Gascogne - Saintongeois

[liontracker]

Yellowjacket, do you have a pic of the Grand Bleu in TN?

[African]

[liontracker]

[African]

The coonhound minded earlier, hunted earlier, game proofed easier, treed better but had less patience on a cold track and wanted to get to the fight as quick as possible.Was a little less 'political' in the pack.
Physically the coonhound has a smaller frame, squarer head, high set ears & shorter.Less muscle mass.Chest a bit too tight and was skin & sinew after a weeks hunting.

The Bleu and Saintongeois are very similar - check out all the info available on the net (wikipedia etc) for the history.Too much to describe here.
The Grand of both are nose to ground hounds.Track glued.The Petit aswell but I noticed they still try run the track as quick as possible.
Good for Hare but not for Leopard.
It is possible to be successful with coonhounds, even foxhounds and all the crosses in between on Leopard but in my experience you have to do most of the work for them in order to put them on the fresh spoor.
A lot of cats are just chased off a bait and treed, and good on them, but I want to walk in the cats tracks.At first it's about putting as many cats in the tree as possible but now its about completing the most difficult track.Maybe I will evolve again later ?

Physically I like the larger size - more intimidating - generally deeper voice.Lower attached ears - very long.Size makes them less driven to race.Bigger body means more area exposed to heat and greater water requirement so I figure white coat is a help.Saintongeois has a light skull for the body size compared to Bleu so less energy on carrying the head.
I'ts a super nose attached to power machine.

[liontracker]

[African]

I presume you are refering to my impression of the Petit -

Overrun, lost tracks, competitive with other hounds, jealous, lying.
Hunted singularily they are more honest but mixed with larger, slower hounds they're always trying to steal the lead.
I think it's their speed ability that naturally drives them to work at a faster pace.Like a racehorse and a Carthorse.
I am aiming for a tight pack spread out in a line along the track not zig zagging all over.6/8 dogs of relatively equal physical ability.
They bigger hounds have as much drive to complete the track they just seem less anxious while working it.Their tails also hit 5000rpm's when scent fills their noses.

[catcher]

[African]

[catcher]

[liontracker]

[jimmylee]

[jimmylee]

[African]

[liontracker]

WELL done...as usual. Very nice.

[Dads dogboy]

Very Very Nice!

Your Pack must be perfroming quite well! Could you describe how they handle the track...do they all have the same qualities and abilities or are they like our Bobcat Packs with specialists even amoung littermates!

Thanks, again Gavin very well done!

CJC