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

[wateryglen]

Well some of us care!

Like others have said…it depends on the hunt.
My basset hunt had a case of riot on deer Sunday. It was in the 20’s, very windy and the deer were laying up and didn’t bolt until the hounds were nearly on them so they become irresistable to chase. The first deer hopped up and we were able to turn the hounds but they had their blood up. Then 5 mins later; they flushed up several deer and we had 8 of 16 run off outa sight. Several members & staff spent hours trying to retrieve them. We got all but 4 back in an hour of hiking/walking in shin deep grass up/down hills/streams/coverts/woods etc. Very, very hard physically IMHO! A REAL fitness reality check let me tell ya. We were calling, blowing horns etc. Some went out in cars and found 2 coming off a mountain on a road 1 mile away. Local farmer had seen them running together and directed them to where to go call. We hiked for 3 hours until dark leaving 2 out. At dark; we left the huntsmans coveralls and a hound trailer at the meet site and the youngest hound was found the next morning curled up in it. Haven’t heard where the other was picked up but all are in.
We are VERY concerned when they run off. Sometimes the hunt stops right then & there. Sometimes the huntsman continues hunting as the horn & sound carries far and the hounds will often come back to those familiar sounds. Many participate in the efforts and we members understand. Even those that have driven long distances to come hunt. Deer happen!!! So…
Glad this happens rarely but all hunts cannot always control each & every hounds actions each & every time. The level of caring varies. I prefer hunting with hunts/huntsmen who care but it does vary. Either way it’s always a LOT of work to retrieve hounds and even more luck to actually find them. Worse when you’re on foot too!!! :winkgrin: It’s a big world out there! Just because there’s a loose hound out there doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of people out there trying to find it or are concerned about it. We only seem to hear the negative side of this!

[iechris]

I was out helping look for hounds on Sunday and we ran into three deer hunters, including a young boy, out looking for their hounds as well. Their hounds had been gone overnight and they were trying to get a read on the tracking collars.

[Equibrit]

I’m sorry - but the thought of a bassett rioting makes me giggle !

[promlightshine]

I have adopted 2 fox hounds and now likely a walker cross. He reminds me of the beagle walker cross. Anyway, when contacting the shelters down south I got the sense that hounds are essentially a “dime a dozen” and the shelters have a heck of a time finding homes for them.

My guy had fresh ear cuts that are still healing-these are intentional markings. I have no idea where he came from-he too was found wandering and had signs that he had a collar on but no collar. No microchip and he was full of worms, young and had some wear marks on his teeth.

He is house broken
He learned quickly how to fetch
He is extremely picky about his food
He was within a couple of days of being euthanized
He will likely NEVER be walked off leash up here in MA as he got off once (afraid of the horses) and ran into the swamp to hunt faster than you can imagine.
He is now fixed.

I searched the internet for any postings about a lost hound but found none. I also heard from one shelter that they stopped listing hounds they had so many and most weren’t placed.

I strongly suspect he was a hunting dog to a private owner who must have brought him to meets/fox pens etc . His ears tell me someone needed or wanted to pick him out in a crowd but his in home behavior was present from day l -no training on my part so I don’t believe he was in a kennel.

I get the sense this is a problem-that is irresponsible “hunters” and then the vigilantes who feel they must place hounds at risk by pulling collars , etc. I’m not sure what the answer is but what’s happening now certainly isn’t working.

[cssutton]

No one cuts a hounds ears so he can identify him.

Eiher the cuts are from hard running, or a distinct possibility in this hound’s case his hears were cut to remove identifying tattoos.

Many hounds kept in kennels house break themselves.

I will see an “accident” in my kennel of 20 hounds maybe twice a year. Usually that is because a tough guy is laying across the doorway and won’t let the needy hound pass.

A couple of weeks ago, I had my horse break loose just as I was getting him tacked up and I spent the rest of the day chasing the horse, not catching him until a few minutes before dark. Travel time, horse chasing time, etc., added up to 12 hours and my hound compartment in the trailer was as clean at the end as it was at the start of the day. Amazing, I admit. I don’t have that power.

It is more than likely your hound was stolen. The fact that he had a collar mark, his behaviour all point that way.

There is a post right now of a case where a hound owner had 3 young hounds stolen right out of his kennel. There are many hounds posted as stolen, not lost, as I write this, most evidenced by the recovery of tracking collars which have been removed.

The original hound owner is very rarely at fault.

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.

[promlightshine]

Thanks for that information. I am not trying to steal a thread but to learn. I found trips to the fox pens with my former hunt allowed me the opportunity to learn not only about the hounds we brought but others in the kennels . I also was able to get a slight glimpse of a culture of hunting and hounds that was foreign to me. Knowing any dog/hound we adopt could have been stolen is very concerning to me. As you may be aware , there is this incredible system of an underground RR bringing dogs of all breeds including many hounds and hound crosses up north .

Yet, I know where he ended up was not going to allow him to continue to hunt but to be put to sleep . So what is /was the point of taking/stealing him except perhaps for a collar ? Too bad and such a shame for a hound still very interested in hunting but this is not his life with me.

I didn’t find retraining my foxhounds quite as easy as “housebreaking” him. Obviously, I stand corrected and appreciate the information. So with a v shape taken out of the tips of both his ears he likely had some type of tatoo?

Thanks again for your information . I know there is a lot of misinformation about hounds and hunting at all levels. I’ve learned something today and it’s not even 9am :).

[cssutton]

“So what is /was the point of taking/stealing him except perhaps for a collar ?”

There are many possibilities.

The first time he went hunting with him, the hound got away.

Maybe he stole him to run game that he will not run.

Maybe he ran but did not like his style.

Maybe he decided that since he had no money in him, it was not worth spending two days finding him.

Mabe he stole the hound because he hates hound huunters and it was a spite job.

The latter sounds out of reason, but the fact is it happens very often, maybe every day. Thousands of words have been posted on various hunting blogs by still hunters bragging that they shot and will shoot any hound they see.

PETA people have been tried and convicted of just that. I have not heard of them cutting ears, but I have heard of them taking a hound more than 100 miles from where they picked him up and turning him in to a pound.

I have heard of them killing hounds and dumping them. There was a case in NC where they were caught doing just that.

So there are many reasons.

If you like the hound, just be happy that you found each other, but remember that these things happen and every hungry lost hound you see is not because his owner neglected him.

Actually a field trial hound that wins regularly is worth a lot of money for breeding purposes. Some interesting money changes hands at field trials.

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]

Sorry. Trying to hurry made a misstatement.

The dogs killed and dumped by PETA were not hounds, but dogs of all varieties.

CSSJR

[wateryglen]

Special needs!

And God Bless those that do adopt hounds as strays or retirees from hunts or hunting. !!! It can be a hard row to hoe so to speak. It’s challenging because they are big dogs with all that means. Like feeding, keeping exercised and most of all…containing that big ole hound inside fence where needed. When they wanna get out or go hunt…they WILL get out. I had a retiree that would get outa a 6 ft chain link kennel fence every time the local hunt came by to join them! He’d hunted 9 seasons before I got him and that urge is STRONG!!
Once these hounds get on a line; their brains go dead and they can cover an amazing distance. Hence anykind of hunting hound can be found miles from where they started. AND lose weight/condition during that journey and time out in the woods.
And the culture can cause “culture differences” even amongst us hunters. We are experiencing this here in ole Virginny even now! C’est la vie! But GOD BLESS the adopters!

[EqTrainer]

“No one cuts a hounds ears so he can identify him.”

Where I live, people do