Additonal Breeds Starting
With Letter:
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COUNTRY:
USA
WEIGHT:
75-105 pounds
HEIGHT:
25-30 inches
COAT:
Short, thick and dense
COLOR:
Basically white body with tan points and
heavy black ticking creating the "blue"; there
are allowed natural variations in color including
degree of ticking and roaning, amount of
solid black spots, absence of tan marks, and sometimes
a grizzled appearance
OTHER
NAMES: Big 'n Blue
GROUP:
Hound
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Those hound aficionados
favoring the big, strong-voiced, cold-nosed hound of the old "Gascon"
type were forced to keep changing their allegiance. It wasn't the breed
so much as the preservation of a type that these hunters wanted.
One of the most
successful promoters of the American Blue Gascon hound was Wilson "Bluetick
Bill" Har-shman. For 30 years he hunted, bred, wrote about
and organized events for these dogs. In the 1930s, Harshman wrote about
the English Coonhound in a magazine, and later was the man most responsible
for the bluetick faction breaking away. He wrote a book called Big
'N' Elite, a marvelous collection of stories and legends about the
Old Line strain. This was how the American Blue Gascon came by its nickname.
In the 1950s,
the sport of competitive night hunting was born. This called for the
faster, racier, hotter nosed hound without the patience and thoroughness
of the old type. Judging was based on the ability to tree the greatest
number of raccoons in the shortest period of time, not the individual
ability of each hound. The Red-bone and Walker Hounds proved to be highly
competitive in these events, and many Bluetick breeders began streamlining
their hounds to cop the prizes as well. Those who loved the old Gascon
type became alarmed and, in 1976, created the new American Blue Gascon Hound Association.
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