Thinking of adding a bloodhound to your family?

Part of my shpeil when someone asks about bloodhounds. I’d rather lose a sale on a puppy than not educate folks and see the puppy rehome in 6 months or a year. I feel I’d rather scare off potential parents and if they’re still on board knowing all the horror then maybe they can hang!

Bloodhounds are literally known for being the most difficult dogs to train and potty train. They are notorious for being escape artist and fence jumpers and counter surfers. They were bred for centuries to be independent thinkers and not please their humans. They are specifically known as a breed that needs a job or will be so destructive you won’t financially recover. I always suggest anyone getting into bloodhounds to start saving for your next couch your next mattress and many sheets of drywall! If you don’t keep a clean house or you like nick nacks I DO NOT suggest bloodhounds. If you feel electric collars or crate training to be cruel you should not get a bloodhound. These are standard issues across the over 100 bloodhound groups I’m in including the world’s most renowned bloodhound trainers including search and rescue and K9 training groups they should Absolutely never be allowed off leash even if thoroughly trained- police and SAR prefer a 20 ft leash for working bloodhound but if off leash they catch a scent they’re GONE!

They are extremely sensitive and are often called dumb however are one of the highest iQ breeds but are labeled as not as smart because they are so difficult to train the actual reason behind that is because they literally are smarter than us! Bloodhounds open every type of door latch gate hinge out there- they are problem solvers and they’ve been bred for centuries to be single minded and hyper focused so once they set their mind to something they don’t stop for days or weeks on end they are extremely focused on their goal as they were bred for. They’re extremely large dogs so hip dysplasia and bloat are common issues if parents aren’t carefully chosen. The gastropexy surgery is expensive to reduce chances of bloat. Also due to their strength they do not leash train easily unless relentlessly trained from an extremely young age! I’ve been pulled down a 1/4 mile because a rabbit ran by! These dogs are most commonly ranged between 90-140 lbs and are pure muscle. They are prone to resource guarding and food aggression so you will need to feed separately. Many animal and dog training professionals think oh I’ve trained the most dangerous dogs in the world a bloodhound is easy and that bloodhound will make them question their life choices very quickly! I see it in bloodhound groups ALL the time and even I was that guy when we began with bloodhounds I thought oh I’ve done animal rescue and rehab and training for 20+ years there’s nothing I can’t train or fix- then I got bloodhounds am am forever humbled! With all that said: they are the most amazing animals of any species or breed I’ve ever known, they are addictive, they snuggle like no other animal I’ve ever known! They love like no other dog I’ve ever known, they guard our home like nothing I’ve seen and I grew up with K9 retired dogs, they are gentle with babies and will even guard the babies from each other if baby is crying everyone is a suspect 🤣🥰 they are prey driven so I don’t recommend them for livestock at all. However my bloodhounds are diligent protective of our pigs and goats but they antagonized our peafowl and alpacas when we had them. A bloodhound is honestly not as the tv makes them look like lazy dogs they need a crap ton of exercise daily, they need a job and a puzzle to solve. They can be the most amazing thing you’ve ever experienced as a animal lover or they can be the bane of your existence and they’re the number one dog most commonly rehome after pit bulls because people think oh they can’t be that hard to train oh they can’t be that bad those people must not know what they’re doing and 6 months later that dog is up for rehome because the buyers didn’t listen to our warnings and we do try to educate folks but most won’t listen they prefer google and trending media🙄 now if I haven’t thoroughly scared you off you MIGHT be ready to consider adding a bloodhound to your family 🥰