Izzy & Petra are only separated by a few days with Izzy about 4 days older.  They have basically grown up together;  they eat together, sleep together and I like running them together.  Even though their mothers were sisters, they are two very different hounds.  Izzy is powerfully built, Petra is slim.  Izzy hunts in a methodical way, Petra is in every thicket & under every bush.  Petra is about 2 inches shorter and is the smallest hound in my kennel but has the biggest heart of any.  Izzy will stand up to any hound, Petra is not one to be in the corner, and has surprised me with her aggressiveness at times but she is not what I would call an alpha female.

I really enjoy hunting them in a brace.  They both are very biddable and work well as a team.  Petra a bit better of a check hound and Izzy controlling the drives.  The day of this picture, I was surprised to check the Garmin and see that Petra was moving almost a full mph faster than Izzy.  I'm going to chalk that up to the fact that rabbits were tough to come by due to the approaching storm and the 2 had to work to get up the pair of rabbits that they did roust.

Wow! Where has the time gone?  Soon leaves will be falling and gun season will be here.  This has been the most miserable summer that I can remember.  Non stop heat & humidity and endless rain. 

I've been neglecting the website a bit as I just have so much going on and they are telling me I need to upgrade to a more "modern" format.  Some buttons do not work on the mobile site and it has become more of a hassle to update.  I have been keeping the Facebook page updated a bit more regularly.  Just like everything else, you have to adjust to change and change with the times so at some point, this site will undergo a face lift.  (I try to keep this webpage and the Facebook site  similar as I know some folks don't do FB.

With the decreased daylight hours, I will try to do some more frequent updates here.  I have many things running around my brain.  From crap I see & hear, to some hounds I'd like to celebrate & acknowledge.

Before I end this short blog post, I would like to post a link:  https://www.nationalbeagleclub.org/Standard  Now the state of the show beagle today is not good,  the conformation of the field beagle is just as dire.  This standard was written by very knowledgeable folks and every aspect of conformation relates to field performance.

Been receiving good reports on hounds from our kennel.  We always like the updates and love the pictures!

​

Kevin M's fine little female "Patches," sister to my Chandra.  Duffy X Lola

​**************************************************************************************************************************************************

**************************************************************************************************************************************************

Mike H's beautiful hound.  Mike says he has the best snow nose of any hound he has ever had.

​It is with great sadness that I report of the death of Patch Cymbrian Hank.  Hank was my buddy for a long time and his passing has left a hole in my heart.

Hank was bred by Mike Capozzi, out of his fine female Jubalee, by Boquet River Pal Patch.  I had the pleasure of watching both of these outstanding hounds run and both are an important part of the lineage of the kennel.  I’ve had several of Pal’s offspring.  I was at Mike’s when these pups were born but didn’t pick Hank up until the fall.  I don’t recall how many were in the litter but it was a bumper crop.  Hank and Pella were Mike’s keepers from the litter and that fall, Mike and I did a puppy swap and Hank was headed to Pennsylvania.  He fit right in and I kenneled him with Hoss (Cymbrian Hans Blix) and the two made quite a pair.  Hoss was about 16” and Hank was 13 ½” at best, Hoss was a chocolate tri and Hank more a traditional black, white & tan tri color.  They got along extremely well except at feeding (Hoss was fed outside the kennel) and I ran them together quite a bit.  They were close to the same age, with Hank maybe 6 months or so younger, they wrestled and horsed around but it never got out of hand.  Hank was a chewer and he destroyed several boxes for me.  He actually made a back door in one box.

Around 8 months or so Hank was ready to start.  I box trapped a rabbit at my mother’s house and Hank took off.  I remember as if yesterday, that little bugger ran that rabbit check free across the creek and up the hill and back to a junk pile.  I couldn’t wait to tell Mike.  Hank continued to progress and he was circling rabbits fairly well so I decided to pack him.  His brain was not ready for that & he felt that he had to have the front whether he could handle it or not.  I thought I had blown him up.  I tried running him braced and again solo.  Solo he was great, no problems but as soon as I put him with another hound, he started his racing for the front again.  After talking with Mike and several others I trusted, I decided to only run him by himself for a while and even not running him at all for periods of time.  In the back of my head, I knew he could do it and had all the talents necessary so I wasn’t about to give up on him (others may have).

Finally after maybe a year or so, he was back running with the pack.  The more hounds with him, the better he was and soon was a very valuable member of my pack.  He was funny about some things, he loved being petted and scratched in the kennel but didn’t want touched out in the field.  He was all business as soon as he left the kennel.  He was a large pack hound and I regret that when he was in his prime, I didn’t get him to a few LP trials.  He loved being right there with a bigger pack.   He seemed to have a pretty good nose but he would not open unless he was sure and I can still see him in a tough scenting spot, working the line with it right between his legs but he was silent until he was positive.   He did this once at our club fun trial and the judge told me he had it but wasn’t opening.  In about 20 yards, he opened and was off.  For the next decade or so, Hank was a pack leader and a joy to take afield.

Time slipped by and before I knew it, he was old.  He wasn’t the pack leader and it bothered him.  He wasn’t the alpha male and I could tell he wasn’t happy about it.  He was relegated to running by himself and his field time was reduced dramatically.  He was always a good boy and I loved having him in the kennel.  A few years ago, I believe he started suffering from dementia.  He would bark at the wall and go in the kennel and bark at the floor but he never missed a meal and was never at the vet.  Pretty remarkable feat.  He split his ear once and was covered in blood but he kept running the rabbit.  I pulled a 3 inch thorn from his foot and as soon as it was out, he was back in the pack.  He was one tough hound.  He never opened on anything other than rabbit his entire life.  He bounced deer and it never fazed him.  The pack got into a porcupine once but Hank never got a quill.
​
I knew the end was coming but I was still not prepared.  The night before he passed, he walked the hallway as he did often, remembering that he was once “cock of the walk.”  I buried him next to his niece Onwasa and a few tears fell into the cold January clay.  Hank will be with me in my heart forever.

Added a couple photos to the "Hounds" pages.  I had John out with me snapping pictures and it is indeed difficult to get a proper pose on these hounds, especially the younger hounds.  I've had folks asking for pictures of the younger hounds so these will have to do for now until I can get some  in a natural pose.

Been getting some miles on the hounds as we have had a nice cool spell but we have returned to the humidity of August here in September.  Going to breed Taya here in the next few days, keeping my fingers crossed!

My garden is winding down.  Had a very good year with some things and a pretty poor year for others.  We had a nice blueberry crop but not a single apple.

It is trial time at my beagle club.  I am not a big fan of the trials but I do enjoy seeing other hounds and talking with other houndsmen.  

Our miserable July is coming to an end.  I love cold fronts from Canada !  Hounds are getting anxious to get some big time running in.