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Dog-baying competition draws dogs from all over Southeast
This dog score
Ruff work: This dog scores a perfect 30 in the single dog baying competition. - photo by Mike Riddle / Coastal Courier
This past weekend, competitors from as far as South Carolina, Florida, and Alabama; and from surrounding Camden, Liberty, Evans, Appling, and Tattnall Counties, all came out to the dog-baying Competition hosted by Ray’s Bay Pen.
In dog-baying competition, points for a dog is based on a perfect score of 30, with the dog having two minutes to acquire as many points as he can while maintaining control of the other animal in the pen.
“Some of the scoring is based on how the dog keeps the hog at bay, keeping him contained and not looking away from him,” Kathy Ray said.
Other items which will deduct points include a dog’s over aggressiveness and showing a loss of interest in the animal he is in the pen with, Cliff Ray, who organized the event, said.
Ronald Lee, who was from Alabama, gave some pointers on how he trained his dogs, “I take the dogs when they are about four months and start working them with cows in a catch pen; if they will bay a cow, they will bay anything.”
The day was fun for old and young alike; Justin Haggerty, 19, said, “I really enjoy coming to these bays. Right now I’m trying to find another dog myself.”
Reed McReady, 10, said, “My favorite part is watching the dogs bay. Pretty soon I’m going to get my own dog and train him”.
One of the dogs, who wasn’t in the competition but gave a demonstration, was Hooch, who is owned by Ray. Hooch, who is a Louisiana Catahoula dog, was the Dog-Baying Overall World Champion in 2004 and was on the cover of the publication, Bayed Solid.
Tony Maney summed up a lot of people’s opinions on the day by saying, “Some of the most fun you’ll ever have is watching baying. The whole family has a good time.”
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