Welcome!
My name is Charles Pearson and I’m the owner/operator of Pearson’s Action Pack Kennel
Pearson’s Beagles 2018
The American Kennel Club (AKC), founded in 1884, is the largest purebred dog registry in the world. While no registry is without flaw, I believe that AKC is the standard for registered dogs. Back in 2013, I began a quest for a pack of AKC registered rabbit dogs that could run a rabbit like the grade dogs my father and I owned when I was a child. I had no idea how long it would take to find dogs that fit the bill. My goal in the beginning was not only to find a good dog, but to find one with good genetics and pedigrees with a history of proven champions. Plenty has changed since those early days in May 2013 and many lessons have been learned throughout this journey.
The first and most important lesson learned was that the color and the look of a dog won’t run a rabbit. I, like, many of my beagler friends love a pretty dog but focusing on looks first was a mistake.
The second lesson learned was just because the person you are buying a dog from said it’s a certain blood line does not mean it will perform like the dog or dogs that made that line famous. In other words, I found very quickly that all Bramletts were not created equal as I went through many of them. If the dog looke
d good and was a Bramlett, I wanted it. I also quickly learned that there are guys out there doing what we called in the old days milking another man’s cow. This means taking something that someone else has created and is working and trying to profit from it but screwing it up. There is an art to breeding. Most people breed good dog to good dog but for the breeders that know what they are doing the process is much more complex than that. These first two lessons were the ones that hit the wallet the most.
The third lesson but not the least was the health of my dogs. Once I got to the point of having good hounds, my vaccination regiment was an important factor but was based on the old school way of doing things. This included once a month heart worm treatment with a cheaper solution heart worm prevention vaccine and intestinal medications every two months that I now do not recommend. This is largely due to still finding dogs infected with both heart worms and intestinal worms after a thorough check of the hounds in my kennel. I currently use interceptor plus one treatment every 30 days. Treating sick hounds can be costly but prevention is much cheaper. I found that a hound cannot run at his or her top ability if he or she is not healthy.
This journey has not always been trial and error. When it comes to evaluating hounds, I have to credit some of my views to a set of books written by A.D. Holcombe which includes the Grayline Story, the Fish Creek Story, and the Sutton Story. These books opened my eyes to how a real dog should perform in the field. In some cases, I was being too critical and in others not critical enough. Also participating in field trials, being around other guys that breed dogs for ability and not profit, and seeing /competing against very good hounds also contributed to the views I have on evaluating hounds. The old sayings goes everyone has a super star until you put him down with a real rabbit dawg.
As we venture on, 2015 was deemed to be a bad year as I lost some of my best dogs: Salley giving birth, Buck from a snake bite, and Bo Jackson selling him because he was 16 inches. I literally had to start all over again but this time I was a lot wiser in how I select and purchase hounds. I also changed a couple of blood lines I originally started with. I no longer have the Jim Dandy blood line or the Tatpole bloodline in my kennel. This is not because they didn’t work for they are a proven rabbit dog but because of where I live and the trail format that dominates the area. I felt I needed a faster dog to compete and be competitive.
I currently have the Branko, Reggie, and Bramlett blood lines. I am very pleased with their ability to run together because each line brings something to the table. Understanding that all dogs with the same blood line do not perform the same can make a difference in a breeding program. I have seen good and bad of all 3 blood lines I currently run, the true test is in the field, and a good starting point is the ability of those dogs in those dogs pedigree: Sir, Dam, Grandparents and Great Grandparents. You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken droppings. You older guys know what I’m trying to say. I hope that my quest and pursuit of the rabbit dog can help you throughout your journey. The future is looking bright!
Sincerely,
Pearson’s Action Pack Kennel
Products & Companies We Use and Recommend
Pearson’s Action Pack Kennel
Home of Proven Rabbit Dogs