BigGameHoundsmen.com

Faster Hound Breeds. Let's See Greyhound, Stag, Saluki, Whippet, Pharoah, Borzoi, then after that probably your running scent hounds, then the treeing hounds, then the short rabbit type hounds.

I keep a pack of deer hounds, which provides me insight into speed and drive that many strive for when breeding deer dogs.

The walkers I commonly see bred up for speed lack the grit it takes to blood trail and bay. I am not sure on how close the genes are linked for these two traits (speed/bay) but they seem to be inter twined. Some dogs do have both, but they are normally rarer. I know of at least one bear hunter that waters his tree stock down with running walker. He runs to catch, as he wants to put them up a tree quickly.

Most of the really fast hounds I have seen run head up, and often do not run the track. They simply "wind" the game and run almost parallel to the track. They may be 20 to 30 feet off the track winding the scent. They commonly lack the cold nose seen in some of the tree stock, and often loose a track faster. I had a dog that when it got hot you could expect her to never lay her nose on the ground. She would stretch a pack by lengths. I have seen her stretch a pack by five minutes or more. Sometimes she would be within a few hundred yards of the deer. She lacked the grit to bay and or blood trail though. She was a heck of a jump dog, but was not cold nosed. She had a very distinct chop bark and was a fast barker. She could be heard over a pack of 20 dogs or more often. I have an older dog I recently picked up, she is very cat footed, and I believe will be one of my faster dogs. I do not breed for speed anymore, rather handling abilities, nose, and drive. I have one dog that is heavier footed now. She leads most packs, but is by no means a fast fast dog. She blood trails and bays with the best of them, and is a top notch jump dog. He has about as much grit as any walker I have owned. I am considering crossing her to tree stock, a slightly gritty dog with a lot of speed. Then crossing off that litter to a very gritty tree stock dog to get the grit I want in my lines. The first crossing should help to set in speed, and then the second crossing should get the grit in the lines, while marginally costing me speed. I would have 1/4 running walker in the second crossing that may need line breeding to set in some of the traits. Essentially I would be creating my own line that would be particular to my needs and desires. I would have a faster dog that should have plenty of fight for an old mean bear. I hope to be able to tree quicker than some of these other guys, their dogs hang to far back, and do not nip enough for my likings.

rhromm
Might save yourself some time and look around Oregon & Calif. cat & bear hunters over on this side have been breeding that 1/4 to 1/2 running dog into the treeing dog for years

Its not practical for me to get a dog from that far away, I am in North Carolina. This female that I have is nothing but the real deal, a once in a life time dog, that would fit the bill. She is probably a hound similar to what would have started dogs such as White River King treeing walkers or such.