A dog that won't bark regardless of seeing game or not is useless !! Puts the other hounds @ a extreme disadvantage !!! Glad I have read this !!! Really opened my eyes up on what some folks think !!! Wow !!!! Outside hunters have a pack of hounds and field trialers are in search of an individual !! Not saying one is right or the other is wrong !!! But it just widens the gap between the two !! Two sprinters of equal talent line up to race !! The starter fires !! One sprinter is quiet the other sings the star spangled banner !!!who wins !!!yep !!!

Later !!!
MLM

MLM-I hear ya-that's why Otis Redding, Delbert McClinton, and Patsy Cline got gold records.........

It blows my mind that someone being out run by ( and because ) the hound way out in front is not barking would want that hound to be scored, win the hunt, get a CH in front of its name and then breed to it to produce more of the same! What a detriment to the breed. Certainly NOT a caracterisic of an ideal field champion! If a judge witnesses a hound running a track and it is evident that said hound is not giving tongue it MUST be brought up for discussion in the judges meeting!
FIELD TRIAL RULES and REGULATIONS, ARTICLE VIII, JUDGING IN THE FIELD ( i ) In conjunction with the rules specifically mentioned herein, a hound may be eliminated for any misbehavior in the field when in the opinion of the judges such misbehavior is a fault which would mar the characteristics of an ideal field champion or which might become detrimental to the chase.)
I think both requirements are met to scratch the hound.

Thank you Blaine. People need to have more common sense.

I have read every comment on this post for the last week and i can honestly say ive learned alot from the majority of them. Some post however make me wounder but everyone is allowed to voice their opition so with that being seid i will voice mine. To me the ideal hound would be one who doesnt bark back in the pack but shuts up and pulls up to the front however he can cut swing or fly and when he gets the front he then lets everyone and his brother know hes got the front and your not getting it back. However 1st is 1st barking or not and i will score the hounds as they cross unless the hound is noticbly effecting the preformance of other dogs in the hunt.

Other hounds can't pull up on a hound it can't hear.

Any good hound that is sight chasing will shut up and pull up. When Bolt was running in the Olympics you never seen him talk when he was running. You take a judge that's sitting back watching the crossing with binoculars their is no way you can tell what is not barking. Or if your running up on the crossing trying to catch it and make sure that every dog got what he earned.

And hear is a question for everyone that says they should be scratched then should you scratch a hound that's coming behind on the track trying to catch up would you then want to scratch him for running covered tracks.

We all know a hound sight chasing sometimes wont bark
we also know a hound running back in a pack may not bark. All that is fine. But a hound leading a race not looking at the game needs to be giving tongue. Its not a fault in the rule book but a hound like that is no good

Christian music I thought u would kno a dog better than that can't believe ur fingers let u type sumthin the ignorant comparing hounds to humans is crazy we don't bark lol most good dogs do...an if the dog is running behind barken he should be scratched in my opinion he needs to shut up an get up he ain't catching up if still barking behind.... No hard feelings all N fun...

To each their own. But any one that has every spent much time judging or running will know a that some hounds will shut up to pull up . Plain and simple a hound should not be faulted for trying to get where we want them.

Ms.Teresa in my opinion to the failing to hark question before i would scratch a hound for that i would find out what the pack was chasing and if it was game other than what the hound should be chasing then that hound should not be scratched in my opinion.and in the case of the hound that is the first hound in the chase barking or not he gets a 1st place s/d score unless he is running alone and then i turn it in running alone,i always write it down what happens out there and bring it up to the master of hounds in the judges room.i hope i was of some help with your question.

Shutting up an getting up is... He gets throwed outa a race an he is swinging cuttin to get back to the front never said NE thing bout scratching the hounds but if he shutting up to get there an never say a word when he has it was good is he.... An if he is barking behind he is contempt of running in the back a cheerleader...