Dog Community

Coonhounds - Black & Tan

Posted : 8/2/2007 6:19:36 PM

I have a couple funny stories to share about a friend's black & tan coonhound. First, having gotten to know my friend's, I think they are great dogs but if you ever had a question this will convince you of how special they are. I know there is at least one forum member who has one of these fabulous breed.

When my friend was extremely ill due to the flu, she couldn't get out of bed to do anything much less walk her dog. So, she rings me up and begs me to take her dog for a walk. I knew her dog but had a million questions about how she is on a walk, etc, etc, etc. I show up, take her dog for a walk, her dog is happy to go...all went excellently. Well, you'd have thought that I did the greatest thing in the world for this dog...she became my new best friend, lol. She would make a big stink every time she saw me after that as if to say thank-you, thank-you, thank-you...you're the best thing since sliced bread. Amazing, I've never seen anything like it before or since.

This same dog on a hike might as well have been surgically attached to me. My friend says, "I think my dog has a crush on you!" ...we both had a good chuckle. On the way back down the mountain, I'm jibber-jabbering, looking at the

retty trees and eating my bag of nutsy goodies - not watching my footing - and whoop! my feet came right out from underneath me, nutsy goodies everywhere, and went down with a terrible bang right onto my sacrum (rock is not forgiving, lol). Well, my new best friend comes galloping over at neck-break speed to console me....no, wait a minute, she came over to knock me down again and suck up my goodies. I swear I never laughed so hard! [

]

Anyway, just wanted to share. [

]

houndlove

Posted : 8/2/2007 6:35:42 PM

Yeah, that all sounds like Marlowe too! Mar has a huge crush on my best friend too (she has a spare key to our house and an unusual work schedule, so she every now and then just pops over to enjoy our central a/c, do her laundry and hang with the dogs when we're not home). Both dogs really love her but Marlowe is just very demonstrative about his affection and when she comes over has to sit next to her and put his head in her lap and sniff her eyeballs (yes). And yes I have commented on several occasions on the doggie crush that Marlowe has on her. [

]

And just look how I repay him for all his wonderfullness! With friends like me, who needs enemies!

TAOofGoldyShep

Posted : 8/2/2007 7:21:51 PM

HAH-HAH! Poor Marlowe. [

]

What gets me is that I had been around her dog many times before but the connection or bonding came right after the walk. Do you think that kind of behavior is a breed trait for them, or specific to individual personality?

Every time I see your avatar I'm reminded of her and that's kind of nice. [

]

houndlove

Posted : 8/2/2007 9:30:42 PM

Well, the breed trait I think is self-centeredness and they tend to measure the value of the humans in their lives by what they can do for dogs. Taking a dog who's been cooped up inside with a sick master all day for a walk most definately qualifies in the coonhound world as a service rendered and proof positive that you're probably a good human to know.

But that's the splendid thing about independent breeds like coonhounds--you never take their love and respect for granted because they don't give it out that easily. They're not like a lab, treating every single human, dog and tree as their new Best Friend--you have to do a spot of work to earn a coonhound's attention, and having a coonhound who's totally up your butt means you're a special person indeed!

TAOofGoldyShep

Posted : 8/3/2007 11:46:06 AM

[

] Thanks, that's cool! [sm=floating.gif]

brookcove

Posted : 8/3/2007 12:03:43 PM

Is that a rain poncho on your coonhound? "Retired" coonhunters all over the continent are spinning their graves. LOL.

houndlove

Posted : 8/3/2007 12:07:33 PM

Yep, it sure is! It's more for me than for him though. When it's pouring rain, having 150 lbs of wet dog running around your wall-to-wall carpeted house is not such a great thing. Conrad's got a coat too, but it's not quite so silly looking.

brookcove

Posted : 8/3/2007 1:57:01 PM

Not such a bad notion, really, for carpeted rooms. We've got all old wood that needs refinishing so the 300 (7 times fifty pounds average) pounds of wet dog that come in when it rains isn't much to worry about.

We've also got a really big mudroom or a small sun porch, which I've put cotton rag carpeting down in almost wall to wall. Pretty much all the dirt and water are left there, judging from when the rug gets shaken out and cleaned!

TAOofGoldyShep

Posted : 8/6/2007 10:13:10 AM

ORIGINAL: houndlove

...when she comes over has to sit next to her and put his head in her lap and sniff her eyeballs (yes).

Forgot to mention that I have a couple horsie clients that do this to me (sniff my eyeballs)...indeed a very intimate encounter, lol. Animals are amazing.

houndlove

Posted : 8/6/2007 11:36:22 AM

Marlowe is, understandably, very big with the sniffing. He has his little rituals about sniffing people. For instance, every night once we get settled in for the evening, after dinner, Marlowe has to come over and give DH the full sniff-down. Top of head, ears, corners of mouth, nose, eyeballs. Just to make sure he's really the same guy, I guess! And no one really minds this because he does it so sweetly. He's not an in-your-face let me lick you and drool on you and shove my nose in your face and poke you with it kind of dog. He just sits next to you and very methodically and thoroughly gives all the major areas a couple light sniffs. I feel like when he does this it's our equivalent of the "So how was your day, what all did you do, who did you see, where did you go?" conversation you have with the rest of the family at the end of the day. Marlowe can't understand if I told him in English, but I let him give me the full sniff down and he gets all the same information.

Though when I've been around other dogs, he always pauses when he first catches their whiff and looks at me like, "You've been cheating on me, haven't you?"

TAOofGoldyShep

Posted : 8/6/2007 11:47:24 AM

Maybe he's giving you guys a health check! ...you may now refer to him as Dr. Marlowe, lol.

We get the sniff-down, too, by our male Golden (who we fondly call Dr. Oakley) and by our GSD (she inspects everything). Our female Golden doesn't really do this intense and methodical sniffing. I often wonder about Oakley's skills (and other dogs like him) because I've seen where they use dogs to sniff out cancer cells, etc.

Whenever we have a boo-boo (unseen superficially or to the naked eye) we'll call Oakley over to check it out and give us a diagnosis, lol. [

]

Toonies

Posted : 9/14/2007 12:25:36 PM

I just ADORE these dogs. I have shelties now but one day, when I build my house in the country and have a better place to exercise him, I'll get one.

houndlove

Posted : 9/14/2007 12:48:06 PM

You don't necissarily need a country house to have coonhounds. We do just fine here in the city. Big Smile