Emily
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Feb 2004
Location: West Kill, NY
Posts: 2045 |
Hennie
I have two pet redbones that also hunt, and I know a number of people that keep them as pets alone. If you are considering keeping one as a pet, go to coonhoundcompanions.com to look for information, and ask other pet redbone owners on yahoo's redbones group (for rebone housedogs).
While redbones are pretty good at all things pet, they are bred to go hunting. They will look for something--anything--to hunt if you don't hunt them. Within my fenced yard, they hunt frogs and woodchucks and just about anything else that moves, and they will do their best to break through the fence if they can to get to a coon or bear.
I take mine with me everywhere, and if we go into the woods during the day when we aren't hunting, they will spend most of their time out of my sight, checking in only every ten or twenty minutes or so. I can hike or collect mushrooms with them, but its not like hiking with most other breeds--they know where I am but without their tracking collars, I don't know where they are. Sometimes they will get on a scent trail and get treed when they're not supposed to be hunting, but I don't reprimand them for that as long as its something they are allowed to hunt.
You probably won't be able to let the hound run loose, even on a very large property, unless you are willing to keep an ear out for it and go bring it home if it gets treed. Most will come home eventually, but not before they've driven the neighbors crazy with their barking for hours on end or they've crossed a busy road without looking. And they aren't easy to fence in--It took me 2 years to get my fence (that had been adequate for the previous dog, a ridgeback 50% bigger) fully secure enough to keep mine loose in my yard, and I still don't leave them loose in the fenced yard if no one is home. They either need to be tied or securely kenneled if they are outside without supervision. Inside, they will be perfectly behaved all day. If I am home, they will tell me if they get a whiff of something they want to hunt, and I will either bring them in or put on their tracking collars and go with them.
If you want a hound-like dog that you can let run loose without supervision, you might enjoy a cur.
You don't have to kill animals to hunt them, but you do have to let redbones use their noses or they will get bored . Coonhounds are perfectly happy doing catch and release hunting, which is what happens at the UKC events. I suggest you go to a UKC coonhound event near you and check out the field trials and water races, and maybe even spectate on a nite hunt--tons of fun. Upcoming events are listed here:
http://www.ukcdogs.com/Upcoming.nsf...ound&Type=M
If that doesn't work for you, almost any other dog sport, or even making scent trails with a hot dog, will help keep your hound out of mischief.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of hounds that aren't very good hunters, and almost anyone on here can point you to one that doesn't have enough drive to be a good hunter. A lot of people hunters will give you one like that if you spay or neuter it. That's your best bet for finding an easy pet hound--start with a grown dog rather than a pup.
But also be aware that some hounds are "late starters." Hounds' hunting instincts can switch on suddenly. Most start hunting by a year or two old, but I've known very good hunters that didn't show much interest in hunting until they were four.
__________________
esp
Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged
|
07-11-2013 04:03 PM
