Living With A Coonhound by Susan Pedley

Norton is our 6-year-old black and tan coonhound. He has big ears, big feet, and an even bigger heart. He joined our family in 1993, and we haven’t been the same since. Here’s a few of the things we’ve learned about living with a coonhound.

If you add a coonhound to your house:

Get a big bed. Norton takes up 3/4 of a queen size bed, which is unfortunate, because two adults and another dog would also like to sleep there at night. It's not unusual for someone to have to sleep in the guest room.

Put away money in your savings account for vet bills. Norton arrived with fleas and worms. He proceeded to eat everything in sight - underwear, rocks, dirt, pillows and socks. He's been hospitalized twice - once for a punctured intestine from eating a stick and more recently for contracting leptospirosis, which caused acute kidney failure and nearly killed him.

Buy a lot of paper towels. Norton slobbers after he drinks. He drools when he gets hot. He knocks over his water bowl and other people's drinks. If he's in a kissy mood, you'll get a face washing.

Be prepared to laugh. A lot. Norton has a great sense of humor. He likes to sing. He likes to mumble. It sounds like he’s tap dancing when his claws click on the floor when he’s anxiously waiting for the food bowl to be filled.

Be prepared to meet people. The black and tan coloring scares some people - they think he's a rottweiler mix. The ears confuse others - they think he's a giant basset hound. Everyone wants to hear him howl. Once they get to know him, people make an extra effort to walk by the house, hoping he’ll spot them and come to door to wag his tail at them.

Be patient. It's not that he was difficult to train, he just wanted to learn at his own pace. It took only days to house train him, but nearly six years to get him to speak on command. Actually, he spoke very well. It was getting him to not speak that took so long.

Be understanding. Norton is afraid of loud noises, especially thunder. Other hound owners report the same issues. In Norton's case, putting a blanket on the floor of the closet or the bathroom gives him a place he feels safe to hid in. Learning to not slam doors or drop things in the kitchen makes his life easier. We stay home on the Fourth of July and play loud music inside to keep him from hearing the fireworks.

Be prepared to dump your small car. My husband’s Honda Civic was fun to drive, economical, too. Norton loved to ride in it, jumping from the back to the front the entire time. This meant I had to sit in the back, and the rear view mirror was broken twice before we decided to get rid of the car. I bought Norton a Toyota 4Runner, and rarely have the middle seats up. This gives him plenty of room to stand and walk around. In fact, he walked from Dallas, Texas all the way to Kansas City, Missouri (not on the street, but in the back of the SUV!).

Learn to speed read. I’ve got five, maybe six minutes, tops before Norton steals the paper off the table, chair or floor where it is resting while I read. Once he’s got it, he either shreds it into tiny pieces or sucks on it. Since he can’t read, I assume he’s worried I’ll forget to recycle it, and is just taking it upon  himself to do the work.

Don’t worry about fixing your doorbell. Norton announces visitors way before they hit the front door. Sometimes he announces other people’s visitors, and sometimes he announces the arrival of  “invisible” visitors, as well.

Drop your health club membership. Running around after Norton has increased my aerobic fitness, and dodging him as he runs full speed through the backyard to chase a rabbit has dramatically improved my sense of balance as well as my leg muscle development. Walking him has increased my hand and arm strength, although I’m beginning to suspect that my right arm is becoming longer than my left from being pulled so hard.

Think about redecorating. White is out of the question. Beige, maybe. The best bet is earth tones – greens and browns, since these colors don’t show dirt, hair or slobber quite as much.

Think carefully when buying new clothes. The three worst words I can think of are “dry clean only.” With the coonhound hair sticking to everything, and the slobber and the ear yuck,  I’ve never worn anything more than once before it needs to be washed.

Learn to keep your counters and tables clear. Hound owners call it “counter surfing.” Norton can remove any item counter height or lower, no matter its size or shape. We keep things (including shoes) on top of the refrigerator. We put the coffee table in the basement because it was too tempting to put things on it (and besides, it was always in the way when we wanted to play tennis ball in the house). Our non-dog owning friends wonder why we don’t use the bottom three shelves of our bookcases, but our real friends understand.

Be prepared lose your heart. I’ve always loved dogs. We have a Westie that we love very much. But nothing really compares to having a hound dog. Norton’s bigger, goofier, and better looking than any dog I’ve ever seen. He listens to our voices  intently, stares at us with love in his eyes, and gets into more mischief than a small child. He won’t eat when my husband travels on business, and he won’t leave my side when I’m sick. I’ve never had a dog that loved me like Norton does, and I’ve never been so wrapped up in a dog, either. Through his last illness, many people remarked how lucky Norton was to have owners like us who would commit the time and money to get him well. We’ve always thought they were wrong – it’s how lucky we are to have Norton!