1/4 bloodhound crosses?

[Cowboyvon]

Didn't the Lazer hounds out of Canada have bloodhound in them?

[Dan Edwards]

[houndogger]

There's a guy on the island claiming his lazer hound will take a 48hr track in this westcoast rain. lol maybe he will chime in....

[Mike Leonard]

I have owned quite a few Layser cross hounds and one full bred Lay female from Dan in B.C.

You would think on first sight that these dogs are nothing more than bloodhound crosses until you get around them for awhile. I am not saying there is not bloodhound in their lines as there is bloodhound, and for that matter birddog way back in the lines of just about everything we call a scent or tree hound today. After doing a lion study some years back and collaring quite a number of lions for different Biologists an interested group from the University of Florida asked to do a DNA study on the dogs Dan had developed and found some very interesting facts. These dogs have a very unique blood type pattern that is distinctive from other bloodhound and scent hounds that had been tested. so much so that a specific category was set aside for the Layser Hound of British Colombia.

Now if you are privy to Dan's secret recipe you might share it but although Dan and I have been very good friends for years I don't have it. I am just glad that he was good enough to share some stock with me, and to this day the two greatest hounds I have personally owned ( Big John, and Big Ben) are both very heavy in the Layser blood.

Are these the only hounds I hunt? Nope I am not that lucky and I have had some wonderful hounds in about every breed and cross you can imagine, just saying these 2 were and are truly unique when it comes to the manner in which they hunt and catch game. I am not so sure it is superior scenting power although they have had wonderful noses and could carry a bad track with so much speed that at times it defied reason. Not so sure it was their uncanny ability to locate treed game although I have witnessed along with others these hounds changeover from trail voice to tree hundreds of yards before they arrived at the tree when the wind was right. I am not sure if it is their uncanny game instincts that seem to tie the other traits together and make them an absolute lethal weapon for the predatory animal hunter. But they have SOMETHING truly unique.

Most are large hounds with males like John and Ben weighting between 85-100 pounds. Tall with deep but not wide chests and heavy thickly padded feet although a bit long. Dan said the conformational of an adult timber wolf in the running gear was what he was after. Extreme athleticism is a natural byproduct of this build and amazing feats of flying thru very rugged country with deep snows have proven this. Tremendous grit but not the kind that gets a dog killed right off is another attribute they possess and most of them have longevity greater than the average hound. I have one at present that will be 16 the 3rd. of June and although he is nearly deaf he can still hunt and catch game.

They are not the best when it comes to very warm climates due to the fact that most possess a very heavy coat no doubt a byproduct of being developed in the Williams Lake area of British Colombia which is not exactly hot country.

Not just lion hounds these dogs have been used successfully on black bear, grizzly bear and jaguar in Central and South America.

Not many of these dogs find their way south of the Medicine Line these days and I am not aware of any full blood Layser females in the US although Riley Miller and I have had some in the past.

Dan and I were born the same year so we both have some grey on our muzzles these days but Dan's son is carrying on the tradition of hunting these fine dogs, and he learned from one of the best.

[Cowboyvon]

Mike didn't you or a friend of yours try to lease that female that Riley had to breed to one of those french hounds? I had a big red tick that was out of her.. he was a good hound

[JTG]

[Jimmy Lee]

Go back to 1985 full cry look at the hounds on the stringer of Dan Lays gee I wonder where they came from.i know where most of them came from and ya they have bloodhound in them.

[Kevin Jackson]

Mike, you talk about those dogs changing from trail bark to tree bark hundreds of yards before they're treed. What does that mean? Mine all open more as the track warms up and are bawl mouth dogs but most always chop on a running track after the jump when they're running body scent instead of ground scent. They are chop mouth tree dogs so I guess one could say they change to a tree bark hundreds of yards before they tree. I know my dogs and know what it truly means is game is jumped and will be treed shortly. The true tree barks come after the locate. To someone who knows a little about hounds it sounds like they are tree barking at the jump but I know better. Are you saying those dogs you hunted located from a few hundred yards out? I'd sure have to see that to believe it.

[Dan Edwards]

I've seen it often, Kevin. Its fairly common in really good coon dogs.

[mark]

I was still trying to swallow the 5 day old tracks and now this.

[Mike Leonard]

Dan I agree it is common in very good seasoned cooners who seem to have that sixth sense about what the coon is up to.

Kevin I understand what you are saying about dogs going into a yammering chop on a jump type track but I am talking about a dog you know well that has a very distinct changeover after you hear him give you the locate sign. Not all dogs have a wide range in their voices so it will really take a practiced ear to be able to tell what is going on.

I spent so many lonely yet wonderful days and nights alone in the woods and mountains with my hounds with no tracking equip. I really got fascinated by mentally picturing in my head what was going on by the voice the hound gave me on the trail.

Example: An easy one for point. Old Blue Earl has been cast into the darkness on a frosty fall evening. you hear the shuffle of dry leaves and the snuffing of his nose as he moves out searching for a trail. Soon he is off in the darkness and you are alone in the silence. It's quiet and if you try hard you seem to be able to hear your own heartbeat as you listen. Finally after what seems an eternity deep out of the creek bottom you hear, BOOOOOOOAAAAH! STRIKE! Silence then BAAAAAWWWWl, Boooowooooo! trailing and the chase is on. He is moving the track well now and you chart his progress with your ears. He moves about a quarter upstream, and then it gets quiet. you can almost see him questing back and forth along the stream bank trying to pick up Mr. coon's trail again. The coon hit the water you just know it, and Earl figures it out and bails in crosses and hits the other bank. Boooooooo! Picked up the loss and he is off again and trailing faster now(wet coon smells good!). He is driving the track now and his bawls are shorter and more intense. He makes another couple hundred yards and then all is quiet. You catch your breath you know what's coming and then it happens. OWWWWWahhhh! Locating bawl saying he is up and I have him pinned. Then comes the steady jack hammer Ow! Ow! Ow! Treed! And you smile to yourself and head that way.



Now then Earl was easy to read, and had a locating bawl that a 5 year old child could read, and not all dogs sound that way or even do that but this is what I am talking about Old Big John before numerous witnesses could be driving a lion track across a mountainside while his gallery watched . suddenly he would stop throw up his head and give that long old call saying he has climbed, and then he would not go back to ground he would just fly into the trees and begin treeing. He just had that gift.


Jimmy Lee I am glad you know where most of Dan's dogs came from. Would you mind sharing this information with the rest of us?

[Dan Edwards]

Just give up, Mark. It aint gonna happen.

[Kevin Jackson]

Mike, I would expect any dog to leave the ground scent when they get slapped in the face with body scent. Some are better at locating by winding and I'm guessing that's what you're talking about. My Billy dog was the best lay-up dog and locating dog I've owned. I watched him tree coons that other dogs didn't have a clue were there. Same thing, he'd work the wind and had a knack for getting under the right tree. I'd watch other dogs check his tree and leave and shine the tree and there would be a coon curled up in a ball sleeping. He didn't need a track to tree. I think that is what you are talking about? My dogs aren't babbling idiots and they have very distinct changeovers in their voice. I hunted for years without tracking equipment. Even with tracking equipment I listen and pay attention to the dogs, that's what I'm there for. Thanks again for the input on here.

[Kevin Jackson]

Dan, I've hunted coon in various states and with all the breeds out there. I've seen a lot more average dogs or sorry dogs than I have great dogs. That lay-up ability might be common in really good coon dogs but really good coon dogs aren't common in my experience. Hope someday I have some good dogs!

[Dan Edwards]

I'm not talkin about lay up ability and I agree really good coon dogs are extremely hard to find.