Fox Hounds as pets?

[Foxhunter49]

well im sadden to see so many people havent been able to suceed with their hounds, i have had many a " pet" foxhound some from working hunts, and some not, foxhounds arent any different then any other breed and will reward you with what you put into them, i dont think they suit everyboby however which breed does, i could live with little yappy dogs, as for not beinghardtohouse train or do anything with i have never had a problem training any of our rescues that we deal with and we have had a lot, as we are the only speicalist rehoming/welfare group for the foxhound in the uk,
plenty of exercise and allowing them to use ther brain- yes foxhounds have a brain, the learn differently from other breed and yes might not be your chocolate soldier that doesnt do anything with out being told to but personally thats what i love about my breed, we currently have hounds that have hunted and ones that never have and personly living with 5 couple(thats 10 hounds) IN MY HOUSE NOT KENNELED< and two border collies, my hounds are fab, the rescues are brillient, they are great with strangers, other breeds of dogs, children, yes granted some have higher prey drive then others, and that means they will chase smaller furries like cats and rabbits but we have also been sucessful in rehoming these hounds with cats and rabbits,
yes people who get foxhounds from "normal" shelters and rescue groups, will find the breed a hand full but with leadership exercise, companyand routeen, the hound will become a well adapted member of the family,
anyone wanting to come and meet my foxhounds is welcome to, and will see for them selves, and yes hunts know of me and my team and so do the Mfha. before anyone starts to give me the riot act...
amercian foxhounds are very simular to english they are fast then our english as englsh have a lttle more bone to them, huntsman who like to go fast like hunting with the american,
mad4foxhounds
our welfare site is
Http://foxhoundwelfareuk.jimdo.com

Unfortunately I am against people like you.

The Fox Hound id probably the soundest pedigree dog in the world because of the strict regime of culling anything that is not able to do the job it was bred for.
A true Fox Hound will have been trained by the hunt not to go after anything other than a fox. Yes, there have been incidents where a cat has been killed when it has run across hunting hounds paths.
I want the Fox Hound to remain as it is and not altered in any way as has the Beagle. Look at the show Beagles and a pack Beagle and it could be a separate breed.

 

[Alec Swan]

.......
The Fox Hound id probably the soundest pedigree dog in the world because of the strict regime of culling anything that is not able to do the job it was bred for........

Ah, and weren't those the days? Days when the unsuitable were put down. They weren't fobbed off on the unsuspecting public, and they didn't end up in rescue centres.

Thankfully, excepting for the odd idiot, hounds are still being bred correctly. Sadly, those who show a breed of dog, and those who give work to the animal are worlds apart.

Alec.

 

[s4sugar]

mad4foxhounds
our welfare site is
Http://foxhoundwelfareuk.jimdo.com

You may wish to alter, remove or at least add a credit to the sections of that website blatantly copied from elsewhere.

Why the photos of dogs in among the ones of hounds in the gallery?
I have met a few hounds in private hands - None of their owners had planned to get a foxhound and none would have another.

 

[Foxhunter49]

I just wonder how many of those 'rescue' hounds have had their ears tattooed.
Often on a hunt a hound will go astray and although hunting folk search for them, they have often been taken to a 'rescue' and these people refuse to acknowledge that the hound is tattooed and inform the hunt it has been found.

I met a vicar a few years ago who had one, I noted its tattoo and it had come from the Quorn. I called them, with the number and the hound had been lost a couple of months before.
The vicar had got it via a rescue so, they had not informed the hunt of it having been found.

 

[Dobiegirl]

Ive checked out your site and noticed you have Dogsfriends listed as having some welsh foxhounds, either Im going blind or daft or both but couldnt see them.

I also wonder how many of them have their ears tattooed and would do my upmost to persuade anyone thinking of adopting one. I just think its total madness.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I think this is where exceptions and rules come into play again. A minority of hounds might make good pets - but they are still a minority.

I too know of rescues which I strongly suspect refuse to contact hunts if a hound is turned in (got split up/lost from pack, etc) they might think they are doing the right thing, but that is not how I feel I have actually rung local hunts to check if they are missing hounds if I see houndy types listed on websites/FB pages here...

 

[1t34]

They make terrible pets! We were (I think!) lucky enough to walk many puppies over the years, but lived on a farm and were able to withstand the onslaught! However we did have one bitch who lived out her days with us, many years ago. We had had her to whelp a couple of times prior to her retirement and she was a good hound. In her retirement she did come into the house in the evenings to sit by the fire but as with the other dogs was banished outside come night-time. Always until the end prone to wondering, nicking anything remotely food-like and taking every other canine off with her but on a large farm it was ok. A lovely loyal hound who I still miss today. However only possible due to space and the set up - she was shot when she got creaky!

I don't understand though why more people don't walk hound puppies, great fun to see them grow, rewarding and you get to hand them back!

 

[mad4foxhounds]

S4suger- be againest me, thats fine, you do what you feel- this post was in reply to someone asking about foxhounds being owned, not about being againest me, for my opion,
in answer to a few questions- out of all the hounds we have looking for homes we have one currently been handed in to our take from a pound that is tattooed, i have contacted the hunt in which she came from and asked if they wanted me to drop her off, they signed her over to us with their blessing, and no i not going to tell you which hunt this is, i do work closely with many hunts that lose hounds and help find them, i know a lot of dog rescue dont contact the hunts or know where to start looking. i have two contacts with the Mfha who help us trace the hunts when we have hounds that are tattooed.
our rescues arent from the breeders in the uk or from the MFHA hunts, these hounds have been let down by those private or gun packs who dont id their hounds so when these hounds are found no way of tracing them, would you rather these hounds end up in pounds or places like the dogs trust who rehome to those who have little knowlodge of the breed, or come to someone who follows her local hunt and understands the breed by the sounds of it more then most on here,
NO alec i do no carry a hunting whip i dont own one or need one..
The true breed enthusiasts who show have made sure our standard is the SAME as the MFHA standard, so there will be no difference between foxhounds in the field and show ring,
S4suger if you mean on our gallery the group picture of my collies being with the hounds, and also the other pictures are of william who is foxhound border collie X from a farm.
once again the offer stands for any of you to visit us,( not that i think you will take me up on this offer)
non of owners are unsuspected anything but know everything about the hound they are interested in.

 

[lakesgirl]

Hi,I joined this forum as this thread had been brought to my attention,I have not posted before,but I just wanted to share my experience of having Foxhounds as pets.
I got Craven a Welsh/English Foxhound 18 months ago when he was about a year old,and last month I got Flint a Harrier or possibly a Dumfriesshire Foxhound,he was a stray,he is about 4/5 years old.
Both my dogs live in the house,are housetrained,fed raw and can go offlead.
I grew up with Beagles and followed the Lakeland packs so I have some experience with scenthounds.
Here are a couple of pictures of my hounds.
Craven

Flint

At home

 

[s4sugar]

Nice looking hounds but neither is a foxhound.

 

[lakesgirl]

Nice looking hounds but neither is a foxhound.

The lighter coloured one,Craven is a cross between an English & Welsh Foxhound,the darker one,Flint is of unknown heritage,but could be a Harrier.

 

[mad4foxhounds]

s4suger if either of them are foxhounds which the orange and white is what are they then come on please sure as you are almighty and wise......
nce pictures lakesgirl, bet they bring you loads of pleasure,

 

[Alec Swan]

M4F,

I can't speak for others, but I would think that Craven, if not a pure bred Fell Hound, certainly has some influence, and Flint, looking at the first pic offered, has some Bloodhound within!

It may be that they have ancestors (even immediate) who've hunted the fox, but neither are what would be called Foxhounds, in my view.

lakesgirl, they are, none the less, handsome animals, both of them!!

Alec.

Ets. M4F, let's face it, what on earth would a Cruft's Judge say? They'd have a fit!! a.

 

[s4sugar]

Saying that a cross is a foxhound is the same as saying a lurcher is a greyhound.
One of the two is a cross between two breeds of hound and the other is an unknown, it looks more like a fell hound than a harrier from the photos.

If anything more proof that foxhounds are not good pets.

 

[Dobiegirl]

Ive looked at the photos and whilst they look like nice dogs they dont look like any hounds Ive ever seen and Im familar with foxhounds,staghounds,harriers and beagles. Im not saying there is not any hound in there but its a cross not a pure bred hound. They may even be show bred hounds which again dont look like true working foxhounds.

 

[lakesgirl]

Side on view of Craven

Also gives you the height difference between the two,Craven is about 26inches tall.

 

[Dobiegirl]

For me he either looks too deep chested or fat, sorry not be rude just making an observation.

 

[lakesgirl]

For me he either looks too deep chested or fat, sorry not be rude just making an obversation.

He's not fat,he has long white hairs,the welsh part of him under his stomach.

Another view.

 

[Foxhunter49]

I don't understand though why more people don't walk hound puppies, great fun to see them grow, rewarding and you get to hand them back!

I love walking the pups and every season I learn a lesson about them. Unfortunately my forgetter is getting stronger whilst my rememberer is weakening!

I went to the abattoir to collect some tripe (and liver and pig heads) lovely job first thing in the morning. Cut it into chunks and put in bags to go in the dog freezers. Dogs all hanging around knowing that there will be a treat of part of the intestine and with any luck a bone. Stupidly, I gave them some lamb bones before I started cutting. They had all finished before I had. So, there I am with seven sacks of tripe that need transporting to the freezer. Problem is that to do so I need to leave most outside whilst I take some in.
Now my GSD is pretty good at guarding the food and not allowing any thieving but she doesn't stand a chance when three pups pounce on her to play whilst the other - and my Lab who knows better, grab what they can .
Lab drops hers on command but I have to run after Hardcore (he can run faster than me) After several retrievals on my part because every time I went after the thief another dog took advantage and chanced their luck! Finally I got all meat either in the bin for weekend feeding and rest in freezers.

Time to out the garden to bed. Cut things back, prune the roses, weed, pull up the pot plants and store for the winter.

Started at one end of the border. Hound pups happily playing rolly poly down the lawn. Doesn't take a lot to fill up the back of the ATV. Hounds have been over to check what I was doing. Received help with them chewing off the iris leaves, digging holes. Where are my secateurs? Swore I left them on the wall. See Hatpin with them. Go to retrieve to see three hounds emptying the back of the ATV so proud they have managed to get on the back. Tell hounds off. Do they care ? Do they heck!
They disappear around the back of the lake, return very proud with a deer skull. That enables me to get quite a lot of gardening done whilst they play with it. Go to the green house to put plants inside, go inside to go to the loo, pups have managed to open my backdoor, find about 24 egg shells on the floor, they had jumped up and upset the bucket with yesterdays eggs in it. Still, shells sweep up easily enough rest of the floor has been licked clean. (Later find I am missing one good leather shoe, one slipper, two rubber boots and a dog bed.)
At least they usually hide their ill gotten gains in the same place - under the big fir tree with very low branches and true to form there they are. Now wouldn't you think owning a Lab she would retrieve them for me? Would she heck! On hands and knees crawl under branches. Miraculously hounds appear thinking that this is the best game ever and attack me from all sides. GSD gets jealous and joins in. I have my belongings but they get grabbed at and I loose two shoes.
I get back out looking like I have been dragged through a hedge backwards, which I guess I have. Get all things back indoors and now have to lock the door every time I go out and pups are out.

So, having fox hound pups makes life adventurous, makes one tidy as they take anything they can reach. Two are bad enough but two couple well you can quadruple the trouble they can get into!

It never ceases to amaze me how they can crawl through or under the smallest of holes, how well they can sing in harmony!

They are wonderful and I love having them even though they are such time wasters but, I cannot wait for them to return to the kennels!

 

[JanetGeorge]

On the other hand, a good friend has a lab X foxhound and wow that is a stunning dog. Size and build of a foxhound with a slightly broader head, those piercing foxhound eyes and jet black coat. No burglars within 5 miles of their place and he is a fantastic farm dog, has turned his hand quite well to flushing escaped pigs out of hedges but ratting is completely beyond him! Not sure he would cope with a more "domestic" lifestyle though (except for sofas and log fires obviously )

I had a FoxhoundxLab bitch for 7 years - she was a rescue and about 2 years old when I got her. She'd been rehomed (and sent back) 4 times before she came to me. She had NO trouble with a 'domestic' routine - mind you, she'd growl at you if you tried to shove her off the sofa (or bed!) She was a dreadful thief (the fact that the contents of a frying pan were red hot didn't stop her!!) Apart from those few little downsides she was great - and I miss her a lot (she had to be PTS with liver failure 18 months ago!) But I probably wouldn't go out of my way to find another!

 

[mad4foxhounds]

lakesgirl up to least people then the following arent foxhounds either and these ones were tattooed,

http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac204/mad4foxhounds/partwelsh2.jpg
http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac204/mad4foxhounds/partwelsh1.jpg

and these are full welsh
http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac204/mad4foxhounds/Welsh-FH.jpg
http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/..._387069072143_717947143_4155973_6013347_n.jpg the one on the left is tattooed, but hunt didnt want him back so the woman kept him,
And this boy and his sister has found in bad condictions when the huntsman was find for keeping the hounds in bad way
http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac204/mad4foxhounds/ARCHIEANDFAMILY.jpg


and even my foxhounds that are from working parents will not be foxhounds according to some on here as for flint being part bloodhound, really! the size alone says other wise, and i hunt with bloodhounds, but once again i know nothing to those who dont even life with the breeds they are talking about.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Both of Lakesgirl's dogs went missing (ran off) on a walk yesterday. If you are in the Dumfries area, please keep your eyes and ears open. I think she's put them on Dogslost.

 

[Laura1812]

There was a harrier trotting down the main road near me this summer - i live in a very touristy part of Devon - he was causing an almight hold up. Some tourists towing a caravan in front of us were out in the road trying to catch him. Luckily my brain engaged pretty quickly and i lept out the car and grabbed him from them and bundled him in the back. We drove him to the kennels which were about a mile away. The huntsman hadnt realised he was missing yet, but boy, was he greatful that we returned him straight back to him. He said he has lost a few in his lifetime and they often disappear without trace. Just makes you wonder what the tourists were actually going to do with a stray hound once they caught him?

 

[The Original Kao]

Both of Lakesgirl's dogs went missing (ran off) on a walk yesterday. If you are in the Dumfries area, please keep your eyes and ears open. I think she's put them on Dogslost.

Can't see anything for them on dogslost. Was gonna put a post on facebook for her.

 

[Alec Swan]

I shall resist making any banal remarks!

On the positive side, all hound are survivors, and I'm sure that they'll turn up. Mostly they do! They're anything but stupid.

Alec.

 

[g3mm4]

These two have now been found, together asleep under a tree aparently

 

[Cinnamontoast]

These two have now been found, together asleep under a tree aparently

Thank God, poor girl must have had a dreadful day.

 

[Maesfen]

These two have now been found, together asleep under a tree aparently

Glad they were found but it's actually very worrying that they didn't make straight for home when they could. IME, anything that has a kip while it's missing usually means it will stay away, carry straight on hunting again and go feral if it can.
This is why retired working foxhounds are not the best candidates for re-homing, it's far too easy for them to go back to their hunting ways without a care in the world for their carer because that is what they were bred to do, it's natural to them and it's no life for them if they're not able to run free ever again on a walk.

 

[Hunters]

Glad they were found but it's actually very worrying that they didn't make straight for home when they could. IME, anything that has a kip while it's missing usually means it will stay away, carry straight on hunting again and go feral if it can.
This is why retired working foxhounds are not the best candidates for re-homing, it's far too easy for them to go back to their hunting ways without a care in the world for their carer because that is what they were bred to do, it's natural to them and it's no life for them if they're not able to run free ever again on a walk.

I concur with Wynnstay.

We had a lonesome hound puppy that we were puppy walking. Because she was a 'lone' puppy arrving in winter, she stayed in the house with our other dogs as to put her in a stable on her own seemed unfair. She became very affectionate and house trained (well mostly) the huntsman eventually looked at her and said we should keep her as a pet. This was marvelous at the time, but within a year, because she kept going awol, we had to return her to the hunt. The local gamekeepers were so fed up with her hunting that they were threatening to shoot her.

She went to kennels, and did settle in - but maybe because of her late return never made it as a hound. Apparently, she was drafted to another pack - but I am not convinced as no one can remember where to......

Don't have one as a pet is the moral of the story.

 

[lexiedhb]

Glad they were found but it's actually very worrying that they didn't make straight for home when they could. IME, anything that has a kip while it's missing usually means it will stay away, carry straight on hunting again and go feral if it can.
This is why retired working foxhounds are not the best candidates for re-homing, it's far too easy for them to go back to their hunting ways without a care in the world for their carer because that is what they were bred to do, it's natural to them and it's no life for them if they're not able to run free ever again on a walk.

To be honest LOTS of dogs, for many and varied reasons can never go off lead outside the home. Does not mean they do not have a fulfilled life.