track, trails for while longer and suddenly locates and trees straight away in the woods where you cast. A quick look at your watch shows that a total of 30 seconds has elapsed and a glance at your Garmin tracker will show that the dog is 800 yds away. Th at is the type of animal you are judging. Th is is a dog that was released, found a track and trailed that track to completion a ½ mile away in about 30 seconds. Th at is the athlete I am trying to describe. As the handlers stack the Treeing Walker you should see a dog with its head level, ears relaxed and slender moderate neck falling to well laid back shoulders. Front legs should be balanced substantially with the overall size of the dog and should drop straight down from the shoulder, landing on thick, well-padded, well-arched cat-feet. A palm full of forechest is not as heavily boned as the English Foxhound nor is it as racy as the American Foxhound. From the withers the strong topline should gradually drop to the hips. Th e tail is set just below the hips. High or low tail set is undesirable. Th e Treeing Walker does not have a swayed or roached back. It is a moderate breed with no one part defining it. Th e rear end of the Treeing Walker should have moderate angulation, good turn of stifle, straight, short hocks and again cat-feet. Th e rump should be muscular as it is what propels this dog through the woods at night. When I see the Treeing Walk- er stacked, it reminds me of a dragster waiting on the tree to turn green. Like a great sports car, the Treeing Walker should look fast while standing still.
“THE FINER POINTS OF THE TREEING WALKER HEAD PIECE ARE WHAT SET IT APART FROM ITS FOXHOUND FOREFATHERS. When compared to the American Foxhound, the Treeing Walker head should have a houndier, heavier appearance. More depth of muzzle, slightly more flew and a heavier brow bone.”
Th e finer points of the Treeing Walker head piece are what set it apart from its foxhound forefathers. When compared to the Ameri- can Foxhound, the Treeing Walker head should have a houndier, heavier appearance. More depth of muzzle, slightly more flew and a heavier brow bone. It has a soft, almost “beaglish” expression that mask the competitive nature of this breed. It should never have a hard look for expression. Dark brown eyes and soft textured ears that roll to the front complete this beautiful face. All pigmentation on the Treeing Walker is black. No excessive dewlap, this is not a sloppy looking hound and the underline should start with a deep chest and gradually rise to the loin. Th e Treeing Walker lacks the regal look of the Black & Tan or the Bluetick and instead has a working man look to it. Th e standard calls for tri-colored to be preferred over the two colored variety. Th is harkens back to the days when Walkers were
288 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , F EBRUARY 2014
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