Let's Hear it for Hounds

From Somerset Magazine, January 2015

Dillanger, a bloodhound puppy

By REBECCA S. LINDEMAN

 

                My mother would never allow me to have a dog.  Odd, really, as she tolerated cats, guinea pigs, hamsters, turtles, fishes, rabbits, and even an oversized crayfish that escaped its container, never to be seen again.  Things were different at our father’s house; he raised coonhounds.  There were always at least six of them and, when we visited him on weekends, I’d beg to be allowed to let them loose and roam the woods in their company.

                Those were the best times of my childhood: alone in the woods but for dogs.  My favorite was a bluetick coonhound named Judge.  What a patient soul.  While the other dogs ran free, I almost always kept him on a leash.  It’s hard to know what was in my young  mind; was I worried that he would get lost or did I just want to be physically connected to him at all times?  It was most likely the latter.  When we weren’t out traipsing the hillside, I would often sit atop his dog house, reading and petting him.  I’d even go in there with him, that is, until I got caught and was forbidden with an admonishment that I’d surely get fleas.  I was rarely without oily black fingers from stroking his fur and would even spend hours rubbing his cold ears in the winter.

                My father and I were never close but I will be forever grateful that he made (and kept) a promise to never sell Judge and allowed him to be MY dog.  Dad was of a different mindset then, one which dictated that boys spent time with their father and girls with their mother.  About the only activity he allowed me to share was hunting.  What a pleasure it was to be out in the woods after dark, listening to the night sounds, anticipating the bay of the hounds when they caught the trail of a raccoon.  What a thrill to go crashing through the branches and brambles, following that sound to the tree which held their quarry.

                What came next was not as much to my liking but, even at that tender age, I recognized that hounds were designed for this exact purpose.  As gentle, loving, and even lazy as a hound can be, their first instict is to hunt.  This is the one thing every breed in group has in common and most of them possess an amazing fortitude, as well.  Once a hound sights its prey or catches a scent, it is quite difficult to get him to focus on anything else. 

                Hounds are divided into two categories: the sighthounds and the scenthounds.  It should be fairly obvious which sense is strongest in the divisions.  Sight hounds include the greyhound, borzoi, saluki, and Rhodesian ridgeback.  These breeds have very deep chests and tend to be very trim, which allows them to run fast and with great agility.  They are dolichocephalic (have long, narrow heads) and are able to detect even the slightest movement.

                The scenthounds tend to have long, drooping ears and fleshy jowls.  They include the coonhounds (black and tan, plot, bluetick, redbone, and walker), the beagle, basset and, interestingly, the dachshund.  It is thought that these characteristics help in gathering scent by forming a sort of funnel of all that loose skin that directs the molecules nose-ward.

                Why, you ask, do I think it’s interesting that the dachshund is in this group?  The dachshund has a curious mixture of traits that would make it fit into either the hound or terrier group.  The terriers are a feisty bunch, developed to hunt vermin.  They typically like to dig and there is even a sport called earthdog where they track their quarry through a series of underground tunnels.  For the most part, vermin refers to mice and rats but, in the case of the dachshund, it is the badger.  In fact, the literal translation of the name is “badger dog”.  If you’ve ever lived with this breed, I’m sure you can picture them digging into a badger’s den, picking a fight, and coming out the winner.    

Rebecca is the President & Executive Director of The Ethel Fund Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to changing animals' lives by providing assistance in times of catastrophic veterinary need.  To learn more, please visit http://www.ethelfund.org or https://www.facebook.com/TheEthelFund.  You may contact Rebecca at rslindeman@ethelfund.org.