United Kennel Club invites all dog lovers to the Williams County Fairgrounds in Montpelier, Ohio, where hundreds of the country’s best coonhounds will compete on September 18-20 in the 2014 UKC Coonhound World Championship Finals.
The UKC Coonhound World Championship is the final leg of the UKC Triple Crown Challenge, sponsored by Black Gold Dog Foods. This event offers three days of world-class competition. Participants compete for cash and prizes provided by the event sponsors, as well as prestige; the 2014 World Nite Hunt Champion and 2014 World Bench Show Champion will be crowned. In accordance with UKC Rules and Regulations, no game is taken and no firearms are allowed.
Competitors in this annual competition start as part of a group of thousands of World Champion hopefuls, representing entries from all over the U.S. and Canada. The field of hopefuls is narrowed to the best-of-the-best coonhounds and handlers during the 150 Regional Qualifying Events that take place across the country throughout the year. These qualified entries are again required to show their merit by competing in one of eight Semifinal Events, also scattered throughout the country. Semifinal events challenge the participants from each region to ensure only the top contenders make it to the World Championship Finals.
“The UKC World Coonhound Championship is without question the most sought-after title in the sport of coonhound competition hunting,” UKC Senior Vice President Todd Kellam began.
“Approximately 4,500 entries attempt to qualify annually for this event. Nearly 1,000 do so successfully. This year, 661 of those advanced to the Semifinals where the field is then narrowed to the best 100 coonhounds in the Nation. At the World Championship Finals in Montpelier, a dog must string together as many as five consecutive wins against other world-class hounds in an effort to secure the World Championship title. The accomplishment is nothing short of heroic in the world of sporting dogs,” he explained.
To experience the competitive thrill of this action-packed, distinguished coonhound event, spectators are encouraged to attend and are invited to meet and greet the coonhound/owner teams from across the country, but are asked to not bring their dogs or pets to the event, as only dogs registered to compete are allowed on the event grounds. From Round 1 on Thursday to Saturday’s pre-hunt final cast interview and the live play-by-play of the hunt later that night, the World Championship Finals is a coonhound event unlike any other. For complete details about the 2014 UKC Coonhound World Championship, and all UKC licensed events, please visit www.ukcdogs.com.
