they have reached their game. To bay is to hold their game in an area and keep it there till hunters arrive and to tree is to keep the coon up the tree by barking at it till hunt- ers come. Plotts are very pleasing dogs and with plenty of exercise and their attention directed can make wonderful pets. Always keeping in mind these dogs are prey driv- en so not all can cuddle on a couch with the cat. Some hunters choose to use freeze branding as a method of identification so some Plotts encountered could have white hair with initials or numbers that the ken- nel owner uses to identify his pack. Some of these dogs are worth a lot of money and to keep track of each other’s dogs at night its easier at times to see the white markings than a darker dog. No coonhound should
be penalized for scars, ripped ears as this is very much a working breed and should remain that way. BIO Amanda Alexander has been involved in coonhounds for 15 years with her fam- ily. Her father hunted and trapped for fur back in the 70s and 80s when fur was worth much more than what it is now. He had his favorite dogs that, night after night, proved to be outstanding dogs. When those dogs eventually passed away, he was left with a feeling he would never find dogs of their caliber and gave up the sport and since the fur price declined he didn’t have a desire to hunt. Eventually her father couldn’t go on without having
coonhounds around so Amanda took over the love of the breed and continue to hunt, show and raise all six breeds of coonhounds with him. Together, they have been in Plotts for 12 years now. Amanda is the current pres- ident of the Plott Association of America which is the parent club of AKC. She has been involved in all aspects of the breed, including owning a “Big Game Dog of Th e Year” in UKC and she owned the top win- ning Plott in AKC, BIS GCH CCH CNC CH Black Monday. Amanda currently shows his son--the top winning breeder/ owner/handled Plott in AKC. She has won the breed at Westminster six years in a row. Amanda plans to continue to promote the dual purpose show and hunting Plott.
S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , F EBRUARY 2014 • 283
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