JUDGING THE AMERICAN ENGLISH COONHOUND by PENNY JESSUP
H aving been a fancier of these ticked up Hounds for a number of years, I became passionate about the breed after I heard my first Eng- lish Coonhound track and tree a rac- coon during training season in fall of 1990. Our party went on quite a bit of a walking hike after the Hounds trailed out of hearing across the hills and hol- lows of eastern Kentucky. To witness Hounds doing what they were bred to do and doing it out of instinct was so thrilling! There is nothing sweeter than hearing a Hound on chase giving voice and then hear that voice change over to a tree bark announcing, “I’ve got the quarry treed—come to me.” And as this was just training season, we found the coon with our lights, then rewarded the Hounds with pats and praise and “Okay..leave it—let’s go.” Wow…it was an experience I enjoyed and, from that time forward, I found myself hooked on these ticked up Hounds!
That was in 1990 and by 1992, I was dabbling with raising, showing and hunting with them. Hello, my name is Penny Jessup and today I have a small hobby kennel in the rolling hills of north central North Carolina along with my husband and two children. My hus- band participates in competition coon hunts and I like to show. We are very active with our Hounds, both in the woods and in the shows and we strive to raise quality Hounds that can be dual purpose show and hunt as well as loyal companions. While I am not presently an AKC licensed conformation judge, I am however an AKC and UKC licensed Coonhound bench show judge and have been for least 15 years. I have par- ticipated in the Coonhound program for over 20 years and during that time, I have had an English female win the 2012 AKC World Championship Bench Show and, additionally, a second Eng- lish Coonhound female win the 2013 UKC World Championship Bench Show. My endeavors with this breed have
brought me heartache and also incred- ible joy and while I have a deep appreci- ation for all the Coonhound breeds, the English Hounds do hold a special place in my heart. One thing lots of folks ask is, “Why is this breed called the American English Coonhound?” That’s a fair question. For all the years until AKC formally recog- nized this breed, it was only known as the English Coonhound so my interest was piqued as well. As it was explained to me, it was to avoid any confusion with anyone thinking this was a Coon- hound breed developed in England and brought there. This is a purely Ameri- can breed, developed primarily in the southeastern United States to run and tree game. So while the name Ameri- can English Coonhound seems a misno- mer in name, it actually recognizes the breed accurately and I can accept that and appreciate that. I feel there would not be much I can tell any current AKC conformation judge reading this article about move- ment and how these hounds should place their feet for efficient and effort- less movement. My goal therefore is to discuss finer points of the breed in hopes you will better understand the
S how S ight M agazine , S eptember 2017 • 331
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