Hunting Performance Test Inaugural event!
Author: Amanda “Mandy” Palmer CVT ABCDT
Why do you love beagles? Is it the sound of the baying dogs running through the brush on a foggy, damp morning bringing the rabbit around on its second circle? Is it the adrenaline of a judge pointing to you as you lead the other dogs and handlers around the ring to get that last point to finish your dog in conformation? Perhaps the reason you love the breed is because on lonely evenings they lay on the couch with you and keep your lap warm. Regardless of the reason you have your dog, I know one thing to be true; the beagle was created to hunt over. This was done with specific structure outlined to help your dog produce rabbits in the most efficient way. Structure without function is a problem we all have a responsibility to fix within our breed. Function without structure is no different. This is why the Hunting Performance Test was created. This test acts as a bridge between two very unfortunately different worlds. Our breed is becoming divided. Some would argue it has been divided so much that combining the two is impossible. It has been almost 25 years since we had a dual Champion. A true dual champion beagle has an AKC conformation title AND a field champion title. This test is not a way to create a dual champion. Dogs with this title simply are functional hunting companions – not champions.
Why should the average hunting beagler care about this test? For one, this is a way for your club to make extra revenue by holding a hunt test along with your other trials. As vice president of Beechton Beagle Club in Brockway, Pennsylvania, I hope to hold a Hunting Performance Test in combination with one of our trials. One of the biggest concerns I’ve heard of many clubs is having fresh members to contribute to the club. By holding a Hunting Performance Test you are introducing new people to hunting over their hounds. This creates opportunity for new, eager membership! Lets not forget that by holding this event we are helping to preserve every ounce of our breed and educate people on what a true beagle is. If you feel strongly about how a dog should function this is your opportunity to educate others rather than putting anyone down! Form and function go hand in hand and this test is one way to bring the breed together.
The Hunting Performance Test can be utilized by many. For those that want to get more involved in the roots of our breed this test acts as a bridge. Newcomers get to put a green dog down, openly ask questions, and learn how to train their dog appropriately. Experienced beaglers can use the Hunting Performance Test as a way to see where their young dogs stack up; dogs as young as 4 months of age can take these tests. This can show breeders which dogs have the most natural instinct and which line learns how to appropriately hit the check and stay true to the line. This could be used as an early detection as to which dog is kept to achieve the best functionality within the line. We all know dogs that have gotten better with training, but this test can be used as a marker of instinct within the line if used appropriately. The dog that passes all 3 levels of the Hunting Performance Test is a functional hunting companion, but as we all know that doesn’t mean it is field champion material. Other breeds have field trials as well as instinct tests for a reason. Field trials are competitive while instinct tests allow individual evaluation of a dog. I’m proud to say now we do too. The National Beagle Club approved the test as a NBC title. It is currently being reviewed by the AKC and we hope to have approval as a title that you can add to your dog’s registered name in 2023.
At the 2022 National Beagle Club Speciality, we held the pilot Hunting Performance Test. The National Speciality brings together conformation, agility, obedience, rally, scentwork, and now hunting dogs. It’s absolutely crazy to think the National event for beagles didn’t have a formal hunt associated with it every year, until now. We had around 100 entries to run in a 2 day period. We had experienced, licensed AKC field trial judges Bill Moyer & Barry Clapper judge on Saturday. Sunday Bill returned with Kurtis Palmer (also AKC licensed judge) filling in as our second judge. Out of the 48 dogs entered, 19 of them passed the 1st level, Hunting Beagle Instinct. Many people had trained their dogs specifically for this event, but some had not. The amount that we were able to educate and help people discover their love for the breed functioning was immeasurable. Level 2, Hunting Beagle Novice had 6 dogs pass. Dogs that pass level 2 are started on a rabbit and may be able to run respectably. There is an effort of line control and moving the rabbit, but it may be a little less functional and clean. Level 3, Hunting Beagle Advance, requires a two-part pass. Dogs must run once in a solo or brace. They must also have a run with a pack of 4 to 6 dogs. 3 dogs passed the advanced pack run and 2 dogs passed solo or brace runs. Unfortunately due to time constraints we couldn’t run more advanced runs, but speculate that we would have had more passes.
During the Hunting Performance Test at Aldie, we had a large variety of entries. Some entries had field trial points and experience; other entries had never been off lead before, let alone knew what a rabbit was. The common denominator was a love for the breed and interest in preserving its functionality. Most that attended the first ever Hunting Performance test came from AKC conformation lines of beagles. So many of these individuals want to get involved and stay true to our breed. We hope by creating this test we can increase involvement in field trials and maybe increase the overall quality of our breed while doing so. During the test people asked questions about how to start their dog, what check work was, and even how to get their dog to return to them when it is loose. By assisting these individuals we can gather more help in maintaining fenced in beagle clubs.
The National Beagle Club holds their speciality every year. There are 7 different regions they have broken down throughout the United States. Depending on the year and schedule, they pick a state within a region for the national years before the event. The 2023 National Beagle Club Speciality is being held in Mesquite, Texas on October 26th & 27th. The Hunting Performance test during this year’s national will be at the Lone Star Dachshund Conservancy. We welcome field people and newbies to the breed alike. The more knowledgeable field people who are willing to help educate, the better! We are open and willing to discuss all concerns, ideas on how to improve the event, and are actively accepting mentor information! As someone who started with hunting line dogs, I can honestly say since I began working on this event I have been enlightened to all of the differences between beaglers. Between dog show people, agility people, and even the different speeds of field dogs, we only need to agree on one thing; we have to stick together as a breed.
Feel free to reach out to apply as a mentor or with any questions:
Amanda “Mandy” Palmer CVT ABCDT – AKC Field Trial Judge
AKC NBC Hunting Performance Test 