Russ Arend talks About His Many Years of Beagling
By Larry Lee, BraceBeagling Editor
August 10, 2002

Russ Arend with number 100 Fd. Ch. Maple Leaf Jacob. This picture was taken at the Red Cedar Beagle Club in Perry, Michigan.

“I get just as excited winning today as I did 35 years ago.” Those were the first words out of the mouth of Beagle Hall Of Fame member Russ Arend as we sat down at a table in the clubhouse at Red Cedar Beagle Club to talk about his many years in beagling. It was great to see Russ displaying the exuberance of a new beagler after all the years he has spent in the sport.

It was just a few days ago that Russ set a milestone for himself and maybe all beaglers when he finished his number 100-field champion. He placed Maple Leaf Jacob second in the big male class at the Port City Beagle Club near Muskegon Michigan. A few days later he started on the second 100 when he finished Watson’s Mr. Lee at Fox River.

Russ has been beagling since 1965 and finished his first champion four years later. The dog was one of his favorites and he called him Rock River Joe. Regarding finishing his first champion Russ said, “It was exciting because I thought it was never going to happen. I thought it was impossible to finish a field champion.” But finish one he did and then many others. He has high hopes of finishing many more. Right now he has several other dogs on his truck that are near field champions.

The easy ones to finish don’t impress Russ as much as the ones that are hard to finish. He enjoys the challenge of making champions out of those dogs that don’t get all the lucky breaks. Regarding this he says, “Sometimes when you are back third the high brace always gets a run or you are in the high brace and always lose the rabbit. On occasion a lower brace will be moved over you. And then there are those crazy circumstances that occasionally pop up. Maybe your dog misses a bark or chases a butterfly that causes it to lose its concentration at the least opportune time.”

When I asked him which of the 100 champions he liked the best he quickly listed four others besides Rock River Joe. Second on his list of most favorites is Close Call Chico. “Chico was one of my favorites because he was the first hound that I won a major federation with. In fact Chico won both the Midwestern and the Eastern. He was also in the running for the Purina Award.”

A little male known as Murphy’s Windy is third on Russ’s list. Russ bought Windy from a well-known beagler in Michigan known as Murphy Hawkins. A Michigan beagler some of your may recall named Bob Herner was judging a licensed trial with Russ somewhere in northern Illinois. Russ asked Bob if he knew of any good dogs that were for sale up in his neck of the woods. At that time Murphy’s Windy was hot on the sanction trial circuit in Michigan. He had won something like seven sanctioned trials in a row. Russ gave Murphy Hawkins a call right then and there from his motel room and bought the fine little male over the telephone.

Russ went on and finished Murphy’s Windy. He had this to say about him. “I liked Murphy’s Windy because he won the Lookout Field Champion trial in a class of 127 males. Chico placed third in the same trial.”
Backyard Bi-Rite, the number four dog on Russ’s list, won the Eastern and was back high at the Southern. He was also back in second series in all seven federations.

Myer’s Country Boy won the Purina Award for 13-inch males in the year 2000. When asked why he liked that dog Russ replied, “He was a good individual. When he finished he won in a class on Saturday in extremely tough running conditions with the temperature hitting 98 degrees. I then drove 500 miles and he won the class the next day when the temperature was only 60 degrees. Not many dogs can adjust like that.”

I then asked Russ to mention some of his thoughts about his 35 years of beagling and he listed two. “The social atmosphere in beagling is unbelievable. Almost everyone is friends and everybody gets along fine.” In fact he says his wife Peggy calls the world of beagling an old men’s social club. “She says its like a AARP meeting that lasts four days each week.”

Russ also says, “beagling is very competitive but those that stay in the sport condition their competitiveness.”

Russ says he has witnessed lots of changes over the years and most of them have been for the betterment of the sport. One example he listed was mode of transportation. “When I first started beagling everyone hauled their dogs either in the trunk of their car or in a station wagon. Now everyone has a truck. In fact, the club grounds at the trials now look like truck dealerships when a trial is going on.” Russ also feels the club grounds are in much better shape today than they were previously.

Another change Russ listed had to do with rabbits. “When the federal law stopped allowing Kansas and Missouri to stop selling rabbits everyone thought it would be a disaster. It forced everyone to start farming they’re running grounds and raising their own rabbits. They became better farmers and better feeders. They mowed their paths and used lime because they had no other alternative. It forced us to raise native rabbits.”

Changes in dogs and judging are other changes Russ likes. Russ says, “today there are more good dogs and less bad ones.” He believes the reason for that is the judging is much more consistent that when he first started beagling. “In fact the judges that like fast dogs don’t judge anymore.” Russ also believes that the beaglers wanted to follow the dogs to observe the hound work without having to run to keep up with them. He says, “it is no fun to try to watch a dog you can’t keep up with.”

I asked Russ if he thinks the dogs that are winning today could win years ago. He had this to say. “The good ones that won in the sixties and seventies would win today in the twenty-first century.” He believes Close Call Chic and Murphy’s Windy are examples of that.

Knowing how hard it is to get a start as a beagler I asked Russ if he learned it all on his own. He replied, “No, Oscar Calanca and Paul Sizemore played a major role. They showed me how to raise puppies, how to train dogs and how to run them in field trials. They showed me how a good dog should perform.”

Russ says he wants to keep competing in the sport for many more years. “All of us can keep living our lives through our dogs even when we are to old to do other things. Beagling is the greatest sport in the world. Where else can you have friends all over the country,” he concluded.