A Tribute to Cujo, Poison, Kate and Other Late Greats!

NiteCH 'PR' Slober Slinging Poison  1991-2000

A Tribute to Poison

Slober Slinging Poison, another foundation point in our kennel was a marvellous all round coon dog.  She wasn't the most outstanding dog I've every hunted with but was one of my favorites to hunt with.  She was a completely consistant, stay put tree dog.  She didn't have the greatest voice on track or tree but that never stopped her or us from finding her with her coon, even it it took us all night to reach her.  She would always hunt, rain or shine, 100 degree heat or snow on the ground.  Open the tail gate and she was ready to go.  If there was a coon to be found (which in these rocky and steep mountains in MD/PA this is not always a given!) she would tree it.   She was also an exceptional "kill" dog with the coon.  Two shakes and you were done.   You never had to worry she was running off game and she was always ready to go, always ready to please.  She had extraordinary patience with puppies and was an incredible trainer.  We really miss her!

The Coon that couldn't be treed

One of Steve's favorite stories is the the night he took ol Poison to a different area than we ever had hunted her.  It was an area that was flooded by DNR to create a environment habitat for more waterfowl; a swampy area.  It was fields that were flooded but there were strips of woodland in between.  He was hunting with a relatively new friend in this new area and they turned ol Poison loose.  Shortly thereafter they heard her on track...Ooohhhh Ooooohhhh then nothing.  Ol Billy said, she's in the area of that coon that nobody can tree... Lots have tried but he'll lose her for sure...just wait!

 It was the wierdest thing.   You would hear her going Oooohhhh Ooooohhh, then nothing for a few minutes, then it would repeat the same.   What was she doing?  Darn if we knew, we had never heard her do that before.  This went on for 15-20 minutes.  Then all at once Billy said-Look at that!  From where we stood a coon went swimming right by us.  Then Ooooohhhhh Ooooohhhhh, about 30-40 feet behind was Poison swimming like mad.  Finally, we figured out what she was doing.  While she was swimming she couldn't bark, but as soon as her feet hit a high spot she would bark and off she would go again!.   We could see the coon swim to a patch of dry land and disappear into the woods.   With ol Poison hot on his tail she swam to same area that the coon hi-tailed it into the woods, got out on the dry land howling as she went, she went back and forth once or twice along the edge and off into the woods she went, on to tree that untreeable big old boar coon. Our new friend, Billy was amazed and we once more learned new respect for our old friend, Poison.  We were and are still so proud of her. 

Her blood can be found in many of our current Lone Pine line.  Her drive and love of the hunt and readiness to please is found in many of her offspring.  We will alway treasure the many many memories we had of nights in the woods with old Poison.

GRNITECH GRCH Lone Pine Kate

 The Late Great Kate

There are so many stories and great hunts we experienced with Kate.  She was a late bloomer not starting until she was over 2 years old.  But let me tell you something, when Kate started she made up for lost time, tracking and treeing like the true champion that she was.  She finished 8th in the World Hunt, Won at both Treeing Walker Days both Southeastern and the one in Indiana.   She was impressive to hunt, we had an offer to buy her when we were competing with her at Walker days when she was 11 years old.   She put it all over the 4 year old male she was hunting against.  The fella that wanted to buy her said that she was a treeing machine...and she was.  She was all business in the woods.  Making hard tracks seem so easy and blowing the top out of the trees when she treed.

Sharp Tooth's Sable   1995-2007

This is a picture of Sable in her youth (and Steve) above

and Sable at the top of her game.  Not only does she show exquisite conformation, but an incredible nose that could "wind" coons driving down the road.  Her very long legs granted her incredible speed on track to drive that coon up the tree. She ran track with her head in the air running full speed.    You could hear her pulling ahead of the rest of the "pack" and treeing long before the others got to her.  She had exquisite conformation which seems to have followed through to all of her pups (Judy, Molly & Trish have all won conformation titles, hunt and tracking titles.  You will find her pups shown on various pages on this website). Sable truly had unbelievable drive and tracking ability which are among some of the fine qualities repeatedly being displayed in her pups.  Her Grandson Odin, is showcased on our Pups Past and Present page, and at 6 months is showing the drive his grandmother had and her conformation as well. 

Sable's untreeable coon.

 Once again, we were out hunting one night with Billy.   We turned loose along some corn fields which lined the bottom of a rather steep mountain.  Many times the mountains in this area were either really rocky with big rocks or scattered with little rocks that would roll under your feet when you try to climb up or with thorny bushes that we called greenbriers, or sometimes so thick that sometimes you had to crawl under it to get through it.   We had 2 other old hounds with us and one pup.   We turned Sable loose along with the others.  She skirted the cornfield and them promptly started into the woods heading up the mountain.  Billy said...uh -oh, she's on the coon that can't be treed.  We hunt him a lot but he always looses them in a big den tree almost at the top of the mountain.  She'll never get him.  Well we stood there and you could hear Sable's big bawl mouth start to pull away from the pack, and she was soon probably 1/4 mile ahead of the others who were also bawling on track.   Billy said, ah, she'll never get him, he can't be treed!.   All at once, Sable locked down and started her hard tree bawl she was so many times miscalled as a male with by those who had never hunted with her.  Billy said, Holy Cow!   The coon didn't reach the den.  We high-tailed it up there and lo and behold she had a big boar.

Good ol Sable slowed down some with age but she continued to be a formidable  force to be dealt with in the woods until she passed on in 2007.  She also hunted in some of the biggest hunts UKC had to offer and did very well for herself.  She was a local legend, an all round great coon dog.  Most who hunted with her always remark what an incredible hound she was.  When she passed it was a tremendous loss for us personally and for our kennel.  Her legend lives on in her daughter FCH, WCH SCH Sharp Tooth Kennels Judy, who is much like her mother in many ways and in her grandson Lone Pine Finley River Odin who started showing incredible promise at an early age and has become quite a hound in the woods as well as on the show bench.

NITECH Lone Pine Cowboy's Jody    1999-2008

Nite Champion Lone Pine Cowboy's Jody was a first rate track and tree dog. When she struck you knew she had the coon - she did not miss..no empty trees with this gal. She was a great dog to hunt when the leaves were OFF the trees! Many times you would turn this gal loose with a bunch of other dogs and as sure as the sun would rise the next day, in a little while you'd hear a little squeal and a whaaaooooop. Jody had struck.  Now on track she had a nice bawl and a great chop on tree, but you knew when you heard her open she was on that old ringtailed rascal and now it was just a matter of time before she treed.  This picture was taken in late 2006. In 2007 she qualified 2 times for the World Hunt and once for the Youth World Hunt. She was always ready to hunt, always a solid dependable hunter, a lay up artist.   Lone Pine Jody has passed on but her bloodline still lives on in our kennel.   Our pages are filled with her offspring winning many events.   We truly miss her.