Can You Grind the Line?
By Bob Kimber, BraceBeagling author
March 23, 2003

“Doc” Cody is an interesting character. The first question I asked him was how he came up with his kennel name, Grind-the-Line Beagles. He said, “Well it just seemed to me the good hounds just keep the line between their legs and keep grinding. You know, they stay straight on the line, claim good, then move up to the next track. They turn exactly where the rabbit turns and they are able to track it across paths back into the cover or wherever the rabbit went. They just keep grinding the line out, one track at a time, until the judges order them up. It also seemed to me that most of the other hounds go down the line a ways and then walk about. The kennel name Grind-the-Line sounded a lot better to me than Walk-About.”

What did you think of the hounds at the Southern Federation this year, Doc? “Well there were some very good hounds there and those that were to able to grind out two good runs in a row did the best. The ones that showed some real bottom - you know heart, guts, stay and dig - in addition to style, were able to persevere and track the rabbit accurately. The scenting conditions did appear to be tough since many of the hounds couldn’t complete their runs in first series and a few didn’t get the job done in second series. Quite possibly many of the hounds hadn’t been worked very much due to all the snow and ice in many areas, although several of the hounds from the North did pretty well at the Southern.”

Larry Adams usually has a unique way of describing things. What do think of his latest saying, Doc, “We want our hounds to work like puppies but they need to keep it going like grown dogs?” “Well that’s it! I mean our hounds have to do it right, but they also have to complete their runs. Sometimes hounds just aren’t quite experienced enough or they obviously didn’t bring their A game that day. You simply have to keep it going right.”

Doc, there’s been a lot of talk about the pick-up point or running them too long. What are your thoughts on that subject? “Well, first of all, there is no such thing as a pick-up point until both judges are finished evaluating the hounds individually and against the rest of the hounds in the class, or against the rest of the hounds in second series. Every once in awhile you might hear someone say they would have picked them up sooner or before they got to a potential difficulty (test). And maybe that individual would have if they were judging by themselves. But, picking the hounds up is a mutual responsibility for the judges, just as is agreeing on the winner and any scoring.”

Okay Doc, what about not running a brace far enough to score a hound? “Well, sometimes you do hear people say the judges really didn’t run a brace far enough to score a particular hound. And perhaps a few judges routinely don’t. But you have to admit that when several braces in a row fall on their face and finally a hound starts grinding it out, it’s pretty tempting to get in a hurry. If a hound looks solid and maybe makes a good turn or does something extremely well, and you don’t have much in the back of the book, the urge to get that hound off the ground and score it has to be pretty strong. You already know that hound is head and shoulders above so many others that have crashed and burned and you’re looking for the best hounds there that day.”

Well Doc, did you feel there was much difference between the futurities and the derbies this year at the Southern? “Well, I really thought the overall quality of the derbies was better than the futurities. But many of the hounds, futurities and derbies, made me wonder if we have gone past easy, soft, flat, good feet, comfortable, and relaxed to dull and dumb. Excuse me, but aren’t our hounds suppose to continue to make progress. I love a close, comfortable, accurate hound but some of the hounds could barely move. And some of those dull, stiff-tailed hounds, that demonstrated very little life, looked pretty feeble as they fumbled on a straight line down a path. If I were ever to cut a hound short, that would be it.”

Did you observe any overall improvements in the hounds, Doc? “Well, I really didn’t see as much dog tracking as I thought I would. It’s still out there of course, but there may be less this year. And I would say there were fewer nervous hounds this year. And just maybe fewer hounds were having trouble running a covered line, since I didn’t see as many hounds hang up behind as last year.”

What about problems that might be getting worse, Doc? “Well, what’s the deal with hounds looking for rear legs? I mean there are beagles out there now that are convinced the next rabbit track is between a pair of hound legs. I saw one poor hound on the front take all the bumping, pushing, and interference he could stand. Finally he decided to go down the line with his hind-end angled away from the line. Even that didn’t work because his bracemate made a semi-circle off the line in order to get back under his hind legs. But, the best underneath expert didn’t waste time trying to go through the rear arches, he just kept hooking underneath from his bracemates rib-side. I don’t know, maybe he thought that route smelled better or it was the path of least resistance. Now, don’t get me wrong, I can handle some incidental contact and I can even understand a bump on an anchored dog in a thick game trail, but unnecessary interference has to go.

Well Doc, how do you think a hound on the rear should handle the situation where the dog in front dwells in the track a real long time or anchors on the line? “It’s not an easy situation to deal with that’s for sure. I would like to see the rear hound first demonstrate a little patience and then try to ease around his bracemate without shouldering or obviously just head-hunting. If a hound can go around a bracemate that won’t move, in this manner and then track the front, then that hound should be given credit for keeping the run going. But if the rear hound takes a quick walk around a bracemate that has barely set-up in track, in order to just get the front, then he should be penalized for leaving the line and cheating ahead.”

Doc, I understand you recently won four good-sized license brace trials in a row with four different 15” bitches and to top if off, you took first, second, third, and fourth at all four of these trials. That’s pretty impressive! Why didn’t you run any of those hounds at the Southern? “Well, all four bitches will be whelping pups soon.”

Please tell us about these bitches, Doc. “Well, they are littermates and each one just happened to get a turn at being drawn first at these trials. When all four had good solid high scoring runs, the judges at all four trials simply used the first one that ran that day back high, the next one back second, the next back third, and the last one to run back fourth. And these hounds did what they were suppose to in second series, so they ended up that way.”

How in the world did you manage to come up with such a good litter? “Well, my area of research is with beagle embryos. We were able to remove them to study chromosomes and genetic make-up, and then replace them. I realized there are no perfect hounds, so I ruled out cloning. A couple of years ago I was able to identify every genetic running characteristic and then I developed a technique for enhancing the chromosomes for desirable running traits and virtually eliminated the bad ones. The real key to the whole process was breaking the genetic code.”

Will you consider selling any of your pups Doc? “Well, I think I should, don’t you? Each of these four bitches will be having seven females and one male. I would like to see some of them located in all parts of the country. Right now interest rates are at a 40-year low, so maybe that will help make them more attainable. If anyone is interested just drop me a line and submit your bid. My address is: William BS Cody, 1000 Genetic Code Road, Fiction, USA 20000.”