Russman’s ‘Libby’ earns ARHA Grand Champion status
Larry Russman has achieved the goal every competitive dog person has – winning that first big championship.
Russman, of Uniontown, has owned rabbit hounds all his life and in recent years got the bug to compete in small-pack field trail competition.
He was instrumental in getting the Uniontown Beatle Club started a few years ago.
For the past three years he has been campaigning his dog Barton Hollow Jiggs Liberty (Libby) on the American Rabbit Hound Association (ARHA) field trial circuit.
Recently ‘Libby’ earned the distinction of Little Pack Grand Champion after posting her fifth win at Northeastern Kentucky Beagle Club.
“What a dog,” Russman said. “She beat some of the finest hounds in the country.”
Libby’s next big test will be the World Hunt.
Russman said that he is sending her to Ashland, Ky., where a professional handler will work her every day to get her in shape for the World Hunt.
“Libby is quite a unique hound,” Russman said. “She never ran in an ARHA trial until she was two years old. She is now five years old. She did it in just three years.”
Prior to going for Grand Champion status, Libby had to work through the open class and be crowned a little pack champion.
To become a little pack champion, a hound had to accumulate 100 points, including one first-place finish.
All ARHA little pack hounds are grouped together, unlike AKC brace trials, where dog are broken into groups by size, 13- or 15-inch, and gender, male and female.
In small pack competition all hounds 15-inches and under are eligible and compete in one class.
Little pack champions cannot accumulate more than 50 points at one club, so the dogs have to be campaigned.
Libby’s first-place finish was won at Western Maryland Beagle Club near Cumberland. It took her one year to earn her little pack championship.
The little pack championship moved Libby to the champion class when she was three years old.
From there she went on to become a little pack grand champion.
“Dogs have to earn five first-place wins to become a grand champion,” Russman explained. Her first win came at the West Virginia Eastern Panhandle Rabbit Hunters trial.
“Then she picked up another first at Dark Shade Beagle Club in Stoystown, Pa., before getting her third win at Coshocton, Ohio Beagle Club.
“Her fourth victory also came in Ohio, as she won at Cumberland, Ohio, and she earned her fifth win in Ashland, Ky.
“She competed against some pretty tough dogs,” Russman said. “One hunt before the one in Ashland in Jackson, Ohio, she made it to the top before losing to a big, strong, fast male. Libby and that male dog were the only two that made it to the top. They pounded those rabbits.
“It takes a special king of dog to compete with the dogs that are campaigned.”
Russman explained that there are four grand champion hounds in Fayette County, but he is the first Uniontown Beagle Club member to finish one himself.
He said, “What’s nice about going for grand champion status is that you only have to compete against other champions. You don’t have to compete against as many dogs at a trial.”
While ARHA trials have bench and field competition, Russman does not show Libby, as she does not have outstanding show qualities.
A dog does not have to compete in the bench show to run in a trial, but dogs that compete for bench honors are required to run in the field as well.
In parting, Russman said, “Libby is a very unique dog. She does things in competition that amazes you. She made it from champion to grand champion in just two years.”
As an example he related how Libby was leading in a very close trial when the dog she was battling for first was searching for a rabbit. As the dog approached Libby, she spotted the rabbit and jumped over the other dog, landing on the rabbit to get the jump ,earning the points.
The rabbit-hunting community will probably hear more from Libby in years to come.
Herald-Standard Outdoors Editor Rod Schoener can be reached online at rschoener@heraldstandard.com.