Treeing Walker Coonhound people - Are they all as good as mine? LOL!

[Phaxxton]

I have a 2-year old female Walker hound that we pulled out of the kill shelter about 9 months ago. I’ve had lots of dogs in my lifetime, but she is my first Walker hound. She is just a truly awesome, laid back, well-behaved dog. She had clearly not ever lived inside before, but caught on quickly. She was housetrained in a pinch and is the perfect companion for my young Doberman Pinscher.

She developed a nearly rock-solid recall without any more than ordinary training and she will even call off a scent or chase. Our doggy play yard on the farm has an invisible fence to keep the dogs out of the pastures, barn, and rings. She respects it without issue. (The entire farm is fenced, but the invisible fence keeps the dogs even more contained for their own safety.)

She rarely barks, though she’ll occasionally bark at the horses if they get to running.

The negatives I read about them included their desire to follow their noses (and therefore wander) and their barking. Neither of these has been an issue, though I think she might follow her nose outside if we didn’t have a fence.

I work full-time on the farm, so my dogs are out running and playing most of the day, plus we walk 2-3+ miles on local trails almost every day. Even in bad weather when we haven’t gotten out much, she’s just a couch potato in the house.

So… are they all this awesome? I know individual dogs vary greatly, but I am totally smitten with her. It may have helped that she had a litter before we adopted her. (She is spayed now.)

The reason I’m asking is because my parents are looking for a dog about her size (41 pounds - no bigger) and temperment. They are “casual” dog owners in that they don’t show or compete or anything. They are retired, but active. They love taking long walks, so I know the dog will get a good long walk (3+ miles) every day in addition to outside play time in the yard. That is enough for my Walker, but is it enough for all?

They are going to adopt an adult dog and aren’t looking for any breed in particular… so they may well end up with something else. I’m just wondering if most Walkers are as easy as mine b/c that would be the perfect fit for them. They just can’t have mine, of course! LOL :lol:

ETA - I like to brag on my Walker, but I can’t take any of the credit for her. She pretty much came to us this easy-going and nice.

[Bacardi1]

We adopted our Treeing Walker Coonhound “P.D.” (aka “Poochie Dog”) back in 2003. She was so thin she could have been a poster dog for a 3rd-world country. So skeletal you could see every bone in her body, to the point that no one at the pre-Christmas “adoption clinic” even wanted to take her for the customary walk. Too sad. Hubby let me go in alone to PetSmart to pick up a couple of things, & I came back walking this dog. A mere 15 minutes later, she was ours. Funniest part of this is that we actually SAW this exact same dog loose in our neighborhood while coming home after midnight from a concert. And the local shelter confirmed that she was, in fact, picked up in our locality a couple of days later. Karma at work.

While P.D. has absolutely no recall instincts whatsoever (if she slips her collar, it’s a hell-bent-for-election chase), she’s a wonderful couch-potato house dog who gets along well with our other dogs & cats. She’s a real mush.

PD & Norton Green 008.jpg
PD 007.jpg

[Phaxxton]

Aww, I have tears in my eyes. Your P.D. is gorgeous! My little girl can often be found in the same position! :lol: What a lucky pup to have found you.

I imagine as with many hounds, recall can be hard to train – and I think we probably got lucky that she learned hers so well. We thought she’d never learn any commands when we got her. She had to learn how to learn first.

Our Walker was dropped off at the county shelter with 3 puppies still on her at less than 18 months old. When we fell in love with her, the shelter worker said no one wanted the mama dog because she was a little saggy. They should see her now!

[kcgold]

one of the best kept secrets in dogdom; in fact all the coonhounds are great…here’s an article that busts some of the “myths” about them:

http://www.ilovedogs.com/2011/12/busting-coonhound-myths-why-these-dogs-make-great-house-pets/

[2tempe]

One of our neighbors in back in Ohio had a black and tan; he lived quite happily inside his invisible fence and rarely barked when we walked by. Owner also took him in the car all over the place. He was, however a big dog, probably 75 lbs.

I had for 14 yrs a shepherd/Black and Tan mix. during obedience classes trainer wisely suggested that I figure out which breed dominated so that I knew what to expect when he was off leash. Fortunately it was not the hound. HOWEVER his recall button went on mute if he saw someone on the trail or across a snowy golfcourse who might want to be his friend. At 70 lbs he was a bit scary flying at you at top speed, so I did a fair amount of yelling “friendly” Best dog I will ever own and sadly departed…

While the hounds have lots of energy, they are not like the herding dogs or some terriers who make themselves a job if the owner doesn’t give them one. Low key in the house, ready to go when you are…

[Phaxxton]

@kcgold;6028998

one of the best kept secrets in dogdom; in fact all the coonhounds are great…here’s an article that busts some of the “myths” about them:

http://www.ilovedogs.com/2011/12/busting-coonhound-myths-why-these-dogs-make-great-house-pets/

This is awesome! Thank you!

[spotnnotfarm]

Coonhounds are the best kept secret in the dog world! I have a Black and Tan who is the most loyal dog I have ever owned! HE does not bark a lot, in fact my lab barks more than he does.

However, he cannot be called off a scent. He lives in the house and is a great snuggler. He also has a great sense of humor! Good luck with your coonie! They are addicting!

[ChocoMare]

Freebird! had a GAWJUS treeing coon hound, Hailey. Beautiful dog, sweet personality, just a love. Very good at her job. Alas, she was lost to cancer a few months ago

[jcotton]

I love my treeing walker coonhound! She is very entertaining and lovable!
She will yowl for hours at a tree because there is a live squirrel in the tree or it may be an imaginary squirrel —she is happy to hear herself make noise.
Her other job is gopher hunting and better yet alerting me to armadillos- that are on a mission to trash the yard.

She loves to sleep on my bed but has a tendency to push me into a corner of my bed. But she is happy to sleep in her crate, too. So if she stays on her side of my bed, she can stay on the my bed. But as soon as I get shoved out of the bed, it is time for her to have space in her crate.

On occassion, she gets her shock collar for not listening. When she was younger, she would have her shock collar on often. She was also taught to come with a sports whistle.

[Chief2]

I had a British blue tick coonhound that in many ways fit the profile in the article linked above. However, he was definitely in a hound frame of mind. He ended up being loaned out to a hunter after spending two years tearing the house apart (the night he quietly and completely unwound the braided rug in the living room was the last straw for my mother) and keeping the neighborhood up baying all night long. He then flunked hunting, was turned loose in the woods many, many miles from our home by the hunter with no word to us, and found his way back home 3 weeks later (do not question a coonhound’s sense of direction when he is on a mission), and a neighbor woke up to find him sitting on the picnic table in his yard, filthy and thin. After that, the sound of thunder had him cowering against the foundation of the house, so I have no idea what went on in those woods. It then took him seven years to figure out how to play fetch.

He settled into becoming a lovable schmooo, howled whenever he smelled my mother making soup until he got a bowl, dug foxholes in the back yard and dropped the pigeons he caught and shook to death into the holes, and took time off of my swim times for the many years I walked him. The first 50 feet were the worst, and then he settled into a fast, nose to the ground pace. His nose ruled his life. God help you in a downpour. When he wanted to come in from the backyard, he would sit by the gate, tilt his head to the side, lift his right paw and begin to shake it, like he was freezing. In the heat of July. He lasted 12 years and was a real character from start to finish!

It was a real adventure while it lasted, but I wouldn’t do it again.

ETA: That said, my three favorite breeds are GSD, Collie, and you guessed it, a bassett hound (field, not bench). Never far from the hound, I guess!

[BostonBanker]

Replace “Walker hound” with “Mountain Cur” in your post, and it is the story of my older dog. Pulled from a kill shelter as a far-too-young adult who had just had puppies and never been indoors before, and is the sweetest, easiest dog on the planet. I’ve never met another animal so willing to just be whatever you want her to be at that moment.

So clearly, the trick is to find your parents a young hunting dog on death row who just had a litter!

[FlashGordon]

We are pretty sure that our little pound puppy is a coon hound. She’s the Best Thing Ever! We found her at our local SPCA when she was 4.5 months old. She’d come up from TN apparently.

She adores our children, ADORES THEM! Even more than our Golden did, and I though no dog would be as tolerable as she was. She is sweet, smart, playful. She learned sit, stay and down almost immediately. She has good recall. She gets along with everyone and everything. She loves to snuggle. She’s just a bundle of happy, sweet energy.

[Freebird]

Here is a head shot of my Haley: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1110130389686&l=47f95e13b2

She was an amazing dog. She was one win away from Grand Champion, when we had to stop showing her and get her spayed (got bred by a mutt dog) had qualified for World and Autumn Oaks. She was spoiled rotten, and would howl almost all night long during the summer, but she was so sweet, and loyal. Gosh I miss her!