how likely is it that a dog from a hunt wandered into my yard?

[eyesontheground]

This week a beautiful hound showed up in my yard. He had a collar on with phone numbers, etc. I called the ‘owner’ and said hey, I have your dog and by the way, how long as he been missing…he is VERY skinny.

The ‘owner’ told me he found the dog wandering in the woods (he was out hunting…with a gun, not on a horse) this past weekend. He took the dog to the vet, had the vet look for a microchip and give him a general health exam. Other than the skinny he checked out healthy and did not have a chip. He keeps getting out of this guys kennel (which he can’t figure out).

The area where the guy was hunting is nearish some fixtures of a hunt.

So, my question, would a hunt microchip a dog? Or is it just a coincident that the dog looks like he strolled off the hunt field and into my yard or into my neighbors kennel, as it were.

I am not trying to stir up trouble. I am just curious how likely it is that this is a missing hunt dog vs some dog someone dropped in the woods vs a dog who (as we know) is a houdini.

(Just to clarify, I do not live in N. Central FL anymore. So, no…this is not a potential Misty Morning dog. I will get around to changing my location eventually. )

[cssutton]

I don’t understand your reason for posting this.

First, what breed of hound does the local hunt club have? You can look at a hound and tell whether he is American, Walker or PMD.

Second, it is so easy to call the club and ask whether they are missing a hound. Why don’t you?

Last, I expect that your neighbor has already checked with the club unless he knows that it is a different breed.

You can find out all of the above simply by asking a few questions. You don’t need to stir anything up if you do it right.

Claude S. Sutton, Jr.

[Jaegermonster]

Where are you? I hunt with a couple of hunts (one of them being Misty Morning) and could probably tell you.
I don’t believe the hunts I hunt with have chipped the hounds, only due to the expense.
But we also don’t leave them out. We will stay out or go back out til we blow them in or otherwise account for them. And they have collars on with the contact info for the hunt.

There is a possibility it is some deer hunters dog that got away from him and didn’t come in. That happens a lot this time of year. And some hunters just get pissed off when their hounds don’t come in and leave them out there. I see lots of loose deer dogs around my neighborhood this time of year.

But again, if you know the area hunt you can just call them and ask. Sometimes they place retired hounds with folks and they are known to dig out or get out occasionally. If he’s digging out of your neighbors kennel there’s your answer right there.

[Beverley]

Are there any tattoos in the hound’s ears? That’s the conventional id for a foxhound, or at least was in my experience in the past- hunt’s id in left ear, litter number/year of birth etc in right ear. I wouldn’t expect to find same if the hound belongs to a night hunter or deer hunter, but Claude can correct me if I am wrong.

Hounds can indeed wander for weeks and for great distances, despite a hunt’s or other owner’s best efforts to find them.

[Auventera_Two]

Where I live, hounds are a dime a dozen and lost/thrown out/abandoned frequently. The shelter is full of hunting dogs that got lost. The people around here raise packs of them and when they take out 20 dogs, if one doesn’t come back, oh well. He’s coyote bait. There are always a handfull of “found a hound” flyers hung up at the vet’s office. I live in the thick of “coon dog” territory and we’ve had one turn up on our doorstep before too. Bullet hole in the head, teeth broken at the gum line, and about 20 pounds underweight.

I have a beagle/walker hound and that sucker would roam 10 miles a day if I let him. Hounds get on a scent and they get so involved that they “lose” themselves.

I would keep trying to contact the local hunt clubs, but also keep in mind it could be a coon hunter or deer hunter’s dog. In my experience, the GOOD sportsmen that love their dogs and care for their well being fit them with chips and tracking collars so they can follow them on GPS. (I’m talking coon and deer hunters here - not fox hunters because I have no clue what their protocols or traditions are.)

[Elghund2]

The best thing is to call the local hunts. We had one hound go missing when we did a joint meet two years ago. The hunts searched for a couple of day with no luck. Nine months later he got a call from someone that they had the hound in their back yard. He was fat as a tick.

This past season the same hound goes missing in the Carolinas. Huntsman again spends time looking for him with no luck. He got one report that the hound had been spotted nearly 50 miles from the meet. The most recent report had him about ten miles from the meet but no one has been able to coral him. We’re hoping he joins up with one of the local hunts and we get him back. From the reports we’ve gotten, he’s still looking good.

When I was with LHW we had one hound that hunted every hunt because you couldn’t keep him in the kennels. He got out every time we hunted.

[Thomas_1]

They normally have their ears tattooed. But are you sure this is actually a fox hound???

I’m a little unclear what you’re trying to tell us but if you’re saying that the “owner” you phoned had just acquired it having found it then I’m not surprised it keeps escaping. Fox hounds have a huge instinct to return home and find their pack. It’s not uncommon for one to get separated or “lost” one when out hunting, but they always come back. Even when they’ve been up to 10 miles away they turn back up at home howling to get back in.

I’m presuming though this owner wasn’t thinking you could take a single fox hound shooting???!!!

You said it was out hunting with a gun??? And not in a pack??

Fox hounds aren’t retrievers! Fox hounds p*** off to go find their quarry. They don’t wait for someone to shoot it.

[JSwan]

I have seen a dog climb a six foot chain link fence and get out of a kennel.

So yes, there are dogs that are Houdini’s, just like some horses. My beagle is a Houdini. (unless I accidentally lock her in the dressing room of my trailer - then she just sits there until I figure out where she is)

This may not be a foxhound - at least not the type of foxhound you’re thinking off. There are many types of large hounds used for hunting, and to the nonhound person they may all look the same.

This could be a coonhound, deer hound, bear hound or foxhound (for southern style hunting not English style mounted hunting)

The fact that it’s “skinny” doesn’t mean the hound was neglected. It may be that the hound was very fit, very lean, and since it’s been lost has not been able to restore the needed calories.

I’m not sure what you want to do. What I do when I find a lost dog is contact the shelters in the surrounding counties. If I suspect the dog may be a working dog, I’ll ask them if they know the names or contact info for local clubs. There can be many clubs in a small area, all private clubs and kennels. And you’d be surprised how far a dog can range in very little time, especially a scent hound.

If you intend to try and locate the true owner of the hound, that’s what I would do - work with local shelters and if they have email, maybe you can email them photos of the hound so they can put it in their list of “found” dogs.

Hope that helps. When I hunted with my beagle, she used to become VERY lean, including ribs showing just a bit. My vet was thrilled and congratulated me on having such a fit dog - she’s more used to treated dogs for obesity these days.

(of course, said beagle no longer hunts and is fat as a tick.)

[Thomas_1]

[QUOTE=JSwan;3707168]
I have seen a dog climb a six foot chain link fence and get out of a kennel.[/QUOTE]
As soon as I saw that I was going to post… “so you own a beagle then” and… I read on!.. you do :lol:

My sister in law has them and they climb over or tunnel under anything and everything and return home sometime/whenever howling to get back in!

[EqTrainer]

@Auventera Two;3707075

Where I live, hounds are a dime a dozen and lost/thrown out/abandoned frequently. The shelter is full of hunting dogs that got lost. The people around here raise packs of them and when they take out 20 dogs, if one doesn’t come back, oh well. He’s coyote bait. There are always a handfull of “found a hound” flyers hung up at the vet’s office. I live in the thick of “coon dog” territory and we’ve had one turn up on our doorstep before too. Bullet hole in the head, teeth broken at the gum line, and about 20 pounds underweight.

I have a beagle/walker hound and that sucker would roam 10 miles a day if I let him. Hounds get on a scent and they get so involved that they “lose” themselves.

I would keep trying to contact the local hunt clubs, but also keep in mind it could be a coon hunter or deer hunter’s dog. In my experience, the GOOD sportsmen that love their dogs and care for their well being fit them with chips and tracking collars so they can follow them on GPS. (I’m talking coon and deer hunters here - not fox hunters because I have no clue what their protocols or traditions are.)

I am sorry to say I have to ditto on this one.

Every year we watch dogs freeze and starve to death out here because that is exactly the attitude - “stupid dog couldn’t be found, so I’m going back to my warm cozy house, eff 'em.” The thing is, they keep them kenneled probably 350 days out of the year and they have absolutely no training at all. What are the chances they will recall? Slim to none. That’s why we can never catch them, they are terrified of humans, do not associate them with good things, and end up in little packs of other stray dogs wandering around.

The people who “own” these dogs don’t live out here. Who knows where they come from in their shiny new trucks and complete camo outfits and powerful guns. They mostly sit on the side of the road hoping a deer will come out of the woods towards them or cross the road in front of them so they can shoot it. It’s SO NOT SPORTING. Sometimes they bring lawn chairs :eek: After they lose their dogs, if they look for them, it’s by driving up and down the road. Fast. I can usually see their dogs because I am on foot and looking past the trees/bushes that line the road From the overall condition of these men, they haven’t taken an athletic step in many years, perhaps their entire lives and clearly they’ll be damned if they are going to step out of their Country Cadillac Truck and perhaps break a sweat.

The ugliest/worst part? They are NEVER spayed or neutered. So the female dogs, by January/February, are bags of bones with huge bellies full of puppies. I have been told that hunt clubs dogs are not required to be spayed or neutered and are not charged the extra fee for having an intact dog each year… sweet :rolleyes: So I guess they can just keep breeding them as disposable deer flushers. It’s disgusting.

Keeping this horse related - their dogs really don’t like hitting the electric fence. Before I had tensile I would find them in the pastures trying to drink water out of the horses water, licking their food dishes… one time a big, fat beagle came and laid down on my porch, I called the number on his collar and they said to take him in the road and turn him loose
“so the people out that day could find him”. I saw him many times after that… skinnnier and skinnnier… and then one day I saw him no more.

For the OP: Just take the dog to a shelter. The chances of someone actually giving a damn about that dog are slim to none so unless you want a new pet, who is in the habit of escaping, you may as well complete the cycle of neglect that you have been set up for. It so pisses me off that we have to deal with what these people do every year. They get to just drive away. IME if he were with a foxhunting group, they would have made every attempt to find him and he actually would have been trained to recall and this wouldn’t have happened. I know my friends who whip tell me that a dog who won’t recall, who wanders off, who won’t stay w/the pack is rehomed or shot because they cannot have that. Hence the vital difference between fox hunters who hunt w/dogs and deer/coon hunters who hunt with dogs… RESPONSIBILITY.

[lcw579]

[QUOTE=Thomas_1;3707259]
As soon as I saw that I was going to post… “so you own a beagle then” and… I read on!.. you do :lol:

My sister in law has them and they climb over or tunnel under anything and everything and return home sometime/whenever howling to get back in![/QUOTE]

Aaaah, but you haven’t seen it all until you’ve witnessed a beagle in full cry and a freshly groomed standard poodle embarking on their very own fox hunt after escaping from the fenced in yard! Beagle goes under, poodle goes over and then we would wait, and wait, and wait until the two of them decide to return. They just would look at us like “What? We came back, what’s the problem?”

It’s pretty bad when the police in 2 townships and the national park police know your dogs by name! :lol:

[ArtilleryHill]

I called the number on his collar and they said to take him in the road and turn him loose
“so the people out that day could find him”. I saw him many times after that… skinnnier and skinnnier… and then one day I saw him no more.

I sure wish you’d followed your own advice here and picked him up on one of those many occasions and either adopted him or taken him to a shelter. I can’t imagine just turning one loose on the road, even if the owner told you to. Poor hound!

[EqTrainer]

@ArtilleryHill;3707514

I sure wish you’d followed your own advice here and picked him up on one of those many occasions and either adopted him or taken him to a shelter. I can’t imagine just turning one loose on the road, even if the owner told you to. Poor hound!

Unfortunately that is how I learned that they were really full of $hit. I wish I had, too. By the time I saw him again he had become very leery of people and would not come to me.

[eyesontheground]

I am sorry if I was unclear. The owner that was on the dogs collar was out hunting deer on foot and the hound came up to him. When I said very skinny I do not mean working fit.

The guy on the dog’s collar is ok with keeping the dog. He has several fat, happy, friendly dogs of his own and adding one is not a problem. I do not think the dog will be neglected…he is getting good care currently. The owner is making attempts to keep the dog in but the dog is much smarter than him.

I do not feel like it is my responsibility to call the hunt and say, hi…my neighbor has one of your dogs, here is his number. BUT if the dog ends up at my house in the future and does not look like he is making progress I will make an effort to find his original owner (ie call the hunt), find him an owner, or just keep him.

The reason I posted this is he seemed to be of high quality breeding (but clearly, what do I know about hound type dogs) and given the location the dog was found in originally, my mind instantly jumped to the hunt. Maybe I should have asked a different question, with even less detail such as, “Do dogs ever wander away from a hunt and then get returned? What identification do they normally have?”

[JSwan]

eyesontheground -

It’s a good question but the answer is “it depends”.

Hunting dogs are extremely valuable, just like any working dog. (like a proven livestock guardian dog, bomb sniffing dog, guide dog, etc.) So it’s quite possible the owner might want his hound back. If the guy caring for the dog has contacted shelters or put up signs, hopefully these two people will eventually connect.

(I’ve had trouble finding owners of pet dogs - sometimes they report the dog missing in a different county and I find it in this county)

As far as ID goes, well, I can use Peanut as an example. I have an orange reflective collar on her with a brass plate riveted into the collar. Now, here’s the problem with that. Some people worry that this type of collar is dangerous to a hound, as it does not have a breakaway feature. Others might feel tattooing is better, or a microchip or tracking collar.

Personally, I think all these methods are great. Tracking collars are very expensive, and some may not want to invest in that technology. Microchips are great except if the person finding the dog doesn’t have a scanner, or the local shelters don’t have one or it’s the wrong kind.

There are people who hunt in clubs, and people who hunt by themselves or just with friends. Some clubs may be very organized, others may be a loose association of individuals. There is so much variety, depending on what species hunted, hounds used, local custom, territory, personality.

I hope the hound settles in to his new home and stops escaping. Peanut digs so many holes that I should hire her out to a fencing company. I once found her in my neighbors yard eating STEAK. Yeah - every time my neighbors grill she go over to visit. Evidently I am the worst owner in the world and they insist on feeding her.

On the other hand, I’d rather she eat that than what she was sampling this morning. Bleh.

ETA - Folks who disobey game laws or don’t care for their dogs/hounds don’t deserve to be called hunters or sportsmen. It’s a little pet peeve of mine - but for those of us who love animals, and also hunt, we don’t want to be compared to such horrible people.

[JSwan]

[QUOTE=Thomas_1;3707259]
As soon as I saw that I was going to post… “so you own a beagle then” and… I read on!.. you do :lol:

My sister in law has them and they climb over or tunnel under anything and everything and return home sometime/whenever howling to get back in![/QUOTE]

I read somewhere that of all the breeds, beagles are the noisiest. A while back I received a gift basket, filled with scented candles and sprays. One of the sprays was called “Quiet Moments”. I chased Peanut around the house with it.

My dearly departed Basset, Giuseppe, used to sing with me when I played the piano. The one piece that used to send him into fits of howling was the Charlie Brown Theme. His voice was magnificent.

Now I’m stuck with Peanut’s coloratura. :lol:

[Auventera_Two]

My hound is Beagle/Walker cross. 60 pounds of pure noise and PITA. I love him dearly. He’s almost 9 years old, I’ve had him since he was 7 weeks. But darn it all is he a little terd. He marches to his drum and pretty much flips you the bird if your plan doesn’t suit him. Gosh I love him but mmmm I could shoot him some days! :lol: There’s nothing like being startled awake at 2 a.m. to “Aaaaaa-Rooooo!” out the bedroom window. Like he hasn’t seen the same rabbit eating under the same bird feeder for what - a year now?

When I do chores, I take the dog pack (Weimaraner, the hound, and a Pit Bull/Lab) The other two say “Hey mom, what can I do for you? Would you like me to come over here and poop? Sure, I can do that!” The hound keeps on truckin’ for the woods, ignoring repeated calls. It isn’t until you shriek out “EEEEE-ZEEEEEK-EEEEE-IEL!!!” at the top of your lungs that he makes a big loop and comes back. He looks at me like what? I’d have been back by the time you got home from work.

Carrying a pocket full of cheese nuggets is the only way to ensure he stays in the same county in which we live, while I do 30 minutes of chores.

Zeke’s voice is also magnificent, as JSwan put it. Nothing is better than a singing hound.

Here he is http://www.hphoofcare.com/Zeke.jpg

[cssutton]

Perhaps some of you posting here do not understand what is going on in the hound world today.

There are a lot of people who steal tracking collars off hounds to sell them on Ebay and similar places. This sounds like the ultimate in stupidity, but nevertheless it is a big thing. On some hound hunting boards, it is common to see two or three posts a day.

At $165 per collar, it adds up.

Frequently the hound is also stolen to be run on deer without a collar so far from home that he will never find his way.

Then there are the hunter haters who pick up a dog, throw the collars in a creek and take the dog to a pound 50 miles or more away where the original owner will never find him.

There are also many still hunters who will shoot any dog they see near their deer stand.

They also take collars off and throw them away to leave the hound unidentifiable, perhaps after shooting the dog, perhaps when not shooting the hound.

We don’t micro chip because of the expense and the fact that not all agencies use the same system. Also we have enough character to believe that a good collar with an accurate name plate on it plus a tracking collar should be more than sufficient in a law abiding society.

So before castigating all hound hunters, be careful to consider all of the above possibilities.

And one more word about animal care. It is just as unkind and unfair to criticize hunters for the appearance of some hound you have seen as for hunters, which greatly outnumber horse owners, to go to the newspapers and criticize all horse owners because they saw some poorly fed untrimmed wormy horse in a bare pasture beside the highway.

For every one who does not care for his horse or hounds, there are literally thousands who spend money on their animals that they would never spend on themselves.

Claude S. Sutton, Jr.

If we do not wish to lose our freedom, we must learn to tolerate our
neighbor’s right to freedom even though he might express that freedom
in a manner we consider to be eccentric.

[cssutton]

One more word for thos who are so critical of deer hunters with hounds.

This one day’s postings on one board. There is something similar to this every day on this board as well as many others.

Multiply the number of collars in this post x $165. Add to that the personal loss a good hunter feels for his lost dogs.

Remember that many times the theif will take the dog hunting with little or no intention of catching him at the end of the hunt.

I have noticed many of the hounds that are stolen are taken from hunters up and down the I95 corridor from just south of Richmond to well into SE NC.

This is no little matter.

So when you see a lost hound, remember it might not be his fault nor the fault of his owner.

CSSJR

Author Comment
Brian Mingloski

Dec 8, 08 - 3:32 PM Dog Knappers in the area of Amelia VA

To anyone who may have any information. I found my tracking collar in ditch in the area of Scotts Fork Amelia, VA. Collar had been taken off and dumped. Lemon and white Walker with a faded #10 on his side. Also taken from another owner, a black and tan walker. Also found tracking collar in tree about 80 yards from mine. Anyone with any info. would be appreciated. Reward for dogs and or the persons responsible!
Email: bmingo5@msn.com

Todd Wilkins

Dec 8th, 2008 - 5:16 PM Re: Dog Knappers in the area of Amelia VA

Had mine stole from Dinwiddie/Amelia line Thanksgiving day…found tracking collar in Motoacca, Va in a ditch…missing female black and tan beagle still. Know of another guy in same are had three go missing…
Email: ToddCWilkins@gmail.com

bubba cleaton

Dec 8th, 2008 - 5:24 PM Re: Dog Knappers in the area of Amelia VA

had one missing in prince george county since day before thanksgiving no beep on collar no dog.

[Just_My_Style]

I agree with those who said they are a dime a dozen. My parents had a basset that they got through rescue. He was found wandering in NY not an unreasonable distance from a local hunt and had a matching tattoo. The rescue called the hunt and was told that they don’t have time to look for stray dogs and if he was lost to begin with, he wasn’t very smart and they didn’t want him back. :no: