Life with a Coonhound !!

This is an amazing piece of useful information about how hounds “think” !!

A must read for all hound owners (uhh make that all hound’s human trainees) and shared here with permission from RobDar’s Houndsong Rescue.

RobDar’s HoundSong rescue
June 5 at 8:00am ·

Someone on another page was asking about Hounds. My reply was well accepted so I thought i would share it here (even though most of us know this already)
>>> Here is a basic underlying influence…a basic understanding…regarding your hound dog that I think most people miss.
Hounds do not believe that they need you. You are a convenience…like a favorite coffee cup or a favorite pair of shoes. If the cup is broken or the shoes are lost, we can get along just fine with another.

Let me explain:
Where other breeds of dogs like Labradors, Shepherds, Cattle dogs to an extent, and a HOST of others are bred to work WITH man. Meaning that their originally bred temperament is to work alongside man in cooperation to achieve a goal. The Cattle dog follows man commands to herd the livestock. The Lab follows the hunters commands to get the quarry – and so on and so forth. They are  team mates of man. Neither can do their work without the other — and so they have been bred for eons to have that in their make up —to be anxious to please. Even the worst behaved Labrador cares when mom and dad are annoyed. It is in their DNA to make man happy.
Hounds —not so much.

Hounds have been bred for eons to be taken out to the edge of the woods or field and be let loose to go out and do what they do with NO INSTRUCTION from the hunter or handler. They go out and do their thing, all on their own. They make their own decisions and do their own work —and when that work is done and they have found their quarry —they command/call the hunter to come to them with those beautiful voices. (who is working for whom in that scenario?)

Do you see how your hound thinks differently?

Life with a Hound is far more like having a spouse than a dog. It is far more of a “cooperative effort” with all the give and take that implies. Hounds are not going to do what you say just because you have said it. You are secondary to their desire. There has to be something in it for them. There has to be a trade off. If there is no reward or benefit for the Hound, the Hound cares little what you are asking him/her to do. People incorrectly refer to this as being stubborn or worse, stupid. Hounds are actually neither of those things – they are just independent. They prioritize things differently than do other breeds. They prioritize differently and you are not always their priority. This is EXACTLY AS THEY SHOULD BE. They were bred to be this way. It is all necessary to be a Houndy Dawg.
When working with a Hound you have to always be thinking –how do I make myself the priority? What do I have to give this dog to make me more important than what it smells – or wants (and do not expect that anything will ever be 100% successful everytime – always be looking for your Hound to act like a Hound.)
We humans always think we are in charge of things. We think that we are top of the chain, the head honcho’s..and we naturally approach training our dogs and living with our dogs this way – as though we are in charge.
Your Hound doesn’t see it that way.

Your Hound – at best – sees you as a family member – as a sibling (if you are very fortunate- as a parent). Do you walk into your sister or brothers house, start barking orders and they hop to?
Mostly your Hound sees you as a good friend —and what do we do with our friends? When a friend does something for us, we return those favors. There is give and take. When a friendship is out of balance – when one friend takes and takes but does not give — the friendship suffers. It is okay for one friend to be the strong friend – the dominant friend in the partnership—but it is a partnership.
Hounds are happiest when their humans are humble.<<

AMEN !!!  #hounddoghappy