The fox hunter's horn has echoed through the Virginia countryside since colonial days, calling together hunters on horseback and long-eared hounds in pursuit of the poultry-snatching fox. George Washington, the first President of the United States, eagerly participated in the sport, which combined horsemanship, the music of skilled dogs, and an exhilarating gallivant through miles of forest and farmland. The same sport continues to attract adherents to the present day, although in contemporary hunts, foxes are seldom harmed.
The hounds form an enthusiastic and noisy pack and love what they do. Many of today’s foxhounds trace their ancestry to the famous pack developed by President Washington. These dogs are very good at what they do in the field, but as they get older, they slow down and begin having trouble keeping up with the pack. They are still very social with other dogs and people, but they are better suited for pedestrian companionship than keeping up with horses and foxes. They prefer a life filled with praise and company to getting left behind. That makes them great potential pets.
A good hunting hound must be very social with other dogs or he couldn’t hunt in a huge, dense, excited pack. The social skills developed in the hunting pack carry over to a “family pack”, and these dogs do well with children as well as other dogs. The urge to please humans is necessary in their profession, and just as desirable in a pet. By the time they are ready to retire, the high energy level of a hound puppy has mellowed and they are just happy to be with you. Like many working breeds, foxhounds have fewer health problems than breeds bred primarily for show or to meet pet market demands, and even older dogs can have many healthy years ahead.
This situation is very similar to the plight of racing Greyhounds some years ago, and today many ex-racing Greyhounds find themselves in wonderful retirement homes with families who consider them the best couch potatoes ever. It’s time for the same to happen to hunting hounds.
You can read about successful adoptions of foxhounds from a hunt at:
http://articles.philly.com/2004-08-17/news/25392204_1_foxhounds-rescue-group-hunting-dogs To see hunting foxhounds at work, click on: http://www.klmimages.com/foxhunting
Jerry Dunham
Coonhound Companions Click to get to the start-up kit and web page. Coonhound Companions (and Foxhound Companions) have now posted helpful hints for starting a Long Ear League chapter. These tips can be found on our website for free download. Just click on our logo, left, to get started. Our web page includes a start-up kit with art for signs, posters, business cards, and a link to a store with logo t-shirts and other gear, and lots of links to outside coonhound information. Long Ear League is a new idea from Coonhound Companions. We hope to encourage the formation of meet-up groups for owners of pet coonhounds and foxhounds that will enable coonhound people to meet each other and have social events with each other, both with and without the presence of their pet coonhounds. Getting together with other hound owners and their dogs is great fun. Most hounds are sociable with dogs and people, and interact well with each other and with children. Meeting other hound owners will help you compare experiences and learn about training ideas, fun activities, and quirks of the breed from each other. And no one appreciates how gaga you get over your long-eared companion than another pet hound owner! What could be more enjoyable than a group of sociable coonhounds singing their hearts out? Coonhound Companions (including Foxhound Companions) is an advocacy group educating the general public about coonhounds and foxhounds, with the aim of helping long-eared hounds in shelters find adoptive homes more quickly. Coonhounds and foxhounds are bred primarily as hunting dogs. Since they also make great pets, those that lose their hunting homes are often stranded in shelters and rescues for lack of interest. We want Long Ear League chapters to be mostly fun, but we also hope that gatherings of pet coonhound owners will attract public attention to the full range of potential for these lovable long-eared dogs. |
The Coonie Team
Marybeth Brown Archives
April 2021
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