Okay so 8 months ago a lost Coonhound showed up (most certainly a kenneled hunting dog), when he got kicked out of the boarding kennel after a fight with a pit bull (see Pitbull throat bite at Pricey boarding kennel thread here: Pit Bull throat bite at pricey boarding kennel ) he had to come here and fit in a pack of 6. I ran petfinder ads and got responses but very few were intelligent or capable, and those that were realized they didn't want the challenge of keeping this dog securely fenced. Ugh....yeah it is a challenge.

Integration into this home was a major concern as I have a male aggressive LGD that must be separated and 3 other males that are sensitive/elderly/crochity and this Coonhound was a strong powerhouse of a dog with NO canine social skills or house manners (kenneled hunting dog with TONS of energy).

Anyways...update...6 months later....after 6 months of "baby steps" involving x-pens and slow integration and a few screaming fits on my part....Coonhound watched and learned and finally earned full pack citizenship.

He wanted to fit in, and I did my best to set him up for success, and now he does fit in completely. As an added challenge I don't think Mr. Coonhound had ever been handled by women, he LOVES men but wasn't sure about the whole female human thing, he got over it and has become quite attached, much more attached the last few weeks.

I hope it continues to work out with the seven dogs, including the male-aggressive LGD.

I'm glad it's working out for you!

Custis

 Quote: Custis Lee

I'm glad it's working out for you!

Custis

Hi, Custis,

You might want to stop by here http://leerburg.com/webboard/topiclist.php?forum_id=146 and do a little intro.

WELCOME!

Glad it's working out, Sonya.

And, welcome to the Board, Curtis.

He has never met the LGD (and hopefully never will), I rotate the LGD and the other males. There is no drama or posturing or window/fence fighting, everyone is mellow and content, the males are simply separated 100% of the time and fine with that.

Rotating two sets of dogs isn't easy which is why I was worried about Coonhound integrating with the beta male group. Six months and he has mellowed, learned house manners and canine social skills, and he has been with the other males pretty much full time for months with no aggression/dominance issues whatsoever. Six months is a pretty good trial in my opinion.

He was a real handful, strong, stubborn, fast, loud, high prey drive, and didn't listen at all (not his fault he was likely kept kenneled by himself and only taken out to hunt). These hounds weren't bred for obedience that is for sure, I think most of what he learned came from observing the other dogs. He has slowly become much softer in every way, I do believe he desperately wanted to fit in with a family/pack and have dogs to play with in a real home as that is the thing he never had before.

Good on you, Sonya, for helping this guy to have a great home. (I can see he has the "hound voice" thing going on, though!

Just have to post and say dogs are amazing beings. The different breeds are also amazing.

When Coonhound showed up I thought "he can't live here", he was utterly charming at times....20% of the time it was "you are my world, I exist for you, you are the center of my universe" but then 80% of the time it was like a switch went off in his brain and he was "hunting, hollering, sniffing" and I did not exist at all. No amount of leash corrections or yelling made me exist. Course that 20% is what made me want to save him and board him and see to it he had a good home.

Since he has gotten full house privileges the difference has been soooo noticeable. Now 95% percent of the time he is focused on "my world". He is all about wanting to be close (even when the other dogs are out barking and raising heck), he makes frequent eye contact, he reads my mind and is so concerned about being pleasing.

I would imagine that is what a well trained Mal is like, the mind reading thing. If the other dogs come rushing in and start greeting each other and I think "Yeah, no wrestling in the house" Coonhound is looking at me and yawning to let me know HE won't be wrestling, he exists to please me so no worries at all.

So in tune, so devoted (if I open his crate he runs in and lays down, big difference from when I had to shove him in and listen to him holler for 30 minutes). I have always preferred hard headed protection breeds and I like their strong and sometimes difficult personalities. This whole complete devotion "I exist to please you" thing is endearing and quite surprising! Especially from a dog that I honestly thought was too hard headed and prey driven to ever fit in.

Dogs are amazing creatures indeed.

(BTW Connie I see you are from Northern California, I was born and raised there, Cupertino to be exact. Moved to the deep South in my 30's).

What you've described sounds like every pit bull I've owned. Many of the fosters weren't around long enough to bond, but my owned pits were pudding around me. Their existence was for me.