MEMBERSHIP
•Club dues are $20 per person due at the first hunt you attend.
•Once dues are paid, high point, FC & GFC status will be recognized.
•Officers for the following year will be voted in at the annual meeting..
•Dues will be collected at annual meeting, at the first two hunts of the season, or can be mailed to 18064 Taylors Creek Rd. Montpelier, VA 23192. Make checks payable to Virginia Fox Beagle Association. And must be paid by the second hunt of the trial season.
HEIGHT LIMIT & MEASURING
•Dogs will be measured in a normal relaxed posture on flat ground or the best available flat surface. They will not be posed in a show stance or with legs stretched out. Front legs must be vertical. Back legs may be slightly pointing backwards. Dogs will be measured behind their shoulder blades with 17 ¼ inch measuring stick/device. The houndsman will be allowed no more than 3 chances to get the dog measured in before a vote is cast between the three measuring committee/officers in charge of measuring the dog.
•The back of the dog may touch the 17 ¼ inch measuring stick/device, but the stick/device may not be lifted off the ground.
•Once a dog that is 16 months old or older places at a hunt, it will be measured once and if measured in then it will be placed on a permanent list. If younger than 16 months it will be measured at each hunt it places at until it reaches 16 months of age.
•A measuring committee consisting of three members will be in charge of measuring each dog. If any one of the members of the measuring committee is not present, then a board member or officer can fill their spot(s). Two of the three officers measuring the dog must be in agreement.
*Once the committee commits to putting the stick on the dog, that will be the final say.
TRIALS
•There will be nine hunts per trial season.
•All sanctioned field trials will be 4 hours of running.
•At the pen owners discretion only, a field trial may be shortened due to extreme weather conditions
• After the official start of a trial there will be a 15 minute grace period for late members. Any member showing up after 15 minutes will not be permitted to cast.
•Trophies and or plaques will be given out to the top ten females and top ten males.
JUDGING RULES & REGULATIONS
•Dogs will be awarded 35 points for a 1st place crossing, 30 points for 2nd , 25 points for a 3rd, 20 points for a 4th, and 15 points for a pack score.
•The game must be seen for a crossing to count. Dogs being scored must cross within a reasonable distance (within 15 feet) of the track. This will ultimately be left up to the discretion of the judge scoring the crossing. Any dog number that can not be identified in a crossing will not be scored. An X will be placed in the judges score book for the unidentified dog in the crossing and all other dogs in the crossing will be scored in their respective places.
Example: First place dog number can not be read and the second place dog is #64
Book will read as follows: 1st: X (no points)
2nd: 64 (30 points)
•Dogs can be scratched for loafing at the discretion of one judge. Dogs can also be scratched for babbling and backtracking at the discretion of two or more judges.
•25 points will be distributed for a solo first place crossing
•The VFBA counts every crossing with no regards to the amount of time in between crossings!
•The association will allow reputable hunt clubs as well as judges provided by the pen owner to judge our hunts.
•The Judges will provide a home plate judge to stand at the gate. This judge's primary responsibility is to scratch dogs that quit running and hang out at the gate. Dogs are to receive a grace period of 5 minutes if they stop running and hang out by the gate. We ask that this judge hike the dogs in the woods to give them the benefit of the doubt if there is no chase nearby the gate.
*In the even of a tie, it will be broken down by the number of 1st places crossings, if there is the same number of first place crossings, then the judges will count the second place crossings and so on and so forth. If there is still a tie at the end, then the judges will break the tie by time.
NUMBERS
•Any member who placed a dog last season in the top 10 of either class will get to pick their choice of a number for that same class. Those members will get to choose in order based on where their dog placed in the top 10. If the member placed multiple dogs in the top 10, they will get their pick of a number for each dog that placed in the top 10. (For example – if a member placed 2nd and 4th in the top 10 of the male class, then they will get the second and fourth pick in the male class)
•The distribution of numbers will be done by purchasing numbers at $5 per number on FIRST CALL, FIRST SERVE BASIS, a max of 4 number may be purchased, but they must be paid for before the end of the second hunt of the season or they will be redistributed. We will still do a “pre-registration” where members will call the designated Numbers Committee Member to pre-register a set number of dogs (based on the limit the pen owner has set for us) starting about a week and a half before the hunt. Members will then be able to confirm that they will be using purchased numbers, after numbers are confirmed and/or numbers not being used are turned in then you will be able to get additional numbers (if available) after the pre-registration period until we have reached the pen limit. If we happen to have two hunts scheduled on back to back weekends and you wish to keep your numbers on your dogs for the next hunt, just let the Numbers Committee Member know and we will do our best to work with you on that request. We are hoping that this will make the distribution of numbers quite a bit easier this year and will cut down on confusion.
.If two dogs should end up inside the pen at a trial with the same number on them, then they will both be scratched and the entry fee shall be refunded only to the person who was supposed to have the number in the first place.
POINTS
•Points will be issued as so: 10 points for 1st place down to 1 point for 10th place.
• You must be a paid member of the club in order to gain points for your dog.
•Only points gained at a Virginia Fox Beagle Association sanctioned trial will count toward a beagle's field champion (FC) or grand field champion (GFC) status.
•At the last hunt, high point hound trophies will be given out to the top ten dogs in both the male and female class.
*The winners of the high point hound will receive a GPS collar as a price.
•National trial points will count toward F.C. and G.F.C., but not count toward high point hound.
F.C./G.F.C./HIGH POINT HOUND REQUIREMENTS
*Field Champion
•90 points + One win
•90 points + High Point Hound
•90 points + Win at Nationals
*Grand Field Champion
•135 points + any two combinations of the following: (VFBA Win, High Point Hound, Win at Nationals, Win at VA State)
Sire / Dam / Breeder / Kennel of the Year
*At the end of each hunt, points will be calculated to the sire, dam , breeder and kennel.
*At the end of the year, the sire, dam, breeder and kennel with the highest points will earn the title for the year,
*Points for kennel of the year will be calculated similar to how the high point hound is calculated.
-Ex. If a kennel places one dog 10th, one 4th, and one 3rd, the kennel will earn 16 points.
*Points for sire and dam will be calculated by the number of dogs that place off of them.
-Ex. If a sire or dam has 3 puppies place, that sire or dam will earn 3 points.
*Breeder points will be calculated 1 pt. per dog that places.