“…the Treeing Walker is a well balanced, athletic dog that is POWERFUL AND GRACEFUL AT THE SAME TIME.”
registered as English Fox and Coonhounds in the early 1900s. As the breed split, the color would separate these breeds. Th e American English Coonhound is primar- ily a two color breed the rare tri-color. Th e Treeing Walker is primarily a three colored breed with the rare two colored dogs. Black, White & Tan or White, Black & Tan are the preferred patterns with the predominate amounts of each in order. Th e two colored variety will have white and black. I look for a deep rich red, lustrous black and clean, tick free vibrant white. Ticking is also a hallmark of the American English breed and is undesirable in the Treeing Walker. I send the dogs around the ring and again I am looking for the athletic dog that is light on his feet showing good reach and drive, but not excessive lift in the front nor
kick in the rear. No wasted e ff ort as this is an e ffi cient moving breed. Sickle hocks are a fault and a weakness. Th e outline of dog never changes during this movement. It maintains its topline, head carriage and tail carriage. Th e tail is carried up like a saber. Th ere is a hint of power to the move- ment but not of exertion. Footfalls are well placed and the parts are all in balance with each other. Th e dog comes to a halt and the handler stacks him for inspection. As I approach a Treeing Walker I expect to see no shyness or timidity. I understand that the breed is shown on benches in many venues and I realize that a judging stand- ing over them may be new but I expect them to cope with this with minimal fuss. Th is is a tail-wagging friendly breed and should not be fearful of people. I go over the dog and it is a strong animal with no
weaknesses. I send it on its down and back. As it leaves me, it is not cow hocked or sickle hocked at all as these are both faults. From an engineering standpoint, the hocks are where the most torque is applied and any weakness there will be the first to break. Its rear legs do converge somewhat although it may or may not single track. On the return I want to see the front legs do the same and again, they may or may not single track. Th ey do fall in line and are not flipping to the side. Again the tail is carried up. I send the hound around again and greet the handler with a ribbon at the table. Another Treeing Walker breed winner. In summary, the Treeing Walker is a well balanced, athletic dog that is power- ful and graceful at the same time. It has a look of great speed and power without the raciness of the Greyhound or the sub- stance of the Bloodhound. It has the soft expression of the Beagle and loves to please its owner. It is a competitive breed and the dogs should have that competitive look to them while showing. It has e ff ortless movement that has the look of power, but not of exertion. Th e overall breed type is between that of the American Foxhound and the English Foxhound. Th ink of it as a bigger, houndier Harrier. I have attended many breed seminars over the years and I have found that the majority of spokes- people promote picking breed type over conformation. I have heard Harry Miller on occasion saying the following: Make your picks on breed type and then reward on conformation. I tend to agree with that thought process and I explain it in this way: I can bring a Dalmation into the ring and it can have a perfect front, a perfect rear and it moves around the in perfection. It is still not a Treeing Walker though. I also realize that part of a performance breeds type has to be correct structure so I truly feel a balance in my selection process has to be achieved if I am to select the cor- rect Treeing Walker time and again. Good luck in your future judging assignments.
S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , F EBRUARY 2014 • 289
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