Treeing Walker History – One More Chase Through the Woods

Can anyone tell me what geography, tyranny, the Declaration of Independence, and the most dominant hound ever developed to chase fur-bearing critters through the forest of America have in common? If you guessed “the Bluegrass State of Kentucky,” then you are absolutely right.

The Fifteenth State

Kentucky became the 15th state in 1792 after spending a great deal of time as part of a large land grant called Virginia. In 1609, when King James I established Virginia, this area covered from what is now known as North Carolina in the south to Maine in the north, with the western boundary extending essentially to infinity or the Pacific Ocean. The land was given to the Virginia Company as a private entity and would be managed as a company. This sizable grant would be amended in 1612 and revoked in 1624. Following in King James’ footsteps, his son, King Charles I, would continue to restrict colonial borders as well, but it was not until 1665, under King Charles II, that the North Carolina/Virginia border would be set at 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. This line of demarcation would extend west to the Kentucky/Tennessee border in the mid-1700s. Using a straight line as a land boundary wasn’t a completely new endeavor; however, it was not an exact science in colonial times, and geographical boundaries were far more typical. This 36-30 boundary would cause numerous disputes during this period. Finally, men from each state would form a team to survey the boundary once and for all.

In 1728, a team led by William Byrd started at the Atlantic Ocean and made it 241 miles west before rattlesnakes and the summer heat required them to stop, approximately two-thirds of the way across. Twenty-one years later, in 1749, a second team led by Peter Jefferson and Joshua Fry picked up the line and extended it further west to just east of Bristol, Tennessee. Peter Jefferson, Joshua Fry, Thomas Walker, and Edmund Pendleton formed the Loyal Land Company and secured an 800,000-acre tract of land along the Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee borders. This tract of land would later become a bit of a headache for Peter Jefferson’s son, Thomas.

In 1763, King George III took back this land grant and placed the area west of the Appalachians under the governance of a new province named Quebec. Quebec was won from the French during the “Seven Years’ War.” This did not sit well with the Colonies, as one might imagine. Along with increased taxation, the Revolutionary War was upon us. This bothered our forefathers so much that Thomas Jefferson saw fit to include the following sentence in the Declaration of Independence: “For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies…

As you can see, surveying of land parcels was a very important job in colonial days and even after the Revolutionary War. Thomas Jefferson would enlist the services of family friend, guardian, and Loyal Land Company owner Thomas Walker to pick up where Peter Jefferson had left off and continue the surveying expedition of what is now the Kentucky/Tennessee border.

The Legacy of Thomas Walker

Thomas Walker was a physician and an explorer. He had explored what is now the Allegheny mountains, named the Cumberland River, and explored present-day Kentucky nineteen years BEFORE Daniel Boone. As head of the Loyal Land Company, Walker had secured a land grant of 800,000 acres in what is now Southeastern Kentucky. He led an expedition to survey this land in 1750. Following the Revolutionary War, even after Thomas Jefferson became President, the boundary between Kentucky and Tennessee was still in dispute. At the age of 64, Thomas Walker was again commissioned to survey the boundary in question and establish what became fittingly known as “The Walker Line.”

Louisa. That is the name that Dr. Thomas Walker gave to the land the Native Americans called Ken-tuck-E. He would name the Cumberland River and the Cumberland Gap, which would later be the porthole into the expansion west of America, known as the “Wilderness Road.” An excerpt from his personal journal shows that along with supplies for his exploration, Dr. Walker, an avid hunter, would also take along a pack of dogs to help feed the party.

“Two of their horses were bitten by snakes, which I successfully treated with bear grease. One horse choked on reeds that grew along the streams, and I drenched its throat with much water. One dog was badly injured in a fight with a bear and was carried on horseback for seven days—until he was able to travel.” – Excerpt from Dr. Walker’s Diary

This love of hounds and hunting would be passed on to his 12 children, grandchildren, and so on. These descendants would settle in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and Missouri, but it is the Kentucky Walkers who are credited with the development of the Walker hound.

Joseph B. Thomas, M.F.H. of Middleburg, Virginia, wrote the first comprehensive book on hound hunting in the United States. Published in 1928, his Hounds and Hunting Through the Ages is a treasure trove of information on the development of the Walker hound. From our own Treeing Walker history, we know that John W. Walker and George Washington Maupin, known as Wash, owned a great pack of foxhounds in what is now Garrard County, Kentucky. Their pack was known for its great speed and ability to run fox to the ground, meaning the pack would put so much pressure on the fox that it would be forced to find a hole, a place of refuge, or die. With the influx of settlers to Kentucky, the imported Red Fox also made its way west. The Red Fox, bigger and faster than the indigenous Gray Fox, soon put the pack to a test that often saw them fail. An excerpt from Hounds and Hunting Through the Ages tells of Walker and Maupin’s endeavors to speed up their pack:

“In the early fifties (1850s), General Maupin and his friends imported many dogs from South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, sparing no expense to improve their stock. In 1857, they imported from England, I think, three dogs, Fox, Rifle, and Marth. About this time, General Maupin got from east Tennessee the dog, Tennessee Lead, which he, Maupin, thought the best he ever owned.”

These men spared no expense to produce a dog that could run a fox to ground. The story of Tennessee Lead is known to ALL Treeing Walker enthusiasts, as it is not only the foundation stone for which our breed was built but also a metaphor for those who enjoy the fruits of Lead’s progeny today. For those unfamiliar with Tennessee Lead’s story, I will briefly discuss his “acquisition.”

Tom Harris was a drover who would drive livestock from Tennessee to Kentucky and back, as well as haul merchandise. On a return trip from Tennessee, Harris heard a pack of hounds chasing a deer. He was in the mountains, just south of the Obey River basin, when he heard one hound well ahead of the rest. Harris, a consummate salesman who knew his clientele well, caught this dog and delivered him to Madison County, Kentucky, where George Washington Maupin bought him, bred to him, and forever marked the evolution of the American running hound. The dog, known as Tennessee Lead, did not look like the foxhounds of the day. He was a small, black-and-tan-colored dog with a rat tail. What he lacked in looks, he made up for in speed, drive, and game sense. His clear, short mouth was easy to hear, but his ability to reproduce was why he was bred to all of Maupin’s and Walker’s top bitches. Turning to Joe Thomas’ book:

“The cross of the English dogs, and especially the Lead cross on their previous importations, produced a dog which has justly become famous and has become known as the Maupin dog. This strain has been preserved and bred with great care by W.S. Walker and Brothers, of Garrard County, Kentucky, and are known today as the Walker dogs.”

A Distinctive Hound

By 1868, the Maupins had a very distinctive hound, which was preserved firstly through the efforts of Jason Walker, as 1868 marked the year Wash Maupin passed. From 1870 on, we are indebted to the Walker brothers. W.S., Arch, and Wade Walker’s records show that by 1900, the dogs were sold to people in Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, and throughout the South. With the turn of the century came a new sport for these hounds: the field trial. It was these field trials, and later, night hunts, that would take these “Walker Hounds” from the foxhound packs of the well-off into the hard-working hands of the common man.

Speed, Speed, Speed. Human competitiveness has long been a driving force, and this spirit runs strong among coonhound enthusiasts. In the early 20th century, field trialing became a popular sport. While the exact origins of the first coonhound field trial are unknown, the 1920s-50s saw many of these events, which were featured in Mountain Music Magazine, Full Cry, Hunter’s Horn, and The Chase. Unlike today’s shorter trials, early field trials could cover distances as long as seven miles.

In March 1942, Full Cry credited George Slatzer of Marion, Ohio, with organizing the first advertised field trial, though similar events had occurred before 1924. Slatzer’s field trial winner was “Bones,” a UKC-registered English Coonhound. Despite being classified as a Bluetick in his day, all foxhound-related breeds were registered under the English Fox & Coonhound category at the time. With this victory and its $50 prize, the sport of field trialing gained popularity, dominating coonhunting for over 30 years.

Following Slatzer, Col. Hank Pfeiffer organized a $1,000 event, Leafy Oaks, in May 1927. Sanctioned by the United Kennel Club (UKC), Leafy Oaks attracted hounds nationwide, primarily from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. The event’s success caught the attention of UKC founder Chauncie Bennett, who began registering hounds, including the Black & Tan, Redbone, and English coonhounds—all under the Fox & Coonhound category. Winners like “The Sheik” and “The Ghost” demonstrated the growing influence of Walker hounds in these competitions, even before they were formally recognized as a distinct breed.

Leafy Oaks inspired the Kenton Nationals and many high-stakes field trials, ushering in a golden age for the coonhound community. Another prominent event, the Tree Top Field Trial, launched in August 1930 in Niagara Falls, New York, with a $300 purse, which doubled by 1934. The Smith brothers, originally from Kentucky, moved to Ohio, bringing their Walker-bred hounds with them. They achieved notable success with hounds like “Red Fox” and “Leapin Spider,” earning around $2,500 from 1931-1933. As the stakes rose, the value of coonhounds soared from $25 to $100 or more, fueling a breeding boom centered on the prized “Walker power.”

On December 21, 1931, Mountain Music Magazine began publication, branding itself as the National Fox, Wolf, and Coonhound Journal. Editor and publisher A.B. Hartman offered a registry through the magazine; hounds could be registered by submitting a pedigree and a small fee. Breeds such as Triggs, Walkers, Redbones, and Black & Tans appeared in the registry, identified by an MM#. Among these was “Big Stride,” a Kentucky Walker owned by Samuel L. Wooldridge. Honored as one of the best hounds of his time, Big Stride’s grave marker bears the inscription: “Opinions Die; Records Live.

Mr. Wooldridge would hunt Big Stride would hunt in several of the Ohio field trials during the 1920s with great success. Daughters of Big Stride would win the 1925 and 1926 National Foxhound Trials. His ability to reproduce was unmatched during his time, but the reason he is important to Treeing Walker enthusiasts is because of a dog called Brays Speed.

In 1927, Brays Speed was purchased by Herman Bray for $75.00 from Glenn Walsh. Mr. Walsh had acquired Speed from some foxhunters he knew after witnessing Speed fall out of a nighttime foxhunt and tree a raccoon. Brays Speed was of Big Stride breeding and was the prototypical Walker dog. He would be bred to Foland’s Queen, another Walker hound, in January of 1932.

Foland’s Queen was sired by a Walker hound by the name of Ring that ran loose in a small southern town in Ohio. Duke Shell, a traveling salesman for a tobacco company, would pick up Ring and ship him to his brother Perry in Perkinsville, Indiana. No one in the town would claim old Ring, so he wasn’t technically stolen, though no one was paid for him either. He was whisked away to Indiana, and the Shell brothers would enjoy many nights hunting raccoon with Ring. He would also be bred to several local females, producing some outstanding coonhounds.

The Speed x Queen cross of 1932 would produce a litter of 12 puppies. Lester Nance of Arcadia, Indiana, would purchase two of the pups. One pup, a female, would be run over and killed. Mr. Bray kept two pups as well, one of which he named King. At eight months of age, Lester Nance would purchase King from Mr. Bray, and the story of White River King would begin.

Two ‘Big-Time’ Promoters

Lester Nance was born in 1912 and always had a fondness for hunting dogs: bird dogs, foxhounds, coonhounds, and rabbit dogs. If it pursued game, Mr. Nance was a fan. He went on his first coonhunt in 1926 with Charlie, Glenn, and Floyd Newby and their Bluetick hound, Queen. Along with Queen were several other hounds, including Charlie Newby’s Lead dog. The hunt must have been a great night, as Lester Nance would continue coonhunting for the next 50 years.

During King’s lifetime, Lester would use him on raccoon as well as fox, but King was known best as a coonhound. Over the next 10-12 years, King would be bred to the best bitches available to lock in the treeing instinct. It was Lester Nance and a small group of men who approached UKC and AKC in the early 1940s to have these Walker hounds registered as their own breed. Neither UKC nor AKC were initially interested, as the hounds weren’t breeding true to type and were already registered under the English Fox and Coonhound breed. Often, the dogs didn’t even have three generations of pure breeding.

With these doors closed, Nance and Raymond Motley used their influence with Full Cry magazine to get them to register Treeing Walkers. The Full Cry registry had been registering Walkers and other foxhound breeds for years and started registering coonhound breeds in late 1940. Bill Harshman served as the head of the Full Cry Kennel Club. Around this time, the Mountain Music registry began hosting coonhound events, spreading across the U.S. from Oklahoma and Texas to Ohio and Pennsylvania.

In 1945, Dr. Fuhrman, Chauncie Bennett’s son-in-law, took over UKC. Seeing the popularity of the hounds, he met with the newly formed Treeing Walker Association and the Bluetick Coonhound Association at Floyd Reeder’s home in Logansport, Indiana. Treeing Walker enthusiasts present included Floyd Reeder, Les King, Lester Nance, Charlie Lord, and Russell Baker. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Fuhrman decided to register these dogs as English Coonhound (Walker treeing). Floyd Reeder drafted the first Treeing Walker Breed Standard. Although this wasn’t exactly what the enthusiasts had envisioned, it was the start of what would become the most dominant coonhound breed.

Raymond Motley had been breeding Treeing Walkers since the 1920s. His strain of coonhounds was derived solely from Walker foxhounds. Motley’s first straight coonhound was a Walker named Mike, purchased in the early 1920s for $35.00. His second coonhound was a female Walker he found caught in a fence while coonhunting. From then on, Motley’s hounds were of the Walker variety. In Lester Nance’s Treeing Walker History and Memories, he is quoted as saying, “Beyond a doubt, the Motley-bred bloodline of Treeing Walkers deserves a lot of credit for the foundation blood of the outstanding Treeing Walkers of the present era.” Motley’s Major can be found in many of today’s Treeing Walkers. Both Raymond Motley and Lester Nance were influential early breeders and the first big-time promoters of the breed.

Nite Hunts & Dog Shows

Ingraham, Illinois, would become ground zero for UKC’s venture into licensed Nite Hunts. In 1954, they sponsored their first event. This event was won by Plotts named Overbeck’s Lucky and Brandenburg’s Big Lucky, with third place going to Lester Nance and his Treeing Walkers. Many local clubs had been holding Wild Coon Hunts before 1954, but with the support of UKC, ACHA, and other respected registries, the Nite Hunts gained popularity. These hunts tested a coonhound’s ability, the handler’s knowledge, and the breeder’s skill in producing quality dogs. The popularity of the sport saw kennel names like Finley River, House, Lone Pine, Yadkin River, and Spring Creek rise in the Treeing Walker kingdom. With this popularity came increased sponsorship, with purses reaching $25,000 and prizes like new trucks valued at $50,000.

Today’s Treeing Walkers are among the top coonhound breeds, with sires producing up to 5,000 pups and influential dams achieving a 60% success rate in hunting titles. Now included in the AKC Hound Group, the Treeing Walker has transitioned from “nite” activities to the broader stage of televised dog shows.

As the lights dim and the crowd leaves Madison Square Garden after another Westminster Kennel Club dog show on a cold February night, somewhere in America, a Treeing Walker is giving Mr. Ringtail one more chase through the woods.

The post Treeing Walker History – One More Chase Through the Woods appeared first on Showsight Magazine.

Read and learn about the various coonhound performance events, such as Nite Hunts, Bench Shows, Field Trials, and Water Races, as well as the dogs that compete in them. Article by Michelle Zimmerman.

In the glow of moonlight, four handlers reach for the collars of the tri-colored coonhounds on their leads. Standing in a line at the edge of a field, dense, dark woods ahead of them, they await the judge’s call to release—“Cut ‘em!” The handlers point their cap lights toward the woods as they unsnap their leads, releasing the hounds into the darkness. After a moment, the first dog lets out a melodious bawl that echoes off the hills. “Strike Sally,” a handler calls… and the race is on!

Coonhound Nite Hunts

The pillar of coonhound performance events, the Nite Hunt showcases the coonhound’s natural trailing and treeing instinct in a truly wild environment. A group of up to four dogs, called a “cast,” is drawn at random from the total entry of dogs. Casts are assigned a judge and a guide, who may or may not also be handlers of dogs on the cast. The judge’s primary responsibility is to maintain the integrity of the hunt, including scoring dogs in accordance to AKC Nite Hunt Regulations and ensuring sportsmanlike conduct of handlers and spectators.

The judge has authority to “scratch” or disqualify dogs from competition for displaying aggression, babbling (barking when no trail is present), or failing to show hunting activity within required timelines. The judge may also scratch handlers for misconduct while on the cast. The guide’s responsibility is to provide safe territory for the cast to hunt; the guide should be very familiar with the property and be able to alert the cast to any terrain concerns, obstacles, or dangerous areas. The ideal hunting territory is close enough to the hunting club to allow the cast ample opportunity to hunt for the allotted time (Nite Hunts may be 60, 90, or 120 minutes in length) and return by deadline.

When the cast arrives at its hunting territory, the guide directs the cast and judge to the location in which the hounds will be released. At the judge’s call, the dogs are free-cast into the designated area. Unlike Pointer or Retriever Hunt Tests, Nite Hunts do not occur in an environment with planted game. The dogs are not confined to a certain area; they are expected to trail and tree wild raccoons in a natural environment. The distance the dogs travel from where they are cast is dependent upon how far they must go to “strike” or locate a track and how far the track goes before the raccoon is “treed.”

Unlike Pointer or Retriever Hunt Tests, Nite Hunts do not occur in an environment with planted game. The dogs are not confined to a certain area; they are expected to trail and tree wild raccoons in a natural environment.

In mountainous, rugged areas of the United States, such as the Southeast, tracks may be a half-mile or more in length, while in flatter, more open terrain, such as the Midwest, tracks may only be a few hundred yards. Points are scored in a Nite Hunt based on the handlers’ call of their dogs—informing the judge throughout the duration of the hunt what the dog is doing, based on the sound of the dog’s voice. The dogs wear GPS collars so that their handlers are aware of their location; however, handlers may not use the GPS receiver to aid in calling their dogs.

A dog is declared “struck” by its handler upon its vocalization that it has located a track, and points are awarded in a descending manner based upon the order dogs are struck in. The dogs will continue to vocalize as they work the track until they locate their quarry. When the raccoon is located, the dog will give a unique bark, called a “locate,” signifying that it has found its quarry, before its voice rolls over into a “tree” bark, which is distinctive compared to its trailing bark. As dogs are declared treed by their handlers, again, points are awarded based upon the order of tree calls.

The judge or a majority of the handlers on the cast must see a raccoon in the tree for both strike and tree points earned to be considered “plus.” If no raccoon is found in the tree, or “off game,” such as an opossum or bear, is seen in the tree, strike and tree points will be “minus.” If there is evidence that a raccoon could be in the tree, such as a hole large enough for the raccoon to take refuge in or a canopy too thick to see through, the dog will be given the benefit of the doubt and points will be “circled” on the scorecard. Circled points will not count toward the final tally, but can be used to break a tie. If hunt time remains, the dogs and handlers move to a different area and the dogs are released to hunt again.

No live game is ever taken during a Nite Hunt; treed raccoons are left to go about their lives after the dogs are led away from the tree. At the end of the hunt time, the dog with the highest tally of points will be declared the winner of the cast. In AKC-licensed Nite Hunts, dogs are not separated by titles earned; dogs that have achieved Nite Hunt titles (Nite Champion, Grand Nite Champion, or Supreme Grand Nite Champion) may be hunted in the same cast with registered (untitled) dogs. Each first-place cast win counts toward title progression.

Coonhound Hunting Styles

AKC recognizes six breeds of coonhounds:

• Treeing Walker Coonhound
• American English Coonhound
• Black and Tan Coonhound
• Bluetick Coonhound
• Redbone Coonhound
• Plott (Hound)

Apart from the Plott, which developed from German big game hounds, the coonhound breeds descend from Foxhounds imported to the New World well before the American Revolution. The distinctive coonhound breeds were developed as hunters selectively bred dogs that produced specific physical characteristics as well as a particular hunting style. The “hot-nosed” breeds excel at trailing fresh scent tracks, while the “cold-nosed” breeds specialize in working aged tracks with fainter scent.

Treeing Walker Coonhound

Known as “The People’s Choice” due to the breed’s popularity among competitive and pleasure hunters alike, the Treeing Walker Coonhound is a quick, hot-nosed, sensible hunter. The Treeing Walker Coonhound is a wide-ranging, endurance hunter, well suited for just about any type of hunting terrain. A typical Treeing Walker’s strike/trailing bark is a melodious bawl—a long, drawn-out bugling voice that is easily heard from a distance—although some lines have a “chop” mouth, which is a shorter, quicker sequence of barks. When treed, the Treeing Walker may chop or bawl; tree voice is often of a markedly different pitch than trailing voice.

American English Coonhound

Best described as a “super-charged hunter,” the American English Coonhound is a hot-trailing hound that is competitive, fast, and perhaps a bit impatient. The American English excels at short-range hunting due to its speed and racy build, but possesses sufficient endurance to go the distance in areas with thin raccoon populations. Voice may differ according to bloodline, but the typical American English Coonhound has a chop bark that varies in pitch when trailing vs. when treed.

Black and Tan Coonhound

The Black and Tan Coonhound is a deliberate trailing, extremely cold-nosed hunter that can track and tree a raccoon even in the worst conditions. The breed’s supreme scenting ability comes from its Bloodhound influence. Confident and courageous, the Black and Tan is known for its musical voice.

Bluetick Coonhound

Bluetick Coonhounds were originally part of the English Coonhound breed. However, there was a division of preference in size and hunting style among breeders; the larger, albeit slower, cold-nosed hounds were selected to become the foundation of the Bluetick breed. The Bluetick is an open trailer with a bawl voice on track that changes over to a steady chop on tree.

Redbone Coonhound

The Redbone Coonhound is a surefooted, aggressive, cold-nosed hunter that excels at hunting difficult terrain. Early Redbone breeders focused on differentiating the breed by its flashy red coat; then turned their focus to consistent hunting ability. The Redbone’s voice is a bawl on both track and tree.

Plott Hound

Plott (Hounds) are cold-nosed, aggressive hunters that excel at hunting raccoons, as well as big game like bear and wild boar. Plotts are nimble dogs, able to traverse all types of terrain with speed and grace. The Plott produces a loud, ringing chop on track and tree, although some lines may have a bawl mouth.

Coonhound Bench Shows, Field Trials & Water Races

In addition to Nite Hunts, coonhounds are eligible to complete and title in AKC-licensed Field Trials, Water Races, and Bench Shows.

Coonhound Field Trials

Coonhound field trials use a scented lure to lay a track, length dependent on the terrain and general conditions of the trial site, and then the lure is hung in a tree located at the end of the track. Field trial classes are separated, Open and Champion, based on the dogs’ title status. In a field trial, groups of dogs are released at the start of the scent track and have 15 minutes to work the track and come treed. The first dog to cross the final set of flags that mark the track is declared the Line winner, and the first dog come treed at the tree containing the scented lure is declared the Tree winner.

Coonhound Water Races

Water Races are similar to a field trial, except that the dogs swim across a body of water after the lure. The water race pond should be approximately 50 yards in length and deep enough to guarantee that the dogs must swim the entire length. A water race event has a Novice (non-titling) class for beginners, as well as an Open class that is open to all coonhounds, regardless of water race title status.

In a water race, dogs are placed in a starting box at the entrance to the pond; a scented lure is suspended on a cable above the water or floated across the pond. The lure is drawn across the pond, and the dogs swim after it. The first dog to exit the water in the direction of the tree will be declared the Line winner, and the first dog to show treed at the tree is declared the Tree winner.

Coonhound Bench Shows

Bench Shows bring the demonstration of form and function together at a coonhound event. In a typical event, after the field and water events, and prior to the Nite Hunt, handlers showcase their dogs’ conformation to the breed standard. Dogs are gaited individually in a pattern, usually a down-and-back followed by a go-around, and then examined by the judge on
individual benches. Evaluation and placement should equally consider movement on the ground and the exam. Dogs earn points toward their Bench Show Championship as they advance through the Class, Breed, and Best of Show levels of judging.

Coonhounds in Conformation

When judging a Coonhound in the Conformation ring, it is important to understand that many of the dogs exhibited today remain close to their working heritage. Some dogs may be hunted during the week and be cleaned-up for the show ring on the weekends. Others may enjoy a full-time show dog’s life of luxury but still exhibit their breed’s natural hunting instinct if given the opportunity.

When judging a Coonhound in the Conformation ring, it is important to understand that many of the dogs exhibited today remain close to their working heritage. Some dogs may be hunted during the week and be cleaned-up for the show ring on the weekends.

The breed standards describe an ideal working dog and should be interpreted as such. Coonhounds must be sound enough to hunt from sundown to sunrise, in terrain varying from rugged mountains to swamps. Some get to hunt most of their nights in the flat Midwest, but must still be able to handle rough terrain, when necessary, especially if they are campaigned in National Level Nite Hunts. It is not uncommon to see top-ranked competition dogs aged seven-plus years old; the emphasis coonhound breeders put on producing a sound, structurally correct dog is exemplified by their longevity in the woods.

Reference:

American Kennel Club. Regulations for AKC Coonhound Bench Shows, Field Trials, Nite Hunts, and Water Races. History and Standards for Coonhound Breeds. www.akccoonhounds.org.

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Interview with Hound Group Breeder Lori Mills – Sidearm Kennel

Where do I live? How many years in dogs? How many years as a breeder?

Lori Mills: I live in Grand Bay, Alabama. I have been in dogs all my life; over 56 years. I’m a third-generation dog person.

What is my kennel name? How many dogs do I currently keep?

Lori Mills: My kennel name is Sidearm Kennel. We keep between 40 and 80 dogs, including puppies.

Which show dogs from the past have been my noteworthy winners?

Lori Mills: Notable winners include GCHG CH CWSG CCH Sidearm The Jungle King Mufasa, aka “Mufasa” (2x Westminster Breed Winner), GCH Sidearm Bare Necessities, aka “Baloo,” GCH Sidearm Kajun Ketchup, aka “Tabasco,” GCHB CH Sidearm Return of The King, aka “Rerun” (2x Westminster Breed Winner), GCHG CH CCH Sidearm Despicable Me, aka “Minion” (3x Westminster Breed Winner), and GCH Sidearm Red Sonador.

Which have been my most influential sires and dams?

Lori Mills: Influential sires and dams include Baloo, Xena, Sonador, Tabasco, and Mufasa.

Can I talk a bit about my facilities? Where are my puppies whelped? How are they raised?

Lori Mills: I have a variety of kennels, welded panels, fencing, and Preifert. Puppies are in whelping rooms outside at the kennel. Pups are handled from their first breath, raised by the dam until weaned. Food is first introduced at three weeks of age.

What is my “process” for selecting show puppies? At what age do I make my decisions?

Lori Mills: I start looking at pups on Day One. We start making selections and evaluations at 2 weeks. Selections are made anywhere from 8 weeks to 6 months. We pick pups from a natural stance and for their personality.

How do I prepare my pups for the show ring? Does my breed require any special preparation?

Lori Mills: We train in stages and socialize as much (and as safely) as possible. We start pups on drags for hunting at 6-8 weeks. We hunt our dogs; coonhunting is allowed year-round. In the warmer months, we have a motorized Walker and swimming alternatives to keep the Hounds in condition. It’s an honest breed, so bathing and trimming nails is all they need.

Can I share my thoughts on how my breed is currently presented in the show ring?

Lori Mills: I see a lot of newcomers to the breed showing them like a Doberman Pinscher and running with them like a German Shepherd Dog or a Sporting breed. That’s not how Coonhounds hunt; they trot at a good pace so that they can gather scent. They’re a hunting dog, not a racehorse.

Are there any health-related concerns within my breed? Any special nutritional needs?

Lori Mills: Our breed, like other Coonhounds, needs to be checked for Coonhound blindness. PRA, hips, and shoulders are all a “base.” We perform a panel of tests, but overall they are a very healthy breed with just regular, preventive maintenance needed. A good quality dog food (NOT grain-free) is essential, as is Vitamin C.

In my opinion, is my breed in good condition overall? Any trends that warrant concern?

Lori Mills: I’m seeing a loss of bone, lighter eyes, and a higher earset. We need to stick to a “houndy” type with substance.

Is my breed well-suited to be a family dog? Who are the best candidates to own my breed?

Lori Mills: They are great family dogs and are very diverse. We have them in apartments, on charter boats, farms, neighborhoods, and in semi trucks. They love the water and other animals, and they have good longevity into their teens, barring accidents and cancer or some unforeseen disease.

Do I feel that my breed is supported by a sufficient number of preservation breeders?

Lori Mills: No, I don’t. Several breeders are trying to reinvent the wheel and are disregarding the Breed Standard; losing type. I’ve seen several with more on the Sighthound silhouette rather than Scenthound. High ears, light eyes, and light-boned Hounds are concerns. You need to start over if you don’t have type.

For a bit of fun, what’s the most amusing thing I’ve ever experienced with a Hound?

Lori Mills: LIFE! You will never have a cable bill again if you own a Hound. It’s always entertaining!

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As you know, the back is divided into four sections; the withers, back, loin, and croup. Behind the withers is the back, then the loin, then the croup, and the vertebrae go back all the way to the end of the tail. In certain coonhounds today, more in some breeds than in others, we’re seeing a short rib cage and a long loin on a regular average-backed dog. The dog might be the right length in the back, but if the rib cage doesn’t go back far enough into the loin, it’s not going to have enough cavity that it needs for the heart, the lungs, and all the organs. A short back, combined with a long loin, makes a coonhound weak and unable to run long distances. In coonhounds especially, strength over the loin and lung space are needed.

Many of the top-winning Treeing Walker Coonhounds are sadly lacking in shoulder angulation and would never make it in the field. What’s really important about the shoulder blades is not just the layback; not just the way the blades are angled. The shoulder blades are angled at 45 degrees, as is the upper arm, forming a perfect 90-degree “L.” A good shoulder is oblique, the way a bone curves back into the curvature of the body. The shoulder bone cannot stick straight up, out of the dog’s back, and be efficient. They’ve got to come back together a little bit, lay back, and curve back into the body.

Another important point regarding the shoulder assembly is the point of the elbow. The point of elbow is directly under the withers, right under the top of the shoulder blade, in a perfectly straight line. You could run a plumb line and drop it right where the shoulder blades meet and it will come straight down through the elbow to the floor, right behind the foot. I’ll guarantee that you won’t see many dogs made like this. What you’ll see is a shorter upper arm, or an upper arm pitched at an angle that forces the elbow in front of the shoulder. That combination leads to bad action on the front.

So, look at the front assembly very carefully. Visualize a big circle, with a straight line dropping through it, cutting it in half, meeting the elbow, meeting the ground. It will be the focal point on a well-made dog. There’s a good reason for this. The heart, lungs, and all of the organs that make them run are right there. They better have that depth, that balance. Look at how this dog’s chest (far left) comes down and meets his elbow. There must be enough depth of brisket for lung capacity. There are many dogs whose elbows are too far below their brisket line.

The same is true about the hindquarters. The dog in this photo (below right) shows the relationship between the length of the two bones and the angle formed by them. We can’t see through to the bone, but look at the width of the thigh. I’ve never seen a coonhound that had too much width of second thigh.

In coonhound structure, we’re also losing some angle from the stifle joint to the point of the hock. We’re getting too many dogs that look unbalanced, especially if they’re straight in the shoulder and straight in the hindquarter assembly. Look for second thigh, width of thigh. You have to observe this with your eyes and your hands to make sure they are correct. And remember that the tail is an extension of the spine. A tail that goes straight up may affect the pitch of the pelvis. Up front, you can really see and feel the shoulder blades. Again, balance is the key. If you see this in action, you’ll know what I’m talking about. You’ll say, “Now I get it. That is side gait.” That’s something we don’t look for enough when we judge. A dog can look pretty standing there with a handler posing them, but when you gait them on the ground there is nothing that can be done to make them look good. You can’t do it with the lead. What you see is what you get. And don’t let markings fool you—easy to do with a Treeing Walker’s markings especially. As a result, his shoulders might look different, but when you get your hands on him you will see where his shoulder blades are. Don’t be afraid to get your hands on those blades, to feel them. If you run your hands down the blades, and down the upper arms to the elbows, you can visualize what the angles are.

The feet and pasterns are very closely tied together and they should be in balance with each other. You’ll hardly ever see great pasterns with bad feet, or the other way around. It’s usually a package. We get to the point in coonhound shows that we’re looking for such tight feet that we might be getting a little carried away sometimes. A great cat foot with a straight pastern is pretty to look at, but it doesn’t offer any shock absorbers to the force coming down through the shoulders. You’ve got to have a little spring, a little flexibility, to the slightly sloping pastern.

Dog 1. Correct Hind Angulation: Note the 30-degree slope of the pelvis. This provides the most power. Just as important is the perfect 130-degree angle of the back joint, providing the leverage to push the dog forward.

Dog 2. Incorrect Hind Angulation. The pelvic slope of 10 degrees promotes the overly-straight stifle joint shown here. The back joint is also overly-straight at 148 degrees.

Coonhounds are a scenthound and the tail carriage will be up. You want to see a dog that can extend its front, that can push behind, show balance, propulsion and locomotion movement with ease, and cover ground.

Withers-back-loin-croup is all you need to remember. Four basic parts that better work together. If the withers are too steep, the shoulders aren’t laidback enough; there’s going to be a basic, functional problem. If the back’s too long or too short, there’s going to be a basic, functional problem. If the ribs don’t go back into the loin far enough, or deep enough, there’s going to be a basic, functional problem. Other problems to be aware of include a weak loin and a roach back. The croup’s got to have some pitch and some length. If a croup is too short and steep, it will affect the tail set.

I hope that this will help in the judging of our coonhounds and determining the right Coonhound Structure. They are a movement dog with good reach and drive. Coonhounds give meaning to Form=Function.

What is the correct Coonhound Structure? by Nancy Winton, Dry River Kennels

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The Fifteenth State

Kentucky became the 15th state in 1792 after spending a great deal of time as part of a large land grant called Virginia. In 1609, when King James I established Virginia, this area covered from what is now known as North Carolina in the south to Maine in the North, with the western boundary basically to infinity or the Pacific Ocean. The land was given to the Virginia Company as a private entity and would be managed as a company. This sizable grant would be amended in 1612 and revoked in 1624. Following in King James’ footsteps, his son, King Charles I, would continue to restrict colonial borders as well, but it was not until 1665, under King Charles II, that the North Carolina/Virginia border would be set at 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. This line of demarcation would carry west to the Kentucky/Tennessee border in the mid-1700s as well. Using a straight line as a land boundary wasn’t a completely new endeavor. However, it was not an exact science in colonial times and geographical boundaries were far more typical. This 36-30 boundary would cause numerous disputes during this time. Finally, men from each state would form a team to survey the boundary once and for all.

In 1728, a team led by William Byrd started at the Atlantic Ocean and made it 241 miles west before rattlesnakes and the summer heat required them to stop. This was approximately two-thirds the way across. Twenty-one years later, in 1749, a second team led by Peter Jefferson and Joshua Fry would pick up and take the line further west to just east of Bristol, Tennessee. Peter Jefferson, Joshua Fry, Thomas Walker, and Edmund Pendleton formed the Loyal Land Company and secured an 800,000 acre tract of land along the Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee borders. This tract of land would later become a bit of a headache to Peter Jefferson’s son, Thomas.

In 1763, King George III would take back this land grant and place the area west of the Appalachians under the governance of a new province named Quebec. Quebec was won from the French during the “Seven Years’ War.” This did not sit well with the Colonies, as one might imagine. Along with the increased taxation, the Revolutionary War was upon us. This bothered our forefathers so much, in fact, that Thomas Jefferson saw fit to include the following sentence in the Declaration of Independence:

“For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies…”

As you can see, surveying of land parcels was a very important job in colonial days and even after the Revolutionary War, in fact. Thomas Jefferson would enlist the services of family friend, guardian, and Loyal Land Company owner Thomas Walker to pick up where Peter Jefferson had left off and continue the surveying expedition of what is now the Kentucky/Tennessee border.

THE LEGACY OF THOMAS WALKER

Thomas Walker was a physician and an explorer. He had explored what is now the Allegheny mountains, named the Cumberland River, and explored present day Kentucky nineteen years BEFORE Daniel Boone. As head of the Loyal Land Company, Walker had secured a land grant of 800,000 acres in what is now Southeastern Kentucky. He led an expedition to survey this land in 1750. Following the Revolutionary War, in fact, even after Thomas Jefferson became President, the boundary between Kentucky and Tennessee was still in dispute. At the age of 64, Thomas Walker was again commissioned to survey the boundary in question and establish what became fittingly known as “The
Walker Line.”

Louisa. That is the name that Dr. Thomas Walker gave to the land the Native Americans called Ken-tuck-E. He would name the Cumberland River and the Cumberland Gap, which would later be the porthole into the expansion west of America, known as the “Wilderness Road.” An excerpt from his personal journal would show that along with the supplies for his exploration, Dr. Walker, an avid hunter, would also take along a pack of dogs to help feed the party.

“Two of their horses were bitten by snakes, which I successfully treated with bear grease. One horse choked on reeds that grew along the streams, and I drenched its throat with much water. One dog was badly injured in a fight with a bear, and was carried on horseback for seven days—until he was able to travel.” – Excerpt from
Dr. Walker’s Diary

This love of hounds and hunting would be passed on to his 12 children, grandchildren, and so on. These descendents would settle in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and Missouri, but it is the Kentucky Walkers who are given credit for the development of the Walker hound.

Joseph B. Thomas, M.F.H. of Middleburg, Virginia, wrote the first comprehensive book on hound hunting in the United States. Published in 1928, his Hounds and Hunting Through the Ages is a treasure trove of information on the development of the Walker hound. We know from our own Treeing Walker history that John W. Walker and George Washington Maupin, known as Wash, owned a great pack of foxhounds in what is now Garrard County, Kentucky. Their pack was known for its great speed and ability to run fox to the ground. Running to ground meant that the pack would put so much pressure on the fox that it would be forced to find a hole, a place of refuge, or die. We also know that along with the influx of settlers to Kentucky, the imported Red Fox would make its way west as well. The Red Fox, which is bigger and faster than the indigenous Gray Fox, would soon put the pack to a test that would see them fail more often than not. An excerpt from Hounds and Hunting Through the Ages would tell of Walker/Maupin’s endeavors to speed up their pack:

“In the early fifties (1850s), General Maupin and his friends imported many dogs from South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, sparing no expense to improve their stock. In 1857, they imported from England, I think, three dogs, Fox, Rifle, and Marth. About this time, General Maupin got from east Tennessee the dog, Tennessee Lead, which he, Maupin, thought the best he ever owned.”

These men went to the ends of the Earth to produce a dog that could run a fox to ground, and as you can tell, money was no object. The story of Tennessee Lead is known to ALL Treeing Walker enthusiasts as it is not only the foundation stone for which our breed was built, but also a metaphor for the people who today enjoy the fruits of Lead’s progeny. For those who don’t know the story of Tennessee Lead, I will briefly discuss his “acquisition.”

Tom Harris was a drover. He would drive livestock from Tennessee to Kentucky and back, as well as haul merchandise. On a return trip from Tennessee, Tom heard a pack of hounds chasing a deer. He was in the mountains, just south of the Obey River basin, when one hound could be heard well ahead of the rest. Harris, a consummate salesman who knew his clientele well, would catch this dog and deliver him to Madison County, Kentucky, where George Washington Maupin bought him, bred to him, and forever marked the evolution of the American running hound. The dog, known as
Tennessee Lead, did not look like the foxhounds of the day. He was a small, black and tan-colored dog with a rat tail. What he lacked in looks he made up for with speed, drive, and game sense. His clear, short mouth was easy to hear, but his ability to reproduce was why he was bred to all of Maupin’s and Walker’s top bitches. Turning to Joe Thomas’ book:

“The cross of the English dogs, and especially the Lead cross on their previous importations, produced a dog which has justly become famous and has become known as the Maupin dog. This strain has been preserved and bred with great care by WS Walker and Brothers, of Garrard County, Kentucky, and are known today as the Walker dogs.”

A Distinctive Hound

By 1868, the Maupins had a very distinctive hound. This type would be preserved firstly through the efforts of Jason Walker, as 1868 was the year that Wash Maupin would die. From 1870 on, we are completely indebted to the Walker brothers. WS, Arch, and Wade Walker’s records would show that the dogs were sold to people in Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, and throughout the South by 1900. With the turning of the century came a new sport to play with hounds; the field trial. It was these field trials, and later, nite hunts, that would take these “Walker Hounds” from the Foxhound packs of the well-off into the hard-working hands of the common man.

Speed, Speed, Speed. By and large, humans are competitive. And that competitive spirit is strong within the ranks of coonhound enthusiasts. At the beginning of the 20th century, this competitive spirit would see the sport of field trialing thrive. While no one knows where and when the first coonhound field trial was held, there were a great many held in the 1920s-‘50s, covered by Mountain Music Magazine, Full Cry magazine, Hunter’s Horn magazine, and The Chase magazine—so we have a good idea of how popular these events became. Today’s field trials are hundreds of yards in distance, but the early field trials could span as many as seven MILES in distance. In a March 1942 Full Cry article, Harry Andrews gives credit for the first field trial to George Slatzer of Marion, Ohio. This event may very well be the first advertised field trial, but earlier writings show that many clubs held “challenges” well before the summer of 1924. Regardless of who gets the credit, the field trials would soon bring coonhunting to the forefront of America’s dog-related pastimes. The winner of “Dad” Slatzer’s field trial was “Bones,” a UKC-registered English Coonhound owned by Col. Leon Robinson. Bones was considered a Bluetick in his day, but all foxhound-related breeds were registered under the English Fox & Coonhound banner during this time. A quick look at Bones, and any present-day English Coonhound breeder would be proud to own him. With his victory, the $50.00 purse, and the subsequent coverage of his feat, the sport of field trialing would take hold and dominate the sport of coonhunting for over 30 years. Following in Slatzer’s footsteps, Col. Hank Pfeiffer would organize a $1,000.00 event to be held in May of 1927, called Leafy Oaks. Leafy Oaks would also be sanctioned by the United Kennel Club and would draw hundreds of dogs from around the country, with the majority being from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. With the success of these events, Chauncie Bennett would see dollar signs, and UKC would flourish as it began registering these hounds. At the time, UKC registered only three breeds of coonhound; the Black & Tan, the Redbone, and the English. ALL were registered as Fox & Coonhounds at the time. One of the first Leafy Oak winners was “The Sheik,” the product of a Redbone bitch bred to a Walker dog. The Sheik was registered with UKC as a Redbone. Another big Leafy Oak winner was “The Ghost” whose dam was a B&T and whose sire was a Walker. The Ghost was registered as an English Coonhound. I mention this just to show you how much impact the Walker hound was having on UKC even 20 years before they would become fully recognized. Leafy Oaks would spawn the Kenton Nationals and numerous other large pursed field trials, and the coonhound fraternity would feel the boom of prosperity.

Another great field trial event, the Tree Top Field Trial, was held the second Sunday in August in Niagara Falls, New York. The first Tree Top event was held in August of 1930 with a guaranteed purse of $300, which in 1930 was quite a sum of money. It would grow to become a coonhound carnival with a $600 purse in 1934, its fourth and final year. Regulars at this event would include the Smith brothers who were originally from Kentucky but would move to Ohio and bring their Walker-bred hounds along with them. These brothers would win one of the first Leafy Oaks with a hound called “Red Fox” (as well as win First Line at the 1933 Tree Top with Red Fox), and his kennel mate, “Leapin Spider,” would win First Tree money at the same event. From 1931-1933, the Smith brothers and these two Walker-bred hounds would win the small fortune of $2,500.00. With that kind of money at stake, coonhounds would grow in value from $25.00-$35.00 to well over a $100.00—and sometimes even $300.00. Thus, the business of breeding champions to champions began, and anything with a magical shot of “Walker power” was in high demand.

Mountain Music Magazine started on December 21, 1931 and touted itself as the National Fox, Wolf, and Coonhound Journal. A.B. Hartman was the editor and publisher as well as the owner of the Mountain Music registry. To register your hound, you needed only to send in the dog’s pedigree with a brief description of the dog and $.50. This was later raised to $1.00. Triggs, Walkers, Redbones, B&Ts, etc., were all registered with the Mountain Music registry and were often advertised in the magazine complete with the MM#. One such Walker was “Big Stride.” Owned by Kentucky breeder Samuel L. Wooldridge, Big Stride was considered to be the best hound of his day. On Big Stride’s grave marker, the following was inscribed: “Opinions Die; Records Live.” Mr. Wooldridge would hunt Big Stride in several of the Ohio field trials during the 1920s with great success. Daughters of Big Stride would win the 1925 and 1926 National Foxhound Trials. His ability to reproduce was unmatched during his time, but the reason he is important to Treeing Walker enthusiasts is because of a dog called “Brays Speed.” In 1927, Brays Speed was purchased by Herman Bray for $75.00 from Glenn Walsh. Mr. Walsh had acquired Speed from some foxhunters he knew after witnessing Speed fall out of a nighttime foxhunt and tree a raccoon. Brays Speed was of Big Stride breeding and was the prototypical Walker dog. He would be bred to “Foland’s Queen,” another Walker hound, in January of 1932. Foland’s Queen was sired by a Walker hound by the name of “Ring” that ran loose in a small southern town in Ohio. Duke Shell, a traveling salesman for a tobacco company, would pick Ring up and ship him to his brother Perry in Perkinsville, Indiana. No one in the town would claim old Ring, so I guess you really couldn’t call him stolen. (However, no one was ever paid for him either.) He was whisked away to Indiana, and the Shell brothers would enjoy many nights hunting raccoon with Ring. He would also be bred to several local females, producing some outstanding coonhounds. The Speed x Queen cross of 1932 would produce a litter of 12 puppies. Lester Nance of Arcadia, Indiana, would purchase two of the pups. One pup, a female, would be run over and killed. Mr. Bray kept two pups as well, one of which he named “King.” At eight months of age, Lester Nance would purchase King from Mr. Bray… and the story of White River King would begin.

TWO ‘BIG-TIME’ PROMOTERS

Lester Nance was born in 1912 and always had a fondness for hunting dogs; bird dogs, foxhounds, coonhounds, and rabbit dogs. If it pursued game, Mr. Nance was a fan. Lester Nance went on his first coonhunt in 1926 with Charlie, Glenn, and Floyd Newby and their Bluetick hound, “Queen.” Along with Queen were several other hounds, including Charlie Newby’s Lead dog. (Must have been a great night, as Lester Nance would continue to coonhunt for the next 50 years.) During King’s lifetime, Lester would use him on raccoon as well as fox, but King was known best as a coonhound. Over the next 10-12 years, King would be bred to the best bitches available in an effort to lock in this “treeing” instinct. It was Lester Nance, and a small group of men, who would go to UKC and AKC in the early 1940s in an effort to have these Walker hounds registered as their own breed. Neither UKC nor AKC were interested at first, as these hounds really weren’t breeding all that true to type and because the Walker type dogs were already being registered under the blanket English Fox and Coonhound breed. In many instances, the dogs didn’t even have three generations of pure breeding. With those doors being closed, Mr. Nance and Raymond Motley would use their influence with Full Cry magazine to get them to register Treeing Walkers for the first time. The Full Cry registry had been registering Walkers and other foxhound breeds for a number of years and had started to register coonhound breeds in late 1940. Bill Harshman would serve as the head of the Full Cry Kennel Club. Around this time, the Mountain Music registry would begin hosting coonhound events as well. These would become a series of events called the Mountain Music Hunts, and were spread across the US from Oklahoma/Texas to Ohio/Pennsylvania.

In 1945, Dr. Fuhrman, Chauncie Bennett’s son-in-law, would take over UKC. Dr. Fuhrman could see the advantage of adding what was becoming a very popular type of hound to his registry, and he set a meeting with the newly formed Treeing Walker Association and the Bluetick Coonhound Association. The meeting was held at the home of Floyd Reeder in Logansport, Indiana. Treeing Walker enthusiasts in attendance were Floyd Reeder, Les King, Lester Nance, Charlie Lord, and Russell Baker. At the conclusion of this meeting, and at the next subsequent meeting, Dr. Fuhrman decided that he would register these dogs as English Coonhound (Walker treeing). Floyd Reeder was the man responsible for the first Treeing Walker breed standard. This wasn’t exactly what these men had envisioned (and the first Treeing Walker Days wouldn’t be held until September of 1951), but it was the start of what would become the most dominate coonhound breed ever.

Raymond Motley had been breeding Treeing Walker Coonhounds since the 1920s. His strain of coonhounds was derived from Walker foxhounds solely. Mr. Motley’s first “straight” coonhound was a Walker named “Mike.” He purchased Mike in the early 1920s for $35.00. His second coonhound would be a female Walker that he found while coonhunting one night, and she was caught in a fence. From this point on, all of Motley’s hounds would be of the Walker variety. In Lester Nance’s Treeing Walker History and Memories, Lester is quoted as saying:

“Beyond a doubt, the Motley-bred bloodline of Treeing Walkers deserves a lot of credit for the foundation blood of the outstanding Treeing Walkers of the present era.”

Motley’s “Major” can be found in many of today’s Treeing Walkers. Both Raymond Motley and Lester Nance were two of the most influential Treeing Walker breeders in the early years and were the first “big-time” promoters of the breed.

These Nite Hunts were true tests of a coonhound’s ability, the handler’s knowledge of the sport, and the breeder’s ability to make successful matings.

NITE HUNTS & DOG SHOWS

Ingraham, Illinois, would become ground zero for UKC’s venture into licensed Nite Hunts. It was here, in 1954, that they would sponsor their first event. This event would be won by Plotts by the names of Overbeck’s Lucky and Branderburg’s Big Lucky, while third place would go to Lester Nance with the new Treeing Walkers. As I stated earlier, many local clubs were holding “Wild Coon Hunts” prior to 1954, but with the backing of UKC, ACHA, and other respected registries, the Nite Hunts would soon take off in popularity. These Nite Hunts were true tests of a coonhound’s ability, the handler’s knowledge of the sport, and the breeder’s ability to make successful matings. The popularity of the sport would see the kennel names of Finley River, House, Lone Pine, Yadkin River, and Spring Creek rise to the top of the Treeing Walker kingdom. And with the rise in popularity, so too came a rise in sponsorship. Today’s Treeing Walkers can hunt for purses in the $25,000.00 range as well as for new trucks in the $50,000.00 range. The great sires of the Treeing Walker breed have sired from 1,800 pups to 5,000 pups, and the influential dams have whelped litters with a 60 percent success rates in achieving hunting titles. Now, with the Treeing Walker’s inclusion into the AKC Hound Group, the Treeing Walker will come in from its “nite” time activities and be shared with the millions of Americans who tune in to watch dog shows on TV.

And as the lights dim and the crowd shuffles out of Madison Square Garden, following the conclusion of another Westminster Kennel Club dog show on a cold February night, somewhere in America a Treeing Walker is being cut loose to give Mr. Ringtail one more chase through the woods.

The post Treeing Walker Coonhound | One More Chase Through the Woods appeared first on Showsight Magazine.