Potomac huntsman Larry Pitts (standing) with Allen Forney and
Potomac Dapper 2011, Grand Champion Foxhound at Bryn
Mawr / Anne Davies photoAlthough a Potomac Crossbred foxhound—Potomac Dapper 2011—happened to be judged Grand Champion at the Bryn Mawr Hound Show on June 1, 2013, Potomac huntsman Larry Pitts wants you to understand that he doesn’t breed Crossbred hounds.
“We don’t breed Crossbred to Crossbred,” said Pitts, who maintains one of the few pure American packs in the country for the Potomac Hunt (MD). “We breed an American hound to an English hound or to a Penn-Marydel as an outcross. We keep just two or three puppies, and we breed to the best one.”
Pitts breeds successive generations of his selected Crossbreds back to American hounds until the litters can be registered in the American Stud Book. American hound breeders need to outcross in order to maintain hybrid vigor, because the gene pool of American hounds is small.
Dapper’s sire, Potomac Baritone 2008, was the product of one of these outcrosses. John Gray, huntsman of the Hillsboro Hounds (TN), bred his Hillsboro Bisto 2004, a Crossbred, to the magnificent Potomac Jefferson 2005—the MFHA Centennial Grand Champion Foxhound in 2007. John gave three puppies of the resulting litter to Potomac. Baritone, one of those puppies, a forty percent English Crossbred, was put to Potomac Dressy 2006, an American hound, to produce Dapper’s litter—now just twenty percent English.
Of the few Crossbreds kept by Pitts from that litter, Dapper was selected to sire a litter which will be entered this fall. They are ten percent English, still Crossbred. Any future get from that litter will be registered American. Dapper’s son from that litter, Jeronimo, won the un-entered Crossbred dog class at Bryn Mawr this year.
“Though he’s still a puppy, Jeronimo is ready to hunt, right now,” exclaimed Pitts enthusiastically.
Dapper is less precocious than Jeronimo, according to Pitts. “Dapper is a quiet hound, steady, not a trouble-maker,” he said. “He’s a bit reserved, easy to handle, and he tries to please. He’s a real gentleman.”
Pitts notes that when you outcross disparate types, you often find that the traits you desire skip a generation. Bryn Mawr Champion Potomac Dapper is of the first generation from which Pitts had good expectations based on that theory. He was not disappointed in the least!
Dapper was shown and handled to the Championship by honorary whipper-in Allen Forney. “Allen did a great job showing all our Crossbreds this year,” said Pitts. “We’re lucky to have him as a member of Potomac. He hunted our hounds most of the 2012/2013 season while my broken leg was healing.”
In the American ring it was Potomac once again with their Keswick, an un-entered dog hound, judged Champion American Foxhound. Larry’s daughter Laura handled Keswick in his quest to the title. It’s not often that two foxhounds from the same kennel square off for the Grand Championship. If one were to pick any hunt that had a prayer of doing that, Potomac would be high on the list.
Posted June 13, 2013
Un-entered Potomac Keswick, shown and handled by Laura Pitts, was Champion American
Foxhound at Bryn Mawr / Anne Davies photo