12 Saber Tails Spring 2017
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
“For the remainder of the weekend, Sam hunted well and
qualified for his first leg of Junior Hunter designation,” Tim
added. “For me, it was great fun to watch Sam and the
other PBGVs doing what they’re bred to do, and it was
pure joy for the dogs! Sam and I are hooked, and look for-
ward to attending PBGVCA Hunt Tests around the coun-
try and meeting more PBGVs and their owners.”
The Texas hunt was the brainchild of PBGVCA board
member Lora Megli of Lakehills, Texas, who had attended
a couple of hunting events
hosted by the Basset Hound
Club of America in Ladonia,
a small town about 80 miles
northeast of Dallas.
“The basset hunting test
is open to all pack hounds
which made it possible for
me to run PBGVs at their
events,” she said. “Previous-
ly, my dogs had only hunt-
ed at PBGV National events
which, of course, only come
along once per year. It’s dis-
couraging to say the least
when your dogs just don’t
have the opportunity to do
what they were bred to do.
So, after taking part in the
BHCA event and seeing the
hunt grounds, I decided
there had to be a way to
have a PBGVCA hunting
event in Texas. I ran the
idea by hunt enthusiasts at
the National in Indiana, and
the idea took hold. From
there, I was determined to
make it happen.”
But, hosting a hunting
event in the Lone Star State
came with two big chal-
lenges, Lora said. “First,
how do we get enough
judges, and second, what
about the heat in Texas? Fortunately some of the Ladonia
hunt ground owners are dachshund field trial judges and
were very interested in learning about PBGVs and being
judges for our hunt. Since they are already licensed judg-
es, they were able to ‘fast track’ with PBGVCA to become
a PBGV judge.”
Originally, two judges prepared to mentor and do pro-
visional judging for the test, but unfortunately only one
judge was able to participate, Lora explained. “The one
who was unable to participate is looking forward to
participating at another hunt, and meeting the creden-
tials to judge PBGVs.”
As for the second challenge, Lora said heat could po-
tentially be a factor in Texas
almost year round, so how
do you pick a date when it
will be cool enough for the
hounds to run?
“The various dachshund
clubs already had week-
ends taken to run their field
trials so the PBGVs had to
pick from open dates and,
like any other event, there
always seems to be a con-
flict for exhibitors regard-
less what date is chosen,”
she explained. “We decided
on a January date with the
hopes the weather would
cooperate, and there
wouldn’t be too many other
events the same weekend.”
The Texas Hunt started with
pleasant weather on Fri-
day, Jan. 20 with open field
time and the puppy/novice
learning experience. “We
had 11 dogs participate in
the learning experience in-
cluding Joan Burke’s four-
month-old puppy, Giroux,”
Lora said. “The learning ex-
perience provided the han-
dlers with useful informa-
tion about do’s and don’ts
in the field. It also gave the
dogs and handlers time in
the field with experienced hunters prior to the hunt test
the next day.”
Lora said that Saturday morning started bright and ear-
ly with the draw. “Thankfully, the weather cooperated
Getting ready to take to the field
A big challenge with hosting hunts in Texas is the weather. There are
only a few months each year that are cool enough to hold a hunt.
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