Oak Ridge
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Aug 2003
Location: Indiana
Posts: 6168 |
The "difference" between a so called competition dog and a so called pleasure dog is which faults you are willing to tolerate!
So often the "first strike" dog that gets tagged as "competition" is a babbling idiot that makes multiple slick trees for every coon it trees. It sets in the pen until the leaves come on...cause he who makes the most trees wins, and if you can be packing first strike...you are "almost unbeatable"... Both of those are serious faults, yet we use the hunt wins as breeding selection criteria.
Often the dog that locates, moves on...locates again...circles the tree takes FAR too long to get treed is labeled a "pleasure dog". This same dog often runs a track back and forth, or cant really move a track out but instead straddles the track, making lots of noise, but with very little forward progress. Oh it eventually gets treed, and nearly always has a coon, but would never "compete with a dog that can move tracks and is a quick locator.
Both dogs have serious faults that make them unsuitable for individual activities....be it pleasure or competition.
The really GOOD dogs are both a pleasure to hunt in the hunts, cause they tree coon, do so in a manner that is quick, and consistent.
If I could show you a dog that is a Grand Night in multiple registries, and never needs a lead strap, can be called across the creek, out of the swamp but has a coon when he trees would you consider that as a pleasure dog or a competition dog? If that same dog could be used in the highest levels of competition on the weekend, but be used to train pups the rest of the week, which category would you put that dog in?
The biggest question is which set of "faults" are you more prone to accept?
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Joe Newlin
UKC Cur Advocate
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