I marked the date on my calendar. I look forward to seeing this event
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There are no courses that I know of, that teach Houndsmanship. I would suggest contacting local clubs, someone who shows genuine intrest and enthusiasum will find more than one mentor.
The Trials can be fun to watch and you can learn a little, however I would not suggest that a novice should go there looking to buy Hounds.
If you have the patience, buy a pup or Hound from a trusted mentor. In Ontario there is no market or great demand for hunting Hounds so there are no "profesional breeders". In Canada Branko's Kennels are the only breeders of beagles who have the inventory of breeding stock to supply quality Beagle pups or running Hounds on demand.
Not much difficulty in training a beagle ; my Dad and I bred and trained beagles until he died.
The biggest challenge is finding the area now- a- days. When we trained, area was not a problem. What land are you going to use for training?
The pup needs to start getting out into the fields and woods around 16 weeks ( after booster vaccine). Pup needs to become independent. Handler needs to keep their mouth closed.
From day 1, never call the pup to you without going and getting it if it doesn't come.
Then we transitioned to a whistle call in . Today the GPS is a wonder tool ; get one for your peace of mind.
Never needed a rabbit pen back then, as rabbits were abundant, but you do now.
Around 20 weeks introduce a rabbit pen.
Google "training a beagle" and look at the You Tube uses of a rabbit pen.
That's how we did it and it worked fine - things may have changed. (All this talk is making me miss a beagle. :) )
I have Beagles running Cottontails for my own enjoyment but your question about hunting raccoons should be addressed to coon hunters.
I have experienced owning hunting hounds for coons and coyotes also.
Coon hunting is probably the most challenging for the hound as it has to track purely Raccoon( this is done at night so no mistakes here), tree it, stay on the tree, bay or bark until you come and sometimes have to dispatch the coon as soon as it hits the ground, then come to you and stop hunting, WHEN you are ready to go home when it's about 2:00 AM...
The only way to get a Coon dog is to see how it works in the field and a good working dog is worth a lot.
I can show you my Beagles and how they run if you like but I do not breed or sell any at this time.
If your looking for a coonhound, try to get a copy of coonhound bloodlines magazine