When I talk speed I am only talking the speed at which a dog can move a track. A fast track dog is one that runs a track with his head up and off to the side of it. There are dogs that can actually run a track a mile in 2 or 3 minutes and bay a hog but they are rare I have only owned 4 of them in my life. Half my dogs are a little open so I have to have fast dogs because if a dog opens on a track he has to be able to run it at least twice as fast as a silent dog because the hog is already running because he opened his mouth.
With a good crosswind the dogs should be running a little behind the hog and to the downwind side maybe 20 to 25 yards and they are running with their heads up smelling the hog off the wind currents and looking for the hog. They do this in the thick woods where they can't see the hog nor keep up due to the vegetation.
