Seizures  continued from page 55    your daily routine and 
eat a balanced diet. As dogs and their humans age, 
sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) is a major problem that 
can be alleviated by meeting the requirements for protein 
in the diet and using the muscles. A number of nutritional 
supplements have been touted to be effective for treating 
degenerative joint disease. These include fish oils that 
contain long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids,
green-lipped mussel extract, glucosamine and chondroitin.
Unfortunately, there is still no clear consensus for the 
effective dose or delivery of these compounds or method 
of assessment.

Drs. Larsen and Farcas note that it “should be kept in

mind that each of the nutraceuticals discussed earlier for the

management of age-related diseases have either an 
incompletely assessed efficacy or have conflicting results 
between subjective and objective assessments or between
studies.” They conclude by saying “As dogs age, they 
experience a wide variety of metabolic changes that affect
both structure and function. These changes may consist 
of normal, physiologic aging changes or may manifest as
age-related disease. Screening for these changes via routine
physical examination and laboratory assessment is critical to
affecting the processes at stages where their courses may be
altered. Accommodating the specific changes observed in
each individual, rather than adopting a generic senior dog
approach, will allow tailoring a patient’s treatment plan 
to the individual’s needs.”  

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www.pbgv.org

Summer 2015   

I Saber Tails

Do you have questions

about animal health, medications, therapies, surgery,

behavior or safety? There is so much inaccurate information posted online. 

VeterinaryPartner.com is one of several websites that you can visit for trustworthy

and accurate information. This website provides reliable, up-to-date animal health

information from the veterinarians and experts of the Veterinary Information 

Network, the world’s largest online veterinary database and community. It is 

maintained by veterinarians and loaded with health news and information 

about behavior, health, diseases and drugs related to companion animals.

Triathlete  continued from page 45      of 10 possible points on
any of the eight criteria to have a score that qualifies, or can
be applied to a title. Before we became judges, some of us
didn’t even analyze scores but just looked for “qualifying” 
or “non-qualifying” to figure out if our PBGVs did it right.
But once you understand what your PBGV excels in and
where the opportunities are, you can spend time in between
hunts working with your hound to improve your hound’s
score. The eight criteria for evaluation in a full hunt test 
are endurance, use of nose, use of voice, searching ability,
pursuing ability, cooperation with pack, cooperation with
handler, willingness and determination in cover. In addition,
a starter pistol will be fired over the PBGVs once during a
run while they are pursuing a rabbit to test to see if they are
gun shy, which is scored as pass or fail. Most PBGVs hear
that gun and run even faster — they are so excited because a
gun fired, plus a shout of “Tally Ho” when a rabbit is spotted
really revs them all up!

Hopefully this helps to demystify the hunt experience.

Probably the best way to understand it is to come to a hunt
test sometime before the national to get a sense of how it 
all works. You can bring your PBGV a day early as most
hunts have a “practice day” where you can take a “learning
experience” with your PBGV and practice with the more 
experienced dogs. Our hunt tests are also warm and 
welcoming events within the PBGV community, and we 
always have great fun just being together, rooting for each
other’s dogs. 

Hope to see you soon, and Tally Ho!  

I

Obedience: Beginner Novice  

by Lora Megli

hy not give Beginner Novice a try? It is now possible for
many dog/handler teams to obtain an AKC performance

title, even our independent scent hounds. Beginner Novice
is a step between Rally and Novice Obedience. All exercises
are performed on leash (exception: recall) and in the ring with
no other dogs present. The heeling pattern is designated
with Rally signs that include change of pace (slow and fast),
a right and left turn, an about turn and one halt (sit). The
signs are used to eliminate the judge calling the heeling 
pattern, which sometimes can be rather intimidating. 

During the heeling pattern, the handler is allowed one

extra word of encouragement to the dog. The figure eight
exercise is next. It is performed the same as in the Novice
class; however, once again you are allowed one encouraging
word to your dog during the exercise. During the sit for
exam, the judge is only allowed to touch the dog’s head.
This is done on leash with the handler at the end of a six
foot leash. The stay exercise is a little more complicated
since your dog has to learn to turn its head to watch as you
walk around the ring. Many dogs struggle since they want to
spin in the sit position. The recall is the final exercise; the
leash is removed and the dog recalled from approximately
25 feet away. Your dog must come and sit in front of you. In
this exercise you are allowed to call a second time if your
dog fails to come the first time. You also are allowed an 
encouraging word as they come to you. In Beginner Novice,
the judge encourages you to use the extra words since they
are allowed without penalty. Happy Training!  

I

Seizures  continued from page 55