Rehoming hounds

[scruffyponies]

Considering rehoming a bloodhound. OH says I'm crazy and it will just pick up the scent of a deer in the garden and go.
Is he right?

Also, what are folk's experience of house-training previously kennel-kept hounds?

 

[Birker2020]

We had our beagle when she was about three months old, she came from a hunt pack and was housed with other hounds of her age. Unfortunately she was the runt and was 2 inches too short to run with the pack so was going to be shot.

Partners previous boss who left partners place of employment to run kennels as a kennelman rang him to tell him about the bitch so he ended up taking the kids and falling in love.

She'd already had her dew claws removed and her ears tattooed by that stage so she may have been a little older than three months. She was a bit wild insomuch to begin with as she got bored very easily despite having tons of toys and being attended to every 3 to 4 hours by partner who lived on site and she got through 2 three piece suites and some lovely Queen Elizabeth furniture legs. So we got her a dog flap in the back door as she never looked back, would spend her time in between the back garden and house.

 

[Clodagh]

We have had retired bassets, fox hounds and harriers. I don’t know much about blood hounds specifically.
They tend to not like to live alone, house training is difficult, they will go off on a scent (it’s what they know) but they are lovely individuals.
We had a farm where they could amuse themselves rabbiting. I wouldn’t want one without space.

 

[scruffyponies]

We have acres of garden and other dogs already... but also estates on either side, who wouldn't look kindly on loose dogs.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Was this bloodhound a former hunting hound? They are trained to climb over or otherwise circumvent fences and other obstacles, so keeping one in the garden (however extensive) could be a challenge.

 

[Hackback]

Nor sure about bloodhounds hunting deer. I've followed them through Chatsworth estate and seen them completely ignore the herds of deer and sheep. Presumably down to training/control but clearly they don't HAVE to chase deer. Unlike my dog who is supposed to be a livestock guardian - presumably mistaking deer for wolves ?

ETA Would a single bloodhound be lonely if it came from a pack?

 

[CorvusCorax]

I know one which was used for trailing work and it was not livestock safe. If the misper or suspect had gone through a field of sheep or cattle it was game over. Generally regarded as a bit of a nightmare by anyone who came across it.

I swim my dog where the local bloodhound pack is kept. They never shut up but it is quite a nice sound once they all get going. And they are very much pack animals.

 

[scruffyponies]

Was this bloodhound a former hunting hound? They are trained to climb over or otherwise circumvent fences and other obstacles, so keeping one in the garden (however extensive) could be a challenge.

This is my worry. Parts of the garden are well fenced, and parts not so great, so I have no doubt a determined roamer would be off.
They would have to be good with livestock, but I'm happy to train that in. Even confirmed chicken chasers can be taught.
I love their sound. The saddest noise I have ever heard came from a bloodhound who had been returned lame to the trailer whilst his friends hunted on ;(

 

[Clodagh]

Rehome a Bassett, they are at least less athletic. We had one called Spree. She was a complete nightmare but the loveliest ‘person’.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I realise this is a different debate for a different day and I'm not getting at you, OP, but I've seen a couple of posts on here today which suggest that inherent genetics can be trained over the top of, which I fundamentally disagree with. If a dog is easy to train out of chasing then it wasn't really 'in them' anyway, which is why a lot of hunting breeds get rehomed in the first place.

 

[scruffyponies]

I realise this is a different debate for a different day and I'm not getting at you, OP, but I've seen a couple of posts on here today which suggest that inherent genetics can be trained over the top of, which I fundamentally disagree with. If a dog is easy to train out of chasing then it wasn't really 'in them' anyway, which is why a lot of hunting breeds get rehomed in the first place.

You're right, of course. We do have form on this though, since our oldest dog is a setter whose sole aim in life is to find and murder things with feathers. Aged 16 she is still out hunting, but she knows chickens are off limits.

 

[Hackback]

Interesting fact which probably everyone already knows ... bloodhounds in hunting packs have been crossed with foxhounds to make them more sociable. Pure bloodhounds are apparently not pack animals so much.

 

[TGM]

Interesting fact which probably everyone already knows ... bloodhounds in hunting packs have been crossed with foxhounds to make them more sociable. Pure bloodhounds are apparently not pack animals so much.

I knew that hunting bloodhounds have a little foxhound blood in them, but I was told that this was to make them faster, not to make them more sociable.

 

[Hackback]

I knew that hunting bloodhounds have a little foxhound blood in them, but I was told that this was to make them faster, not to make them more sociable.

I was told that bloodhounds are quite grumpy in nature ? It was a talk by the master of a local pack. I should imagine both things are probably true. When I think about Clement Freud's bloodhounds (showing my age) it looked completely different to the hunting bloodhounds you see today.

 

[Hackback]

OMG just googled Clement Freud's bloodhound and all the pictures are black and white. I didn't realise I was so old.

 

[scruffyponies]

Don't google Clement Freud... that is a rabbit hole you don't want to go down.

 

[splashgirl45]

had to google , too curious, didnt realise what he had been accused of...yet another one

 

[Kat]

Nor sure about bloodhounds hunting deer. I've followed them through Chatsworth estate and seen them completely ignore the herds of deer and sheep. Presumably down to training/control but clearly they don't HAVE to chase deer. Unlike my dog who is supposed to be a livestock guardian - presumably mistaking deer for wolves ?

ETA Would a single bloodhound be lonely if it came from a pack?

I have too, and I know that pack have rehomed hounds to private homes successfully in the past.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I found the links to other 'famous' cases very interesting!