Big pack vs small pack performance

Yeah a big pack will make dogs look better than they actually are to be honest if you’re running a small pack small pack dogs are probably better to keep around sounds like his description is to his knowledge what he sees but he sees dogs in a huge pack where they can get carried where a small pack every dog has to put in individual work and it’s easier seen

Edge said:

I’ve been trading and buying dogs from a guy for a while now that normally has good dogs honest gentleman always lets me bring the dogs home and look at the dogs before I buy them he hunts and runs a large pack 8-10 dogs me on the other hand im building my pack so when I get the dogs home they run with 2-3 dogs at most I’ve found that the description he gives of how the dog performs is off most of the time and think it’s the pack size anybody experience this before or can she’s some light on it

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How does his description differ? And what is his response when you tell him it’s not like he described? I think regardless of the number of hounds involved (8-10 is not very many), he should be able to accurately evaluate his hounds if he watches them for a period of time. Does he run in daytime and make an effort to see what they are doing?

His description is that of a much better looking dog in all aspects his responses are normally is he never seen that from the dog in question

Redriverkennels/Logan said:

Yeah a big pack will make dogs look better than they actually are to be honest if you’re running a small pack small pack dogs are probably better to keep around sounds like his description is to his knowledge what he sees but he sees dogs in a huge pack where they can get carried where a small pack every dog has to put in individual work and it’s easier seen

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My thoughts exactly

I believe buyer beware. Buying puppy is one thing but before I ever bought a running dog I want see it solo, brace, pack. Too many dogs cannot run their own rabbit and that is a shame. Not worth a nickel in my opinion

First understand. Just because his evaluation is different then yours doesn’t necessarily mean he’s dishonest being he’s letting you try the dogs out before hand he’s probably being honest to his evaluation
8 dog in my opinion is not a large pack truth is a good dog can run well solo small pack or LP Actually in a LP if you take the effort pay close attention and honestly evaluate which ones have the right stuff which ones are the ( me two ) the slackers and the problem child’s the cream of the crop will show it’s head. If I was having trouble getting what I was looking for from an individual it might just be time to look elsewhere

Agree with dave. Some people just aren’t very good at evaluating hounds, perhaps because he’s not watching them closely enough, or just not skilled at determining what he is seeing. Judge many trials with other guys and you learn that. And there’s also the possibility he is dishonest in what he tells you - hate to say that about someone we don’t know, however. I always give people the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

Best way to get good hounds is start with a well bred female then breed your own - not by buying. Most people don’t sell the good ones.

Edge said:

I’ve been trading and buying dogs from a guy for a while now that normally has good dogs honest gentleman always lets me bring the dogs home and look at the dogs before I buy them he hunts and runs a large pack 8-10 dogs me on the other hand im building my pack so when I get the dogs home they run with 2-3 dogs at most I’ve found that the description he gives of how the dog performs is off most of the time and think it’s the pack size anybody experience this before or can she’s some light on it

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His big pack has probably got 2-3 dogs doing the work. The others are feeding off them or riding on their coat tails. He's not selling the ones doing all the work.

MackC said:

His big pack has probably got 2-3 dogs doing the work. The others are feeding off them or riding on their coat tails. He's not selling the ones doing all the work.

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We’re all just speculating without knowing the guy, but in a really good pack, most everything would be making a contribution at one instant or another.

I will speculate like others just to give my two cents. Are they SPO type or Large pack type? If they are super fast, it's fairly difficult to see who's doing what if you're not on horseback. Like someone mentioned earlier, his assessment may be accurate according to his standards. This is one thing I know for sure, you can't judge a dog based solely on road crossings. Not saying that's what he does, just wanted to chip in.

Sounds like he is honest but like some others don't know any more about Beagles now than he did when he first started running them sad to say but some people just never learn to recognize what is going on with a pack or solo

Sounds like you and your buddy could have a bit of a discrepancy in your preferences?

I have a buddy who is as good of a person as it gets, honest, fair, and more than capable of judging a hound without prejudice. However, he prefers a much much more conservative hound than me. When he says a hound is super nice, I know that it is most likely too slow and close for my preferences. If he says a hound is a bit too hard for him, I know it is just about right for me. lol

Huntsman said:

We’re all just speculating without knowing the guy, but in a really good pack, most everything would be making a contribution at one instant or another.

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It doesn't sound like he is dis-honest but if he's like anyone else he's not selling the best ones. Just trimming the fat.

Lot of good advice given but I don’t think he’s being dishonest at all and if he’s letting you take the dog and run it before buying his evaluation of the hound means nothing it’s up to you to evaluate at that point

Good point Curnel totally agree.