First off I would like to apologize if this is in the wrong section.

My stepfather, was given a purebred male bloodhound about a month ago. The lady who had was him going to have the dog put to sleep because she was moving and could not take him with her (real good reason huh?). This lady had a young son, I'm guessing around 5 or 6 years old, and I beleive she had an abusive boyfriend (this is only an assumption on my part). The dog had lived in the house the entire time she had it. Yet, this dog has no social skills whatsoever, and was terrified of men when my step dad brought him home (which leads me to the thoughts of an abusive male in the home).

My step dad works as an industrial HVAC tech, and simply does not have the time work with this dog as needed. He took the dog because he hated to see it put to sleep. I live in a garage apartment at my parent's home, and I have a 3 yr old American/Czech line GSD. He has been very slow to mature, both physically and mentally, and I belive he has just reached maturity these past 3 or 4 months. Both males are intact. They are kept in kennels, and let out to run on our property often. I have taken over the responsibility of the bloodhound. I am the one who feeds it, takes care of it, everything.

I'm only saying this because I belive it is crucial background knowledge about the situation. My GSD is dominant and very high drive. When out of the kennel and around other dogs, the bloodhound's body language is dominant, i.e. tail straight up in the air, walking around with chest puffed out. Yet the bloodhound growls and barks aggressively at people. I think he has been beaten, and has very low self confidence. I beleive that he would be a fear biter.

My GSD used to be dog aggressive, as I didn't socialize properly as I should have. But I retrained, and taught him to ignore other dogs, and he does this exactly. When I let him out, he lives to chase the Kong, orbee ball, whatever he can find. I think that he believes that it is his life purpose to constantly have something in his mouth.

When playing fetch in the yard, the bloodhound is no match for the GSD. He isn't nearly as quick, and to be honest seems a little goofy and lost when looking for the object. But, as soon as Boss (the GSD) comes running back with the toy, Jake (the bloodhound) targets Boss and runs over and tries to take the toy away by nipping, barking, and in generally being a pain. As I'm sure you can guess, this does not go over well with Boss. He respongs with hackles raised and much growling, yet refuses to give up the toy. This starts about halfway back from the retrieve and ends before the dogs ever reach it back to me.

The other day, I guess Boss had just had enough of Jake's crap, and flipped out. I really thought he was going to kill Jake before I got over there. When ever I called Boss, he stood up (he was on top of Jake at his throat) and stood stiff legged while Jake was going in a frenzy trying to get at Boss. I had to pull Jake off, and then made him lay down where Boss and I were both over top of him. What amazed me at this, and also pleased me very much, was that Boss did exactly what I told him to even though Jake was trying bite and tear at him.

This outlined in bright yellow two things that I already knew. This dog cannot be trusted, and he desperately needs a job.

My boyfriends brother, Jason, is getting ready to get coondogs and start hunting them. I know that bloodhounds are man trackers, but this dog needs a job and I think that positive pack interaction would help him out tremendously (I think that he likes other dogs, just doesn't know how to act, but then again I could be completely off base). He is a very high energy one year old (I was always under the impression of bloodhounds being lazy dogs that just barked and layed on porches, boy was I wrong!). This dog has had no other training, than the simple OB that I have done with him.

I am really hoping to get some suggestions and thoughts about what I should do with this dog. Do you think he could be a good hunting dog? Do you think he could learn to interect with a pack properly, without getting his fool neck ate alive? If yes, any suggestions on how to go about starting his training? Jason is buying trained dogs, and has hunted them, but never trained. I'd greatly appreciate any and all help and suggestions.

Thanks,
Megan

 Quote: meganmccallister

The lady who had was him going to have the dog put to sleep because she was moving and could not take him with her (real good reason huh?).

That was probably not the real reason. She was going to have the dog put down because of the aggressive behavior you are describing.

Some dogs that seem like they've been abused, are really just sharp, nervy dogs.

Putting two males, in a backyard, who have a history of aggressive posturing, and throwing a toy in the middle of it, is asking for trouble.

You've had this new dog for a month, at best. Keep it away from your other dogs.

I can tell from your "this dog needs a job" comment, that you are a Ceasar Milan fan. Ceasar is good, and has a lot of good advice. However, Ceasar doesn't cover every aspect of dog behavior and training, and there are a lot of things that get cut out of the show in editing. Read Ed's articles about introducting dogs, and dog aggression.
You may or may not eventually be able to allow these dogs to interact- but in the meantime, groundwork and a lot of learning need to take place.

 Quote: meganmccallister

Do you think he could be a good hunting dog? Do you think he could learn to interect with a pack properly, without getting his fool neck ate alive?

I can't answer these without asking some of my own.

Do I think he could be a good hunting dog? Well, what kind of drive does the dog have?

Do I think he could learn to interact with a pack properly? What do you mean by "pack"? What do you mean by "properly". What is it that you are wanting to see? And what does it have to do with whether or not the dog can be trained to hunt?

The answers to these questions will give you the answers to your own.

Welcome aboard- this is a terrific resource for you and your new dog.

After the last incident, I have been getting the dogs out seperately. When Jake was first brought home, I introduced him to my dog through a crate. I didn't know anything about Jake, and I knew that Boss had had aggressive tendencies. Therefore, I put Jake in a crate, and brought Boss in on a leash and a prong collar. Boss, growled at first, but I corrected him and made him lay beside the crate. After this he avoided even looking at Jake and ignored him. I did this for about 2 weeks before I let Jake around Boss outside of a crate. I wanted to make sure that both were accustomed to each other's prescense. And when I did let Jake out, he was on a 6 ft lead so that I could control him. After that for about 3 weeks, I upgraded to a 20 ft long line. And that was what he was on last time both dogs were out.

As for "this dog needs a job," Jake is still a high energy puppy and is bored. I'm not saying this in response to Cesar Milan and his methods. I'm saying this because I know bloodhounds are a working breed, and working breeds become destructive if left to not do anything. I could be wrong in my thinking, but I've been under the impression that if the dog is bred to do something then they are probly not going to be happy unless they are doing something.

I'm working with Jake daily on his OB, and he is improving. He's just young, and has never had any one work with him. I know this is going to take time, and I'm going to make mistakes.

He is very motivated to get the ball, and will search for it until he can find it. He's still a pup, and he has all of the pup energy in him.

When I say pack, I'm meaning a group of other hunting dogs. I'd like to see him be able to hunt with 2-4 other dogs.

If can train him to be a coondog, he will have to work with other dogs, so therefore it would be imperative that he would be able to work with other dogs.

Also thanks for the welcome!

Send him to me....I'll put him to work for trailing...

Contrary to popular belief, Bloodhounds are NOT big mushy porch dogs and most definitely do not really appreciate their space being invaded.

My hound LOVES to trail, LOVES his victim at the end of the trail, but once the food is gone, he does not like strangers or even people he kind of knows fawning over him. It is an issue I am aware of so I manage it.
I got him as an adult, so there was no real hope of truly fixing it, but rather correct the signs of it coming and then I would have had a dog that would be rather unpredictable.

As far as the aggression with other dogs....I have not seen a BH yet that carries their tail low, like other dogs. Their tail is usually up and curled, and I have noticed with the more dominant dogs their tail curls tighter.

If you are truly looking for a home for him, send me a PM. I am having to retire my old boy and am looking for a new BH addition.

It sounds like you're doing a good job of laying the groundwork for the dogs. Unfortunately, it's really hard when you bring a rescued adult dog into the home, to know how things will go.

All dogs need exercise and discipline, but it doesn't have to be breed specific. He could very well be content to do challenging obedience work for the rest of his life.

If he has a lot of drive, then that drive can certainly be channeled into training and work.

Jake getting aggressive towards Boss, when there was a ball in play, doesn't neccesarily mean that he'll never be able to behave around other dogs enough to work. It's never really wise to create a situation where dogs are competing over a toy. If they can coexist or ignore each other in situations where there isn't object competition, then he'll probably be okay if you continue the obedience and groundwork.

I asked what you meant by pack, because when I think pack, I think of my dogs position and status in my household, and how it interacts with members of my family.

Have you considered Search & Rescue for Jake? (and Boss for that matter?) No matter what you decide to do with Jake, I would start working him for his Canine Good Citizenship. The skills required for CGC are good groundwork for any working dog, and will let you know his potential for future work.

As to my knowledge, there aren't any groups of anything in my area that have reasonable drive time, other than a couple of hunting clubs. Hence, my desire to train Jake to hunt. I live in between Charleston and Huntington WV, if anyone knows of anything in my area PLEASE send me a PM!! I would love to do something with Boss, my GSD, but nothing is really feasable (sp?).

Carol, boy did I find out about the truth about the bloodhounds! I weas curious as to the body postition, and thanks so much for letting me know Jake wasn't trying to be a bully all the time! I'm at work right now getting ready to go grab something for lunch, I'm going to send you a PM after I get back.

--Megan

I think the best person to probably contact to help you find a group in your area would be Bill Dotson (out of Virginia). Let me send him an email and ask his permission to give you his email.

Bill is a WONDERFUL man and has been doing SAR for a LONG time.