My name is Karl Wilcox and i am looking to purchase an english foxhound and it seems very hard to find please could you help

Welcome to the forum Karl. Give Miss Clarke a call on 01409 281769.

Good luck, Karl. I've been looking for a good English Foxhound for two years here. If you are interested in importing, I do have some numbers in the US and Australia that have very nice Foxhounds.

Why don't you import one then Sierra? :-)

I have very specific qualifications for a Foxhound, Leigh. Plus I have been talking to one of the Scottish hunts where I have an invitation to come up and see the dogs. If I were to import one, it would probably be from the Casuleigh kennels (Beagles and Foxhounds) in Australia. However, I don't relish the idea of six months in quarantine. Otherwise, I would have imported a GSP.

Do Casuleigh have a website? :-)

They used to, but last time I looked at it, it was no longer there. One of their dogs was imported into the US and was absolutely gorgeous with a very sound temperament. Of course, there is no quarantine except for the islands of Hawaii in the US. All dogs must be inoculated for DHLPP and Rabies, have a medical check and upon arrival, checked for ticks.

Leigh R. Gibson, Jr. is the owner of Casualeigh and has imported dogs worldwide. There are quite a few offspring from Ch. Casualeigh Liaison in the US and BIS,Danish, Dutch, International, Canadian Ch. Casualeigh Catchphrase was imported to Canada. Liaison sired Whipperinn Virgil J, a wonderful dog that is the topwinning foxhound of all time in the US with 50+ Best In Shows, not an easy feat.

Gibbgran Foxhounds (Grant Gibson) in Australia has some very nice dogs too, but they also have Casualeigh in the pedigree. Not so hard to understand when you know that the two are brothers. **winking** Leigh Gibson has now joined with Karakush in Australia to breed beagles (he took the Casualeigh beagles with him) so I don't know if he's still breeding Foxhounds. If anyone is interested, they should probably [email karakush@bigpond.com]email him[/email].

Plum Run Hunt has some wonderful foxhounds also: Suzy A. Reingold, Plum Run Hunt, 454 Swetland Rd., Gettysburg, PA 17325.

Thanks for giving me the incentive to take a break and go look at some wonderful old memories.

I have a soft spot for Foxhounds :-) Thanx for the links.
Have you checked out any of the hunt kennels closer to home?

Trying to talk to most of them given the present political climate on hunting is near impossible. I did talk to Mrs. Clark, but my impressions are probably best left. I have looked at the entries at Crufts for the past two years and was not impressed. Then again, the dogs that I am used to seeing are of the highest caliber. I was tempted to contact the breeder, who I know, of one of the imports and asking why she'd not send better quality; I was sorely disappointed in her choice.

I've had a soft spot for Foxhounds for years. If you want more links, yell.

I can't say that I blame the H.Kennels for not wanting to talk. They have to be so careful what they say these days.
Did any of these 'high caliber' hounds actually do what they were bred for or were they purely show dogs? The best FH's that I have seen have been in hunts kennels, can't say that I have paid a huge amount of attention to the show dogs :-)

**winking** You know my stance on dogs that are pretty but can't do what they are bred to do. Both the Casualeigh and the Plum Run dogs are hunted. In fact, Plum Run is a hunting kennel in Pennsylvania. Last time I knew they had somewhere around 60 couples of dogs or so. Most of their puppies are reared by hunt club members and then returned to the hunt. In rare, rare cases Suzy (or I should say the Hunt Master with Suzy's concurrence) will allow one of the dogs to go to a show home to further promote the breed. I have to say she's one tough woman, knows her foxhounds, lives to hunt, and is a very gracious person. My understanding of the Gibbgran and Casualeigh dogs are that they combine hunting and showing.

Foxhounds are not for everyone, but I think they are highly underrated in this country as pets. They have a very definite hound temperament and, like a good GSP, strong hunting instinct. I do believe, however, that the hunt clubs tend to add to their reputation of being hard to live with and vicious (to cats and other small animals) by not allowing people to know them better through living with them. My dogs learned that cats were not one of the things that I appreciated them treating as chase objects.

Plum Run Blackjack was taken from the hunt and shown, rounded ears and all. He went on to become a top winning Foxhound and if my memory serves correctly won several BIS.
George Alston's daughter and son-in-law were responsible for showing him. George was a very successful and well-respected professional handler before turning to judging and writing -- you might want to take a look at his book on showing. They did a marvelous job with Blackjack who had an absolutely wonderful temperament and was a superb member of the pack.

You might also enjoy looking at the JustWright Foxhounds -- you'll see some offspring of the Plum Run dogs blended with Harnett and also of Ch. Casualeigh Liaison.

Please note that it is against the Masters of Foxhounds Association regulations for a registered pack to rehome a foxhound with anyone other than drafting to another registered pack. This is for the well being of the hounds.

We walked hound puppies for many years when we were in Pembrokeshire. I don't know of any that were ever rehomed or sold as such, just drafted occasionally to other hunts. Don't think you will find what you're looking for in this country.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

**smiling** We've been down this road before which is why I asked him if he considered importing. It doesn't seem to be a problem with the Masters of Foxhounds Association in the US since I know for a fact that the Plum Run dogs are sometimes rehomed. They seem to believe that the well-being of the hounds means life versus death when they can no longer hunt to the levels demanded.