When We Aren't Hunting
Relationship and Training Lessons Pet Dog Owners Can Learn from Hound Hunters
tl;dr: This is an introduction to a new series I'm working on about the abstract side of owning hounds — everything that takes place outside of the time we spend hunting with them. In the next few days I'm releasing the audio version of this post for the Hound on the Run Podcast, so if this is too long of a read, hang tight and I’ll read it to you.
While much of what I've written about and talked about with my interview guests has been about the actual hunting we do with our dogs, I realized that there is so much more that goes into the owning and caring for hounds that is really important to get right if you want to have a successful working relationship with the dogs — and actually keep them alive long enough to do some good hunting.
What I want to start exploring is the more abstract side of hound ownership, and really, the owning of dogs in general. Although now my main focus with my dogs is all about hunting, I feel strongly that there are so many lessons I have learned through studying how houndsmen engage with their dogs that can benefit not only other hound hunters, but other dog owners in general. And that's exactly what I'm trying to present with this series.
I've honestly been having quite a difficult time honing in and articulating the core of what I'm trying to convey through this multi-part series, and I'm slightly worried that no one will understand what I'm talking about, or worse, might misinterpret the concepts and feelings I'm trying to present.
But ... who cares.
It goes something like this:
What I'm discovering is that, despite what the anti-hunting organizations and media outlets relentlessly attempt to convey and the narratives they push, houndsmen have deep, profound relationships with their dogs — and really, animals in general — that is far different from the type relationships the average pet dog owner has with theirs.
Many of us houndsmen, especially the younger generations coming up of which I count myself a member, while some of us do live with our dogs in the house or in very close proximity, we don't necessarily see our dogs as just pets — these dogs are valued members of our families, yes, but to me, referring to them as only pets feels almost insulting to what a dog really is and what God created them to be.
Now, I recognize that comparing two different groups of people like I just did is risky and prone to stir up controversy and maybe even hurt some feelings, especially in this day and age, but that is not my intention. See, before I could actually call myself a hound hunter, I was myself technically just a pet dog owner. I get into this in more detail in the piece that follows, but before I started hunting with my dogs, I was very heavily engaged in obedience training with them — just like many pet dog owners are I'm sure.
Exposing myself to the world of dog training from a pet owner's perspective really taught me a lot about how dogs are viewed in our society and the treatment they are subject to by their owners. Back in those early days when I was just getting started working with my dogs, while I was able to find some really good dog trainers out there online who's methodologies I resonated with and who's techniques really did work on my dogs, I must say — the world of pet dog training is an absolute hot mess ... I mean, it really is.
If you lump all dog trainers together into a single group, just like any group of people these days, there is tremendous in-fighting, emotions run high, this side is attacking that side constantly, and it's just ... yeah. It was shocking to me how much fighting can occur centered around dogs, which, last time I checked, are pretty much loved universally. Everyone loves dogs. And I think that may be just it — that whole world of dog training is often times not about the dogs; it's about the emotions, opinions, and agendas of the humans involved.
While many of the flaws in thinking and gaps in logic were obvious to me back then, it wasn't until I began seeking advice from houndsmen and other hunting and working dog trainers in general that a lot of what pet dog trainers project out into the world started to really rub me the wrong way. And the reason why many of the concepts taught by prominent pet dog trainers started to bother me so much was that, at the end of the day, dogs depend on us humans to make the good decisions and when dog owners get wrapped up in all these ideologies, it's the dogs that suffer the most as a result.
As someone who has effectively dedicated the majority of my life, my focus, and my finances to my dogs in one way or another, I feel it's safe to say I am a huge fan of dogs and hate to see them suffer. That's why, while it may not make much sense to some, I feel pet dog owners of all stripes have many valuable lessons to learn from houndsmen about what it means to have a true relationship with a dog, just like I have learned.
From talking with other houndsmen, listening to them on other podcasts, and reading about them in books, I have learned so many important lessons and about dogs that go far beyond the actual act of hunting, and moving forward, that is going to be a big focus of mine.
Talking about dogs is one of my all-time favorite things to do, and while I spend plenty of time chatting about hounds with my hunting buddies, I also often find myself in conversations with non-hunting dog owners. Inevitably, the topic of dog training, or more broadly, dog management (they are different), comes up and that's usually where I get myself into trouble. I want so badly to share with them the lessons I have learned around owning and training dogs, but I almost always fail to properly express my viewpoints, training techniques, and overall thought processes around working with dogs.
So, a big goal with this series is to help myself get to a point where I can more accurately convey how to achieve the deep relationship I strive to maintain with my dogs. My hope is that by making the effort to codify some of these more abstract thoughts and concepts, that not only will it give me the right words, but will help my fellow houndsmen find the right words when they're in similar conversations with dog owners who may not hunt themselves and likely have totally different viewpoints on dogs.
The way I see it, though it might seem like a bit of a stretch right now, all of this ties into the efforts we need to be making collectively to Guard the Gate.
Let those those with ears hear.
With that, please enjoy this piece I have prepared for you and please forgive me if I get way too philosophical about the relationship I have with my dogs
If you have never witnessed a dog hunt in real life, is it possible to know and understand what a dog truly is?
If you don’t know what a dog is, its true nature, is it possible to respect a dog for what is?
If you don’t respect a dog for what it is — not what you want it to be or what you turn it into — is it possible to engage with it accordingly and make decisions with its best interest in mind?
And if you don’t engage with a dog in all of its dog-ness, as a dog owner, is it possible to have a true relationship, a true partnership, with the dog?
My answer to these rhetorical questions:
No, I don't think it's possible.
It wasn’t possible for me anyway — I never knew what dogs are capable of, or how strong, intelligent, and adaptable they are until I got invited on my first hound hunt.
Even then, though that first experience opened my eyes to what dogs have co-evolved with humans over millennia to become, I still didn't really know what a dog was in the deepest sense until I became the leader of my own small pack of hounds.
What's funny to me, however, is that as I write these words, I'm realizing that most of what makes a dog a dog is likely still a complete mystery to me and something that I may never fully understand — but it's that mystery that drives me forward to want learn more, experience more, and go even deeper.
I've been humbled by my dogs enough times by now to know that as soon as I think I know something, I most likely don't. But, that's just how it goes, and I won't let that stop me from exploring these topics in all my naivete.
Now, before I go on, I'd like to say to any non-hunting dog owners out there that I'm not trying to diminish your experience or the relationship you have with your dogs in anyway. In fact, my intention is quite the opposite — by sharing what I have learned and continue to learn, I hope to provoke thoughts, spark new ideas, and challenge preconceptions for the benefit of my fellow dog owners and their dogs.
Even if you completely disagree with everything I say and write, I hope my thoughts and ideas help you reaffirm what you believe and how you engage with your dogs, so long as it benefits everyone involved.
I feel that through my experience raising, training, and hunting with my pack of hounds that I have gained valuable insight into how it's possible to have a remarkably rewarding relationship with dogs all based on deep respect for what a dog really is.
And I don't think I would have arrived at that point of understanding if it weren't for actually hunting with these dogs, getting out into the woods them, watching what they can do, and really just being blown away by the almost super-like powers they possess.
Here's something important to know about me:
While I am thoroughly in love with all aspects of hunting — not only hunting with my dogs, but all forms, big game, small game, birds ... it's my favorite way to spend time outside — I have realized I'm far more passionate about the dogs and the more I learn, the more fervent the passion becomes.
When I got my first two coonhounds, even though I had gone on that first hound hunt and was extremely interested in hunting with dogs, I wasn't sure if that was something I could commit to with my own dogs — I honestly didn't think I had what it takes.
At that time, it was the training aspect of owning dogs that drew me in and really lit a fire in me. I quickly became obsessed with obedience training which started me down a path of learning many different training techniques and methodologies. But the more I worked with them and the stronger our relationship became, the more I started questioning:
Is this really what they want to do?
Is this really what's best for them?
I got to a point where I felt like I was running out of things to teach them and it all started feeling too routine.
My high-drive female dog Coulee absolutely soaked up all the training I could throw at her, but at the end of every session, I felt like she sat there looking at me like, is this it?
Learning how to train dogs certainly got me hooked into the dog lifestyle, but I could tell that simply keeping the dogs as pets wasn't going to be enough for me, and it definitely wasn't going to be enough for them. The training showed me how rewarding it is to build a relationship with a dog, but perhaps more importantly, it started showing me that these dogs I have possessed qualities I never knew existed; qualities I wanted them to be able to fully express.
I started having a lot of mixed feelings about everything.
While I would be having them practice "place," or walking them at a perfect heel around the neighborhood during "structured walks," I kept getting flashbacks of the pack of Walkers trailing and treeing a bobcat in the harsh terrain of Oregon's coastal mountains. How free those dogs were while out hunting contrasted with the obedience paces I was putting my dogs through really started to nag at me.
Those mixed feelings were getting more and more complicated.
Then I discovered the wonderful game of hide and seek ... and everything changed.
It started in the backyard. I would have my wife hold a dog back while I ran out of sight and hid with some food. No matter how hard I tried to make it, they would always find me and it blew my mind. Then we started increasing the range at some local parks, and sure enough, they found me every time very quickly.
I could tell that the dogs loved it in a different way, and even though it wasn't actual hunting, it was sort of hunting-esque and scratched an itch for them that obedience training never could.
Then the crux moment finally came:
I made the life-altering decision to purchase some raccoon scent from the local sporting goods store along with a canvas drag.
Wow.
On that first scent drag I laid out for the dogs, they came alive in ways I had never seen. Those perplexing, remarkable qualities I had gotten glimpses of were being expressed and all I wanted was more.
I guess that's how I became a hound hunter. I saw no other option but to start hunting with my dogs — not for my sake, but for the benefit of the dogs.
I had gotten my dogs in the spring, and when fall came around, we started our first hunting season together. And the rest, as they say, is history.
As I write this, we have just completed our third hunting season together and I honestly can't imagine living my life in any other way.
Where am I going with all this?
I love talking about dogs, and every chance I get, when I meet another dog owner, especially a passionate one, all I want to do is discuss every little detail of every aspect of dog ownership. But what I've found is that unless they are also a hunter and actually hunt with their dogs, the conversation seems to only go so far, so deep. If they don't hunt with their dogs, it feels like there is a language barrier, and in some cases, like we aren't even talking about the same species.
It seems that how I perceive a dog is much different from how the average non-hunting dog owner perceives a dog, and through this, there are some massive discrepancies between how we manage and live with our dogs. There are a few potential reasons for this that are important to look at.
First, it has become important for me to realize that I have hounds and hounds are totally unique and special among all other dog breeds. In my opinion, a hound is one of the most doggiest types of dogs around, and much of this is tied to how they hunt.
Unlike the ever-popular retriever breeds, for example, historically valued for their ability to work directly with a human while hunting bringing downed game to hand, hounds are valued for their ability to go out on their own and hunt up their own game, pursue it, and capture it.
With my hounds, their fierce independence is remarkable to watch, yet introduces some unique challenges in owning them, especially keeping them in the city, more or less living in the house. To maintain order in our house, I have to uphold some pretty strict rules with the dogs that the average pet dog owner may not need to — though they would likely benefit from implementing similar rules.
Secondly, I have been heavily influenced by other hound owners, and the average hound owner does not view their dogs as pets. Some of us might say we view our hunting dogs as tools, but really what's more realistic, is that we view our hunting dogs as something beyond pets. The more I think about it, I view my dogs as the best hunting buddies anyone could ever ask for. This concept can be extremely difficult for pet dog owners to comprehend, and unfortunately, it ends up coming across that hound owners don't treat their dogs well — which, while there are scum bags in every area of life, could not be further from the truth.
Lastly, because of the unique nature of hounds, and because I now do keep my dogs for the sole purpose of hunting, I have implemented structures, routines, and uphold rules with my dogs the need for which some pet dog owners find difficult to understand or relate to.
So, again, where am I going with all this?
I spend too much time thinking about all this stuff to simply keep it all to myself in my own head, so I'm launching this project — a combination of newsletter content and podcasts centered around exploring the relationship houndsmen and other working dog owners and handlers have with their dogs.
My hope is that this information will not only benefit other houndsmen, especially those who, like me, are just getting into all this, but a broader audience of non-hunting dog owners in general.
The way I see it, taking dog training advice from a houndsman is similar to taking driving advice from a racecar driver.
The demands of a working relationship between a hound and its handler are extremely high and I feel there is tremendous knowledge to be gained looking at this subject from all angles ... and that's exactly what I intend to do.
I'm not fully sure the end format of this project, but it will most likely end up in a short book of some sort.
Thank you for reading this introduction of the new series I'm working on. Up next, I'm taking a close look at mindset matters surrounding owning dogs and everything I had to "snap out of" in order to do what was best for the dogs ... and really, what it means to treat a dog like a hound. It may get messy, but that's just how I like it. Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Niklas