It is way more difficult to keep up a blog than I had ever imagined. One would think it not that difficult but I must admit I have had a hard go of it. Maybe it is just something I have to get in the habit of.
I find it easier to write this morning as I have something great to write about. FC Tate's Lady Bear!
Lady Bear was bread by JW Orvin of Baxley Ga. JW and his Grandson Tate Carter are co owners of Lady Bear. The first time I saw Lady run a rabbit I knew she was a special hound. I tried for an entire summer to buy Lady Bear. I don't have access to a lot of money and I offered Mr. JW $1500 for this super little Lady. Mr. JW was appreciative of the offer but told me he and Tate would just keep her. I later learned that JW had turned down nearly three time the amount I had offered. Well, I was persistent and finally Mr. J.W., knowing my only real concern was that Lady Bear be exposed to the beagling public so that everyone could see what this bloodline can produce, made me a wonderful offer. He said he would hand Lady Bear over to me for rabbit hunting and Field Trialing. I was to compete with Lady, raise a litter of pups and then return her to him. Needless to say, this was the perfect solution! I picked up Lady bear in August of 2005. She was a bit too heavy and out of shape as the rattle snakes around Baxley makes for treacherous running in the warm months. I brought Lady home and started working her at once. The trial season was coming on quickly and there was not much time. I slowly started taking the weight off Lady Bear by feeding her a steady diet of rabbit tracks and Purina Pro Plan Performance dog food. Lady was ran in the hear of the day. I constantly pushed her to see just how good this girl was. Finally Thanksgiving came around and rabbit hunting season began. Lady was quick to make her self one of the dominant hound in the rabbit hunting pack. She took quickly to producing rabbits from the South Carolina Pine thickets. By the time December rolled around Lady Bear was ready to win. She was taken to Rocky River Beagle club in NC where she came home with her first win. A few more weeks of rabbit hunting and then we were off to Robeson County Beagle club. Once again Lady was able to win the trial. January and February was filled with 2nd and 3rds for Lady Bear. She was super consistent but for one reason or another just kept coming up a little short. I ended the 05-06 trial season with only two of the three wins needed to male Lady Bear a Field Champion. Summer came and summer left. October was here and the 06-07 season was upon us. I took Lady Bear to Mountain Valley Beagle club where she got her final win and was was named AKC field Champion. Lady Bear has is indeed one of the great ones!