Bob Ford

Ramey, PA

Background

Bob has hunted with beagles from Alabama to the Quebec border in pursuit of swamp rabbits, the eastern cottontail, and hare. He has owned beagles since 1985 and trains his hounds year round, sometimes competing in field trials, but always conditioning his pack with an eye looking forward to the rabbit hunting season. Ford is an award winning writer and a monthly contributor to the premiere hunting beagle magazines--Hounds and Hunting, The American Beagler, and Better Beagling. His favorite music is a pack of beagles echoing their voices through a valley on a foggy morning, and he prefers vintage American made side by side shotguns. Ford is a member of The Outdoor Writers Association of America, The Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association, and the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers. He is in the briars with the hounds most mornings at dawn and you can find more about him at www.beaglebard.com.

Why I Use SportDOG Brand

I use SportDOG because they are the innovators in the industry of training collars. Sure, there are other companies that understand global positioning—and they are devoted to many projects. SportDOG is about the sporting dog, as the name implies. When it comes to customer service, you will have no trouble calling the company and getting help from fellow dog enthusiasts who both understand the technology and thoroughly appreciate your goals as a hunter. It is SportDOG’s singular focus on developing tools for training and conditioning canine hunting partners that impresses me.

Favorite Products

As a beagler my biggest concern is the ability to know my pack’s location, especially if the hunt carries me in the vicinity of roads. SportDOG tracking technology is my favorite product.

Articles by Bob Ford

Simple Trick to Keeping Your Dog Hydrated When Hunting

Conditioning and hunting dogs in the hot months of summer and early season requires that we are careful about hydration. No doubt about it, my dogs will drink from the nastiest mud puddle in the field, but I prefer that they do not. Stagnant water in the field could carry...

Other Senior Prostaff

I’ve hunted upland game birds from North Dakota to Northern Maine, spending most of my time in my home state of Michigan. My love for pheasants dates back to my days as a youngster, first chasing them with our Labradors, German Shorthaired Pointers, or the occasional contact while running beagles...

Matt Mates

I’ve hunted upland game birds from North Dakota to Northern Maine, spending most of my time in my home state of Michigan. My love for pheasants dates back to my days as a youngster, first chasing them with our Labradors, German Shorthaired Pointers, or the occasional contact while running beagles...

Tom Keer

Tom Keer is an award-winning writer, columnist and blogger who regularly writes for over a dozen outdoor magazines. He owns The Keer Group, a full-service, outdoor marketing company and hunts and fishes with his wife and children. Don't hold it against him, but he's a setter guy. Visit him at...

I've been training dogs, professionally, since the summer of 2012, after graduating from Clemson University with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology. I spent a year working and apprenticing under some of the best pros in the business, before going out on my own in the spring of 2013,...

Colby Williams

I've been training dogs, professionally, since the summer of 2012, after graduating from Clemson University with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology. I spent a year working and apprenticing under some of the best pros in the business, before going out on my own in the spring of 2013,...