Ok Coonhound people….help me please

[dalpal]

We have acquired a little 5-6 month old coonhound puppy….she is very cute, but very “challenging”……it’s a good thing that I love the hound bray.

She’s driving my other dogs insane. We take her on long walks three times a day, I play fetch with her in the yard before bed and in the AM….she never wears out…NEVER She comes in the house and immediately starts barking at the other dogs……it doesn’t matter if they get after her, she comes right back for more.

She’s cute, that’s her saving grace……but I need help reigning this one in. She is on some sort of doggie crack.

Any training suggestions. The only thing that works is really getting stern with her and raising my voice…and I hate doing that.

She isn’t mean, just has so much energy.

[CrowneDragon]

Is there a reason you got a coonhound/ do you plan to hunt her? They seem to be quite driven to do what they were bred and born for, which is follow their nose, tree stuff, and bark at it.

I have worked with 2 Blueticks who are owned by a gal who hunts them competitively. They are very well trained (and have lots of hunting and bench titles) but they are not house dogs and need a lot of exercise and hunting time to keep them happy. They get conditioned on a 4-wheeler and get run of a 15 acre river-front property to follow and tree stuff a couple of times a day. They would be tough to keep as standard house pets.

[dalpal]

Yeah. She showed upon a friends yard. We took her in as a rescue. I have Dalmatians. So I’m fine with high drive. But she is beyond high drive.

[dalpal]

Btw. She lives on 6 acres and is exercised consistently.

[CrowneDragon]

I’m sure the training folks on the board will have some training and management suggestions for you.

If this doesn’t work out, be aware that is seems to be fairly easy to re-home coonhounds if you go to their shows. People frequently sell or give away dogs this way. Of course you have no guarantee where she ends up, but if she fails as a house dog it is an option to try sending her to a hunting home. If she fails as a hunting dog you could ask for first right of refusal.

Good luck

[Calamber]

She needs a job. Some of them just have that much hunting drive, so, either train her to hunt, teach her to retrieve if she will, or do something like scenting games, just being “out” on 6 acres is not good enough for a dog like this, they are meant to be able to trail their prey for hours at a time. Maybe you can find a local club group?

I have had Black and Tans, a Redbone and a Walker, all three of them had to get out and do some trailing to be happy and the Redbone and Walker were skeletons and older girls when we got them out of the pound. Once I got both of them home, since I had a feeling they were trained hunters, I took them out to go after a coon. I listened to the Redbone’s music for an hour then went and got her. I ended up having to wade through knee high water at night to get where she went, and this dog was in heaven, once I came within 20 yards of her she was ready to come back home, the Walker stayed out all night. Not for everyone but I was used to it. Teaching the normal stuff of sitting, staying, recall, etc. is really not for them. Some of these lines are bred for bear and big cat so take that into account. My Redbone girl had scars from what looked like a bear fight, she was one of the best dogs I have ever had but I lived near 100 acres of pasture and woods that I had access to at the time. Of the three, the Walker was the most difficult and after I got her treated for heartworm I found her a home where, of course, she ran away and went hunting.

[dalpal]

We play fetch three times a day, we jog twice, three times a day. We have a trail around our house…she goes off leash with my dogs…she is very good about staying with the pack.

Great info! I will find a local Coonhound (this one is apparently a tree walker, according to a vet tech) group and see if I can get her in some classes or at the very least get her into a home that she would be happy in.

[nashgirl]

I have a black & tan and a Plott, both from coonhound rescue. We adopted the Plott when she was 12 weeks old, and she was very sick. Once she got better, her energy level skyrocketed along with a very sassy attitude. Our B & T is older and pretty mellow. At this point the Plott is just over a year old and still very energetic. She is crate trained and will willingly go into her crate for time out. Sometimes I put her in there with something to occupy her and she calms down. Going to the dog park is great for her so she can run, but she often comes home even more revved up. She does like to retrieve. Oddly enough, she hasn’t shown any sort of specific prey drive I’m not sure I have given you any good advice, but hang in there. In my limited experience the hounds make great pets and companions. If you are on Facebook, check out the American Black and Tan Coonhound Rescue group, lots of good information and support about all kinds of hounds.

[dalpal]

[QUOTE=nashgirl;7603702]
I have a black & tan and a Plott, both from coonhound rescue. We adopted the Plott when she was 12 weeks old, and she was very sick. Once she got better, her energy level skyrocketed along with a very sassy attitude. Our B & T is older and pretty mellow. At this point the Plott is just over a year old and still very energetic. She is crate trained and will willingly go into her crate for time out. Sometimes I put her in there with something to occupy her and she calms down. Going to the dog park is great for her so she can run, but she often comes home even more revved up. She does like to retrieve. Oddly enough, she hasn’t shown any sort of specific prey drive I’m not sure I have given you any good advice, but hang in there. In my limited experience the hounds make great pets and companions. If you are on Facebook, check out the American Black and Tan Coonhound Rescue group, lots of good information and support about all kinds of hounds.[/QUOTE]

YES!!! This sounds exactly like Ms. Molly Brown. The more she plays, the more she gets going. I adore her and appreciate her energy, I just want to make sure that she grows up to be a well mannered, manageable dog.

[threedogpack]

I would suggest signing up for this course at the bronze or silver level.

http://fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/188

[Calamber]

The class might be fun but these are scent hounds. They do work well with a pack so someone who knows how to handle multiple dogs at a time in impulse control would work. Not sure if I have known of a scent hound making an obedience title but I imagine it is possible with a lot of work and time.

OP, if the dog starts getting revved with the others in the house, can you distract her with a stuffed Kong in a crate?

By the way, just so you know, the breed is called Treeing Walker and they and the Plotts are some of the toughest dogs. I do wish I could find another Redbone like my Lucy.

[SkipChange]

This may sound stupid, but train a word to mean lay down and take a break. So I say “enough” and all dogs are meant to stop playing and lay down. It can take some doing to get this in, but it’s worth it to me. At first your “enough” might only last for ten seconds of peace, but it gets better. The idea is just to break the energy and give the dog an opportunity to calm down. Now those weren’t coon hounds, but high energy Aussies and my friends’ mixed breeds. Best of luck! There’s nothing wrong with rehoming the dog if your lifestyles don’t mesh, but if you love the dog by all means go for it!

[Calamber]

SkipChange, that is a good idea.

[GypsyQ]

“Challenging” is the most diplomatic description of a coonhoun puppy I have ever heard. I will second everything nash said about the Plott. Ours was 10 weeks old when we found her. For the first year, I seriously considered taking her to the pound at least monthly. Ours was very stubborn and challenged me daily. She is now 7 years old and beginning to mellow a little bit. As for the energy, we were fortunate to already have a border collie to run her silly.

I don’t know how helpful I am here. Just know that the hounds can be difficult at first. And it may take a while…But they are also some of the most wonderful people you could ever know.

[LauraKY]

I have a coonhound. He decided he wanted to live with us as a six month old puppy. He just showed up one day and decided to take over the crate that I had in the garage. Seriously. I found him sleeping in the crate.

I’ve trained him to bark on command and use the no bark command to stop barking. Sometimes I need a back-up…a coffee can filled with coins that I shake while saying No bark.

Now I need to find a cure for the 6 am, rabbit is outside the window howl.

He’s quite the talker…your’s too?

[MustangSavvy]

Get her into some nose work class. She will love it!

[Kachina]

We’ve had a Redbone since he was dumped in a box by the side of the road as a tiny thing. He’s two now. Crated him his first year. He has the run of 15 acres with no climb and he uses every bit of it with three other mixes. He is beyond mellow in the house and always has been. Maybe because our property is fenced and he has free run of it? You sure work hard to give Molly enough exercise. Is your property fenced and does she have the run of it for unstructured exercise as well? Is she as reactive with your Dalmatians outside as she is in? Do they play with her? Do you think that if they weren’t in the house when she comes in that she might just go lay down? Could it be a matter of over stimulation? I love the above idea of crating for a calm down time (not punishment). Our guy never hesitated to go into his crate with his treat-it was for when we weren’t in the house with him and for overnight. He’s been out of it for a year now with no problems at all. So, perhaps crating to help her mellow until she matures a bit and can handle herself emotionally a little better? The two hounds we have are a couple of the nicest dogs I’ve ever been around. Hope you can work things out with your Molly girl.

[dalpal]

Hey Guys…thanks for all the tips.

I contacted the Carolina Coonhound Rescue….told them that I’m happy to keep her, but need resources, since she is my first coonhound…haven’t heard anything back.

Yes….she is a talker……we love her little bray…and when she gets mad or frustrated, she will throw a bray tantrum.

Last two days, I have taken her with my seasoned dalmatian and chocolate lab a on a 3.5 mile lake trail run with me both days. She is very good with staying with me or the other dogs. No complaints there.

When we get home, she fights the tiredness…refuses to go down….grabs toys, barks at the other dogs….but finally, she succumbs and it’s about one hour of peace in the house.

We do love her, I appreciate high energy dogs….but boy, she is tenacious. I can truthfully see why someone tossed her……she requires ALOT of hands on.

I will look around for some hound classes in the Raleigh/Apex/Sanford area. If anyone knows of any groups in this area, let me know.