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Two weeks after completing the purchase of a 200 acre farm, I picked up my first bloodhound with the assistance of Walt Partin from SCBR. My wife and I left very early Saturday morning from Ohio and drove straight through to Texas. After resting Saturday night, we met with Walt and our new Bloodhound on Sunday morning. After visiting for a while and getting to know our new dog, we began the drive home. We stopped every three hours on the way back to exercise our new dog and make the long jourey as comfortable for her as possible. Walt had told me that she was a real fine bloodhound and he was absolutely correct. Tchaikovsky (Tchaik for short) was very healthy and had been well treated and well cared for by her previous owner. She also has excellent bloodhound conformation, with the exception of a dramatic kink in her tail which only gives her more personality, and appeared to have excellent trailing instincts, although she was very jumpy around loud or unexpected noises.
If anyone has had any experience with puppy mills or backyard breeders, the following information will probably be redundant. For those of you considering the purchase of a bloodhound puppy, please review the contract from the breeder responsible for the litter which produced Tchaikovsky. This document contrasts with the conditions of adoption from a professional breeder. A professional breeder is most concerned with the best interest of the breed, the puppies, and the new owner, rather than being 'furthermore' concerned. The contracts from professional breeders will emphasize proper treatment of the dog and will always include a clause that mandates returning the dog to the breeder if the new owner decides that they can no longer keep the dog. I will let you make your own determination regarding the primary motivation of those breeders who are 'furthermore' concerned. I am very pleased that Tchaikovsky's previous owners were compassionate and understanding enough to find someone who would handle a professional adoption for her when they realized that they simply could not handle the demands of a growing bloodhound.
The bloodhound is a very romantic breed. I fell in love with the breed when I heard my first recounting of their mantrailing expertise and realized, through personal experience, how much benefit the bloodhound could provide if it was fully utilized properly. Other individuals, such as Ann Brook Holt, DVM, have made similar observations. Fortunately, I had the good sense (one of those rare, isolated instances for me) to completely research the breed, before moving forward and getting a bloodhound. In my case, I waited several long, agonizing years before making the decision to take the plunge and get my first bloodhound. I decided that now was the right time and that Tchaik was the right bloodhound. I now have the necessary facilities (physical and financial) to care for a bloodhound properly and Tchaik may be as close to a perfect match for me as possible. My bloodhounds will be trained as working dogs, and they will train and work hard. I will be with them every step of the way as we learn and train together. I hope that you will share my experience through my web-site. When we are not working and training, they will be just like any other enormous, slobbering, loving, rowdy pet.
I also hope to become involved in a local search and rescue organization with NASAR certification. Should that opportunity not become available, I intend to form an independent group. I will also be documenting the details related to that organization as the relationship develops. I can simply envision no better way to spend my retirement, than developing my reputation and responsibilities within the SAR community, working my dogs, and working my farm. A nice cold beer at the end of a trail is also a pleasure to savor.
We will now begin spending many hours each week training each other for obedience and then mantrailing. I will incorporate a regular log of our training and development progress and finally start including the pictures, events, and history promised when this page first started. If anyone has any experience in this regard which they want to share, please drop me an email. If I get enough responses on other people's trials and tribulations, successes and challenges, I will include those also.
So here's to you, you great big beautiful, slobbering, loving, obnoxious beasts. BloodyHo!
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