How to Photograph Foxhounds

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Hounds

By Norman Fine

The conformation of Toronto and North York's Blue Ridge Wentworth 2015, Grand Champion Foxhound at the 2017 Canadian Foxhound Show, is clearly seen in this well-posed photograph. / Denya Massey photo

Foxhounds to be entered in a virtual hound show should be photographed so their conformation is clearly visible to the judges in the photos. Anything less will reduce or negate the judge's ability to accurately assess the qualities of your hound. Masters and huntsmen entering hounds in a virtual hound show might want to remind their photographers of the responsibility of their mission. A classical portrait of the hound is Job-1.

While the photographer will be photographing the hound from five angles for virtual judging, the side views profiles convey the most information about structure and conformation and are discussed in detail here. That discussion will be somewhat applicable to the other three views as appropriate. What follows are six-steps to achieve the profile images the judges will need to see.

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A Fabled American Foxhound and His Legacy

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Hounds

By Norman Fine

Potomac Jefferson 2005, the toast of North American Foxhounds, winning the Grand Championship at the 2007 Bryn Mawr Hound Show one week after capturing the same honor at Virginia. (L-R): George Hundt; Vicki Crawford, MFH, Potomac Hunt; Larry Pitts, huntsman, Potomac; Lance Taylor; Jake Carle, ex-MFH, Keswick, judge. /  Karen Kandra Wenzel photo

At breakfast this Thursday morning, Joan reminded me that Memorial Day was just a few days away. Boy, it sure didn’t feel like it.

Normally, we’d have been recently back from our hunt’s kennels having watched the practice hound show, afterwards assessing our hounds’ prospects for ribbons and trophies at the Virginia Foxhound Show. Which should have been on the calendar for this weekend. We would have been looking forward to seeing old hunting friends from across North America, and I would have been assuring Joan that I had remembered to send in our reservations for the reception at the Museum of Hounds and Hunting and the dinner under the tent at Morven Park (whether I had, in fact, remembered or not). In short, I would have been looking forward to an important and unique weekend of camaraderie and foxhound study.

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Motive and Monarch at Walk

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Hounds

By Martha Wolfe

Foxhound puppies sent out of the kennels to live at hunt members’ and supporters’ farms for socializing are said to be “at walk.” It's sort of like summer camp for the pups, and it happens every spring and summer. When destruction to yard, garden, and shrubs exceeds the limits of the puppy walkers’ tolerance, the hounds are returned to the kennels. By that time, the puppies will have grown and prospered, learned their names, been introduced to the lead, and more or less socialized. A break for the huntsman, an education for the puppies, and an annual delight for the puppy walkers.

The author and her family have walked puppies for the Blue Ridge Hunt (VA) every summer for nearly twenty years. This blog was first published in Foxhunting Life nearly ten years ago and this being the time of year when hound puppies are out at walk, we thought it would be fun to bring it back.

Monarch with rope"Incredibly destructive,” I muttered yesterday evening as my husband, Bill, and I were eating dinner on our screen porch, watching these two terrorists drag the cover to our outdoor grill across the patio. Because they are hound dogs, nothing is off limits. Their little noses find the smallest scent and their first reaction is to either chew it or dig for it. A crumb or a caterpillar, a two-day old footprint from a passing varmint, or a newly plopped horse turd sends them into olfactory ecstasy. I’ve tried to imagine being able to smell everything a hound dog can smell…what a new world that would be.

I look forward to the puppies every summer. They make me smile, and what better way to spend a day?

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Walking Motive and Monarch

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Hounds

By Martha Wolfe

Foxhunting Life is pleased to bring you these wonderfully entertaining extracts from a new hound blog I know you will enjoy. Martha Wolfe and her family have walked puppies for the Blue Ridge Hunt (VA) every summer for the past ten years. Martha updates her blog regularly with Motive’s and Monarch’s latest adventures so that we, too, may enjoy watching them grow and learn.

Monarch with rope"Incredibly destructive,” I muttered yesterday evening as my husband, Bill, and I were eating dinner on our screen porch, watching these two terrorists drag the cover to our outdoor grill across the patio. Because they are hound dogs, nothing is off limits. Their little noses find the smallest scent and their first reaction is to either chew it or dig for it. A crumb or a caterpillar, a two-day old footprint from a passing varmint, or a newly plopped horse turd sends them into olfactory ecstasy.  I’ve tried to imagine being able to smell everything a hound dog can smell…what a new world that would be.

I look forward to the puppies every summer. They make me smile, and what better way to spend a day?

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