History of the Layser Hound
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In today's day of everyone looking for, and many claiming that their hounds blood lines trace back the famous dry ground hounds of the past, Layser's Kennel is one of the only sources that trace their blood directly to those hounds of yesteryear. With that said; those famous dry ground hounds that are so famously pursued were not without need of improvement.
Beginning in the 1940s and into the 1950s the provincial government of British Columbia, Canada, recognized that the bounty system that was in place to control wild predators was not accomplishing their goal. The over all populations of predators were being kept in check, however the number of conflicts with predators in the rural and fringe areas, where control was needed most, were not decreasing. In response to this the government moved to end the bounty system and establish full time positions of predator control officers under the then Fish and Game Branch. This process came down to a very simple interview. The top bounty hunters that were responsible for the highest number of predators submitted under the bounty system were invited to take part. The interview consisted of a meeting where the hunters where informed of the plan to move to full time positions and then told that those of them that were interested in the job had one week to bring as many dead cougar back as they could. The individual with the most at the end of a week would get the job.
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At this point the BC Government had a number of tools at its disposal to address predators. Three types of chemical poisons, traps, hounds and Arial Gunning were all acceptable at the time. The most difficult to find was quality hounds and a man that could handle them to address cougar problems effectively and consistently. At the end of the week long competition a few of the men brought in cougar. One had three, a couple had two. One man brought in seven. That man was Jim Dewer. Jim went on to be the head predator hunter for the province and was responsible for establishing the quality standard for the hounds.
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Unnumbered photo page adjacent to page 64 of book "Never a time to Trust" by author Joe Garner. Reproduced with copyright permission. Note: reference to one of many early hounds purchased from Lee brothers of Arizona and brought to Vancouver island by Jim Dewar.
Prior to his employment with the government Jim had sourced hounds from the Lee brothers of Arizona to help him maintain the standard and quality that he wanted. During his time as head predator hunter Jim was tasked with not only maintaining the hounds that he brought to the job but also supplying hounds to the rest of the predator hunters of the province that required them. It was at this point Jim Dewer made a journey to Arizona by train. In Arizona Jim hunted with the Lee brothers and was able to watch their hounds work. Jim purchased hounds that he hunted with in Arizona from the Lee brothers and brought them home to British Columbia and proceeded to use and cross them with his original hounds.
One of the next generations of game wardens that worked under Jim Dewer was a man by the name of Jack Lay. Jack started with the game branch in 1952, he trained under a man named Mort Mortensen in Williams Lake before Jack was transferred to Abbotsford for the remainder of his career. Jack maintained a pack of hounds prior to working for the game branch and improved his bloodline by making crosses with Jim Dewar's hounds. Jack was the last of the original version of a game warden in British Columbia that maintained hounds.
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One of Jack's sons Dan took to the hound hunting and trapping like few ever have. Dan acquired hounds from Jack as well as sourced quality blood and working hounds from what few sources he could find, even at that time, of some of the same blood.
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In 1974 Dan started with the BC Government under what was known by then as the Conservation Officer Service; formerly the Fish and Game Branch. Dan was actively sought out by the service because they needed someone that could address problem cougar reports successfully in all conditions and in fact at the age of nineteen Dan was hired to replace a man on Vancouver Island who held the position (after Jim Dewar died) of predator control officer, with hounds, that could not do the job. Dan was stationed in Nanimo, the same town that Jim Dewer lived in during his service and prior to his death and lived in the same small community on the outskirts of Nanimo.
With Jack Lay and Jim Dewar having hunted together Dan knew there were large shoes to fill. Dan successfully used his own hounds to carry out the work he was hired to do. The same work for which the standards and dogs were originally designed and built: to respond to conflicts with cougar and stop it from happening again. During his time in uniform Dan responded to hundreds of files involving cougar; from simple sightings to wounded cats and approximately a dozen cougar attacks on people resulting in both severe injury and death. Never did Dan or his hounds fail to get the job done when called upon. Furthermore, keeping in mind that some things are out of a handlers’ control, in Dan’s hound hunting career, now continuing with his son Kyle, they have never lost a dog to a cougar or a bear.
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Dan coined the name Layser Hounds and started Layser's Kennel. While always recognizing those that came before, Dan is not one to let improvement go undone. Over the years Dan has strived to improve on the quality of working hounds that are produced from the origins of those original working dogs.
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While others today continue to chase this idea of "old blood" few are willing to admit that this is a fantasy; for the simple fact that the original blood lines and characteristics of such are washed out over time and breeding. Without the excessive commitment to the quality of working characteristics and sound breeding methods this “old blood”, and more importantly the dogs that it produces, are lost. Dan not only maintained the quality of the dogs, but improved it.
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For those that got word along the way, yes according to the doctors Dan did die at one point, but he is alive and well today!
Kyle and Dan with hounds, responding by float plane under contract
5 hours cold trailing at -35 C (-13 F) responding to cougar that killed a ranchers dog
Today Dan and Kyle continue to improve the hounds based on those same ideas of what makes a great working and hunting hound that must deliver when called upon to respond no matter the age of the track or the conditions at the time.
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For more details as to what to expect in a Layser Hound see: What is a Layser Hound?
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1971