Anyone Have Experience With Bloodhounds?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have loved Bloodhounds forever, since I was about 3 or 4, watching the Beverly Hillbillies, when I fell in love with Duke. Since that time, I have talked to many breeders and owners, asking questions, and read everything I could get mu hands on about them. About 13 years ago I decided if I ever got one I would name him Jake.

Well , last week , I was putzing around on the computer, and ran across Midwest Bloodhound Rescue. I looked at their available dogs , and there he was.

Scroll down to the top dog:

http://www.midwestbloodhoundrescue.com/bloodhoundsavailablephotopage.htm

I spent 4 hours over the weekend talking to the rescue director , who is also fostering him. Jake is coming to live with me tomorrow.

The director told me his only problem is he is food aggressive toward dogs, but that 99% of all Bloodhounds are, so he will have to be fed seperately from my other dogs. I will work on this, because I am not comfortable with it. She said you pretty much have to use a prong collar on Bloodhounds, chain collars don’t effect them and buckle collars slip off the loose skin. I have hopes of putting an obedience title on him , and want to get a tracking title on him as well.

I have trained dogs for about 30 years, but have never worked with any this size, he weighs about 120 lbs, and have never had food aggression problems.

Am I biting off more than I can chew here? Anyone that has had any experience with the breed or food aggression training, please walk me thru this ! I want so badly for it to work out, but I won’t endanger my present dogs, either. I have a 4 week trial period with him , and if it doesn’t work out they wiull take him back , but I hope it doesn’t come to that.

Anna

2

Anybody? :frowning:

3

I don’t know anything about Bloodhounds, but I have one dog who is pretty food aggressive with other dogs.

I teach all my dogs that before they get fed they have to sit and wait until I say it’s OK to eat. I put the bowl in front of them, or hold the food in front of them, they’re told “wait” and can’t eat until the release.

I feed them together, but in a particular order and I supervise feeding, no-one is allowed to steal anyone else’s food and I monitor things carefully until meals are completed, there would be fights otherwise.

The food aggressive dog will start a fight over bones, so I either feed such things with the dogs separated, or of a size that everyone finishes at the same time.

These are all things you can work on, but in the medium term it’s probably a good idea to feed this dog separately, even if you have to do it that way forever, it’s not a big deal.

The advantage here is that a dog who is food aggressive is probably highly food-motivated and that gives you an edge with training. I’ve never used a prong collar, but with my big dogs, it’s generally easier to convince them they want to do what you want with rewards, they’ll pretty much do anything for food. Big dogs can be intimidating, but the techniques that work on smaller dogs work on bigger dogs, you just have to be confident, persistent and consistent.

This guy has a good reputation with people I know, here’s his take on prong collars.

If you’re experienced with dogs, and are willing to be patient I can’t see that the size of this dog is likely to be a problem, and Bloodhounds are cool dogs. I’ve got three giant breed dogs and I manage, although I’m no great shakes as a trainer.

Would probably be worth hooking up with a Bloodhound discussion forum or Yahoogroup to get some support and suggestions, there’s sure to be some around.

There’s a fun series of mystery novels featuring a Bloodhound trainer written by Virginia Lanier which you might enjoy.

4

I meant to say that Jake is just gorgeous, he’s got just the sweetest expression. I hope you post photos when you get him home.

5

Be prepared to have dog slobber hit you from far away. Those jowels are very efficient at dispesning saliva.

I believe that bloodhounds are supposed to be pretty agreeable dogs. If they are like bassets, they should be easy enough to get along with. If you don’t get depressed looking at their face.

But they’re big dogs. Big dogs eat a lot.

6

Heh… I have lived with Gordon Setters for 23 years , and they are pretty drooly , themselves. I have cleaned it off the ceiling before. :eek: And I love the ‘silly putty’ faces , won’t depress me at all !

Yup, I know about feeding, I feed a high quality food , and that means I can feed a little less. But og knows I have never let a dog go hungry ! :smiley:

7

I love Bloodhounds. And like you have wanted one ever since seeing Duke. My dog is Cocker Spaniel mixed with some kind of hound and we’re pretty sure it’s Bloodhound. Prepare to be completely ignored when he picks up a scent trail. And they can pick one up anywhere. I would love to be able to take liesurely strolls around the block with him. But, if another animal has been there in the past month, it’s his job to track it down. He won’t even look up.

8

Well… he’s home. I have my work cut out for me , I can tell y’all that . I fed him , and he grumbled at me for standing there. My 6 month old Gordon puppy is facinated with him and wants to play , he licks his face and ears, and Jake grumbles. I have corrected him for this , but I can’t be with them 24/7. I sure hope I have not made a mistake here.

9

Er, I wouldn’t correct that. Unless it escalates to physical violence, I’d let them work it out between themselves…

10

My dog has the same reaction when the cat licks him. It’s harmless, if he really hated it, he’d either leave or do something to get the point across more clearly.

11

If it’s any consolation, when I brought a new puppy home, my Neo went berserk, I had to keep him crated when she was out, and he’d fling himself against the wire screaming at her.

I thought I’d have to send her back, but persisted. Two weeks later I let them meet and he went, “oh yeah, you” and that was pretty much that. It’s a few months later and they’re best friends, they sleep together, play together and hang out together. I suspect when she’s a bit older she’ll have him firmly under her paw, but for now they’re best buddies. He’s not averse to other dogs, he just doesn’t cope well with change.

You probably know this, but just in case. For the grumbling at you over food thing, if you feel safe (and if you don’t, get some specialist help from a good behaviourist), try hand feeding him. If you’re feeding kibble, give him one at a time and make him sit nicely and wait. No snatching, but waiting nicely until you give the release.

After a week or two, escalate it to taking his food bowl away from him, but immediately giving him something really good in return (something really desirable you use only for this purpose). Then make him sit or do something else, and return his food to him.

Whatever he’s like with other dogs, he needs to be clear that you control the resources, that they’re all yours, even if they’re in his bowl.

The grumble’s not in and of itself a bad thing, a grumble at least is a warning, you don’t want to correct him for grumbling so that he skips the warning and goes straight to snapping.

Every single time I’ve brought a new dog into the household, I’ve regretted it for the first few days (or weeks) until things settled down. Having to change routines and supervise dogs is wearing and you keep wondering why you bothered, but in a week or two things will have sorted themselves out and settled down and you’ll be glad you made the effort. A day isn’t very long for a dog who’s been through a few changes, Jake has to learn to trust you, and you need to learn to trust him, and that takes a while.

12

Just a slight hijack, but I’ve wanted a Gordon Setter for a very long time. I’ve got 5 acres of land out in the country and think the dog wouuld be right at home.

Color me green with envy.

13

Yes, my sister had to repeat this training on occasion with her Newfie. He liked his food dish and thought it should be grumble his grumble no grumble touching!

14

Plnnr , you could not be interested in a better breed. I have had them for 23 years and will never be without 1 or 2 , have had up to 3 at one time. If you would be interested in an older dog, there are always dogs available from Rescue; if you are interested , let me know, and I can help you find one. I am a Gordon Setter Club of America member, and am on Setters-L where there are always puppy & rescue announcements.

Back on to Jake… I tried feeding him by hand and he will not accept food from my hand at all , dunno what’s up with that. My cat , Charlie took matters into his own paws last night to show Jake just who was in charge here , and whopped him good on the nose , Jake screamed like he was dying (there was no blood , LOL) and now is terrified of the cats ! He is not grumbling at Nick as much, and slept in his crate quietly. It is going as smoothly as one could expect , I suppose.

15

My Father’s has had two Bloodhounds, and he’s getting a third in a couple of months.

He had a stand to put their food dishes on. It would raise the dish about eighteen inches off the floor. He says it’s to prevent the dogs from swallowing air. Perhaps that’s the problem you’re having with Jake eating.

About the only other piece of advice I can give you is: Be prepared to be goobered, but I’m sure you’ve experienced that fun by now.

16

LOL yup , he delights in getting a drink and coming to lay his head on my shoulder. I have been slimed by the Gordons many , many times , but they are rank amatures !

And… PICTURES !!

Me and Jake when I picked him up :

Shaking his head :

With the Gordons (Kharma in front , Nick following Jake) :

On the trail of something in the back yard: