Outdoors Maryland; 1704

You You Outdoors Maryland is produced in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources The NR inspired by nature. I

Let's go. Come on Hurry up Here we go Here we go gently Come on here we go It's a rainy winter morning in mid-January along the banks of the Chesapeake Bay And the hills bridge reels from Southern Maryland are on the move The ground is soft and muddy, difficult terrain for the spectators who follow behind the pack Hurry up Heavy fog and mist make it difficult to see too far ahead The hounds are anxious to pick up the first set of their quarry the cotton tail rabbit The Huntsman Mickey Addis one of the younger women beagle masters in the country keeps them in check

Come on Hurry up Hurry up Hurry up Each year the hills bridge beagles from Maryland win awards at the National Field Trials in Virginia for their keen noses And their ability to track rabbits They are one of the better beagle packs in the country As a result Mickey Addis has developed a strong following within the big-ling community No matter what the weather, people come out each weekend to see how she works with her dogs Within minutes of reaching the woods, the beagles are on the trail of a rabbit And Mickey Addis springs into action

Charles Smith is an old hand at the sport of beagleing Well right now they just jumped the rabbit back here in a little piece of cover between the road and the field I saw him run down the road maybe 20 feet in front of him There was a sight chase, they've lost him momentarily and they're picking him up right now They're coming back up this way and he's going back to where are we jumping If we get back up here, we'll like to get with him again and maybe see the rabbit The sport of beagleing has been around for centuries

A tradition passed down from one generation of country gentry to the next First in England where it began and then later in this country The sport is nothing more in essence than giving chase to a rabbit But the ritual is important The Huntsman's assistance, for instance, like Charles Smith are called Hooper's Inn Their job is to help keep the harms together and try to spot the rabbit The rabbit's basically made a circle, he's come back to where we jumped and we were within 150 feet right now The sport has its own unique vocabulary, the beagles don't bark for instance, they speak to the rabbit The Huntsman in turn speaks to the hounds, even the horn helps direct the dogs and cheer them on And they listen to the calls I make, I make calls that say where I'm going, if I'm changing direction

Whether I want them to stay with me, whether I want them to spread out Whether it's the end of the day Despite the enthusiasm for the chase, the last thing these big lures want is actually to catch the rabbit It's definitely not a cone sport We've lots of kids, people of all ages that come out with us And what it is, it's an excuse to get out in the countryside We're invited by land owners throughout Charles, Prince George's Calvert and St. Mary's County And enjoy the countryside If we have a good run on a rabbit of an hour and a half, nobody wants anything to happen to that bunny We want that bunny to have more bunnies The sport then involved in beagling is observing the hounds, track the quarry Knowing that the wily rabbit will usually evade capture It's unusual to catch one

It's a matter of chasing and there are any number of places that they can go First of all, they can rely on their speed and their wits and fool their hounds Otherwise they'll run down and hold The country is just covered with groundhog holes And they're easy for them to escape Okay, well somebody needs to go get them Mind buster On this rainy day, the scent is good Moisture helps to trap the animal scent and keep it in the air And so the beagles have found the trails of several rabbits Well, the rabbit has run up that little edge of strip of woods there Right by the bay and he's gone into a hole He's gone in a hole and escaped That's the object of the chase Is to account for the rabbit, either by catching him or by going in Come on! Three up, let's go! Pack up, find three up! Come on!

To account for the rabbit, that means a successful chase Mickey Edis is pleased with her hounds Man! I'd say they've been performing exceptionally well It's a fairly good selling day, but since they're so young, that gets them very excited So I don't know if you're noticing they're hopping about and looking rather keen So the puppies are having a good day Yeah, let's go! The morning air is brisk and cold as the hills bridge beaglers head out for another day of rabbit chasing This time along the Patuxion River Hey, Linda, you go around that way Hey! Tab! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! All to be a pretty good day. We've just cast in here in this little finger that comes out from the swamp that goes down to the Patuxion and it sounds as though they found a rabbit already But it's the sight of a rabbit that really gets the big loose excited Woo!

Suddenly, the rabbit was there We've just used the rabbit here, come hounds on it right now They're coming up through here, he's crossing these woods He's crossed down through this dog and he's going over into the next one that leads the dog In this case, the dogs not only spoke to the rabbit, but they were able to chase the quarry into a hole Yeah, that's going in the hole Woo! In the language of Beagling, they'd accounted for the rabbit Woo! The fun part for me is the communication I have with my hounds And the challenge each day when you go out, how the center's going to be good or bad And I love going to all the different farms where we're able to go to Oh, look, I have a question Mickey Addis was pleased with the performance of her young hounds Yeah, I don't do well with people, but dogs, I'm fine

Right? Yeah, so are you, donut The beauty for other for me is getting outside Being outside and sharing that with my hounds That's the beauty, I'm out in the rain, the sun, the snow I'm out some of the beautiful days each year, and that's what I treasure Hang up, what's it? Come on! The Jack Russell Terrier, lean, strong, and amazingly agile Nowhere has this breed won the hearts of dog lovers, more than right here in Maryland

They're just a constant work in motion, they never quit, their mind never stops, their body never stops They're always doing funny antics I love to see these little dogs trekking through the wood and coming up trumps Giving out the goods, marvelous, absolutely marvelous I like to compare them to a 21 year old boy in a sports car, a red sports car They're very much like that Originally bred in England to hunt fox and other small game The Jack Russell has fast become one of our nation's most popular pets But the breed's aggressive hunting instincts have caught some new owners off guard Terry Batzer of the Jack Russell Terrier Club of America explains They're real super active, and active to a Jack Russell doesn't mean taking a walk on a leash around the block Active to a Jack Russell means tearing around, digging holes in the yard, flying flowers out of your flower bed Diving into your swimming pool, doing anything it can do to expend that great amount of both physical and mental energy That's one reason why every Sunday from April through October

Jack Russell owners from around the state come here to John Six's farm in Harford County It's exercise for the dogs, it's just a bunch of friends get together, all these people help set up the scores, the people we're having fun too, but it's, I think it's the dogs or having more fun The high jump is just a few of them are testing dogs at Joely, they chase the fur and I get so excited with the fur that after we'll bear practice they just take to it You can touch it as long as you don't knock it down The tall dogs I've seen go 41, 42 inches The smaller Jack Russell Terrier's can get up to 37 inches Of course every once in a while the fur isn't quite fast enough Come on, come on, come on You can suck in, you can't get away from him hard Lord's sake, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey Ha, check a grip

Bob Six, John's father rarely misses this Sunday ritual Even today, when it's almost 100 degrees outside Really, I guess I should be in all the air today He doesn't have any Jack Russell's of his own And he doesn't consider himself an authority But if you listen carefully, you'll find he knows more about Terrier's than just about anybody I was raised in a blacksmith shop and then I went on with horses And hands, and that's been my life Since I was small, the little Terrier's, I don't know whether they were Jack Russell's And I've been there ever barn that I've been around, have a little Terrier's And then to have something to do, they raised him And then they did use him to kill rats I've had a nice little bunch of small about one of my children Another thing I like to see with your dogs is I school Go somewhere and do good I kind of feel proud about that

I put them the first time they were wanting to get out, put them in there **Laughter** Many of those who practice at John Sex' farm do go on to compete in sanctioned trials And not surprisingly, the two largest competitions in the country take place in Maryland The Mason-Dix interior trial in early July and the nationals inhabit a grace in Yorkbury **Singing word** I've judged the jobs of Terrier in nine countries and the Mason Dixon trial that invited me for eight years. I tend to like to come to this trial because it is a gathering ground for like-minded people. Everyone can bring their dog from a small child to grandpa and do something with their dog and enjoy their dog. Their dog can be good at something. We came all the way from San Juan, Capestrano, California. We brought seven dogs. This dog here is Talley. Last fall there was a Halloween costume contest and I dressed Talley up as Madonna and we ended up winning the grand prize of the contest.

She'll even get on her hind legs and dance and just, you know, show it all off. Carl Finnglass transports his Jack Russells around the country on our modified 1985 Honda. Then it's seven years old. It's been across the United States three times in Canada one. Total about 36,000 miles a year as far. They're harnessed in so they can't get out. And they just love riding and they're fanatics about the bike. I mean, Lucifer is red. So Wallace is green. Mr. Wallace is blue. Bully is orange. This is the hand set that controls the floor.

The floor is on the spool and that is connected to the starter motor. The fascia once goes. The harder you push it down. We're catching dogs today. Some of the dogs are real pain. Other ones are babies. You can catch them just. They jump right in your arms. Other problems go right through the day. Don't fangs. They're all just from today. What? 30 races. Blue. Green. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's five. That's five. That's five. That's five. That's five. That's five. That's five. That's five. That's five. That's five. That's five. Blue. Orange. Green. Red. Over. The muskware races. Our water races basically. They make a little thick muskware at by tie in a piece of hide around a floating bleach bottle. Tie it on a string and put it on a bicycle wheel and pull it across the creek. And the dogs just follow it till they can't go anymore.

One gets off course a little bit. The great boat anchormen out there on the little ponds scoop them up with a net and save them. And everybody has a ball. The dogs and the people and everybody have a great time is a hot good hot summer days for it. This is your beef. If Jeff Russell Terrier owners, much like their dogs are generally a good natures lot. But mention the American Kennel Club around here and you'll see just how feisty they can be. If you look around here today, you won't see any two Jack Russells that look exactly alike. They're all unique, they're different sizes, shapes, colors, but they're all Jack Russells. And the reason they all look different is because no one is breeding for a beauty contest. The reason you want to keep the diversity and the greed is because Jack Russells are hunting dogs. We're breeding a little feisty working terrier that is sound mentally and physically.

Keep in mind that the model is to preserve, protect and work the Jack Russell Terrier. They are a working breed and that's why we were very much opposed to AKC recognition. We want our breed to stay as it is, a strain of working hunting terrier. To preserve a working breed, for now, at least in Maryland, the Jack Russell Terrier, with all its width, fire and charisma, is safe among those who love it most. The watercolor has been selectively bred for gathering. In other words, when you walk out on the hillside and your flock is spread out over a hill, the dog will, without command them, without a whole lot of training, be able to gather the field and bring the flock in. Here at trial and error acres, Nancy Starky works sooner, Jack, bunk and missed each day.

In the past 25 years, she's worked with over 100 border colleagues. The basic commands that you would want to teach your dog to make it be either useful on the farm, or to refine those skills and commands and make it into a trial dog, would be the dog must stop on command, either standing on its feet or lying down. The dog must advance toward the sheep or walk up toward the sheep. The dog must be able to go clockwise around the sheep to any position that the handler stops it and counterclockwise around the sheep. You also need to be able to call your dog off when the work is finished. The watercolor does use what's called eye to move their sheep. It's a very intense stare at the sheep. Since sheep's ancestors were prey animals, and the dog's ancestors were predator animals, the sheep feel the intense pressure of the dog, and they are very willing to move away from that pressure.

The dogs in their manner are very predator-like. And if you watch nature films, you see wolves, and then you watch a film of a good butterfly working, there are very many similarities in the two. Welcome up! Take your time! When the dog is working, the sheep respect the dog and its abilities. There is a small portion of fear built into that respect. However, if the sheep were truly fearful of the dog, they would be panicked. And when animals panic, they usually don't do a whole lot of thinking. So you do want the sheep respecting the dog and its abilities to move it. But yet without the panic that might ensue if the dog were out of control. In the fall of 1992, I decided I needed a few sheep to live with which he trained my dog. So I leased a farm and had a handful of sheep and the sole purpose for having their sheep was to train my dog.

That has snowballed into the operation that we have here today. There are 145 sheep on the property right now. And our primary focus is to produce fine-quality lambs for sale. For two wonderful days each spring, sheep, shepherd, and spectator converge at Maryland's annual sheep and wool festival, the largest in North America. With a variety of attractions to entice and engage the crowd, the true stars of the day are found down to the children. For here is where the border collies strut their stuff, a demonstration that is a festival favorite. I guess I am like it all, I love the way the dogs are so responsive and they are so smart and the kids love to come.

Well, we want to share the ability of the dog and what you are capable of doing on livestock. These dogs are really fine too because they are my trout dogs, but on the same token I will take them home to do farm work with them. Look at that, it is very difficult to get age sheep to do what you want. When you start a young dog, basically all you are doing is developing the instincts that has been bred there. And you develop those to a point where you can get a day's work done with one of these dogs. Each dog is an individual, some dogs you can get trained up to do farm work in six or seven months. The next one may take a year, a year and a half, they are all individual. Totally attentive to Nathan, that is nice style. As endearing as they may seem, border collies may not be the right dog for everyone. These dogs require mental stimulation and physical activity in addition to proper management to keep them from becoming bored.

And for the newcomer the training process can be quite an endeavor. A few tips from the master and calm is restored. Your first pen there were bobbles, but the second pen worked well, and when he went up to collect them at the end, that looked nice too. And he was showing a lot of nice soft control. It is said that all work and no play makes for a dull boy. And so it is with collies. With the field work finished, the fun begins. As Marilyn becomes more and more urban with old family farms being sold to developers, and highways dissecting the land.

It is heartwarming to see the small farms still holding on. I currently have three working girls, as I call them. They're daily duties here on the farm, and could gather in the sheep off the hill, and perhaps putting them in the barn for me, to treat them, to vaccinate them to worm. Holding the sheep off the feeders while I feed, because sheep can be rather rude when carrying a bucket of feed. Moving sheep from here and there on the farm, sorting sheep, handing sheep, helping me doctor sheep. Good girl. Take your time. Take time. Here, the comforting rhythm of farm life still exists, as women and beasts tend to the fields in a time-honored tradition. Walk them up. One which has become all too rare in outdoors marine. The gratification that I derive from these dogs comes mainly from the communication between us and the partnership that develops. You don't simply have a dog that's trained to a big man.

You've got a partner out there. This is a good job. This is a good job. This is a good job. One, two, one. One, back. One, back. One, hurry. Here him. Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Come on, Susie. Come on, Camham. Hurry up. One, wait. Wait. Hurry up. Yeah. Drop into our website at www.mpt.org to send us your comments and suggestions.