for what it is. A registry. They are not the dog or breed police.
susie
Birdy little gals aint they? The are so sweet.
I've got a beautiful Llewellyn English setter mix. The Llewellyn line is strong, she could pass for pure Llewllyn.
My Lucy is goofy as can be, but man she is birdy.
Wow, ok, then that's amazing.
I have stewarded and worked agility trials, and I started training agility, but our little club died out and I never got back into it. They have a group here, and I do think when the puppy is a little older, I will have a go with her. I sure won't be able to do much hunt training down here, with the alligators!
susie
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.