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Anyone who has owned coonhounds, particular Treeing Walkers, or is very familiar with them, I have a few questions. This is my first time with this particular breed of dog.
My puppy Abby is nearly 11 months old and she's a TWCH/Beagle mix. She is very mouthy. She's calmed quite a bit over the months that I've had her (adopted her when she was 5 months), but being half coonhound, she's very energetic and I know this is typical of the breed. Whenever she's in a playing mood, she likes to mouth me, especially my hands. I know she's only playing, but her teeth hurt. She also nibbles on my fingers after she kisses them. I've heard it's a sign of affection but again it tends to hurt. I've read the thread on preventing biting and I've tried various methods. The pulling my hand away and yelping basically does nothing at all. I've given her chew toys and it usually helps, but not all the time. Anyway my question is: is it typical of coonies to be mouthy like this, even as older puppies? My last dog was a purebred beagle and she stopped this by at least 5 months old. I take her on walks and it usually uses up her energy and makes her calmer, but there are times when it's hard to walk, like when it's very hot/humid outside.
Second question: She has all the TWCH instinct of treeing animals and barking, but her bark is a bit strange. It's like a hysterical, high-pitched, almost squeaky bark. I don't really know if it classifies as a bay, it's more like a chop bark but again high-pitched. Do coonhounds do this? Most of the videos I've seen of them treeing/hunting they don't sound much like this.
Third question: Is it typical of coonhounds, especially Walkers, to have sensitive digestive tracts? When I first adopted her (she is a rescue dog), they had fed her Iams dry puppy food. I started her on that and gradually changed over to Wellness (my beagle always ate that and was good with it). It gave her diarrhea, so the vet put her on a prescription diet that helped. I didn't want to keep her on that forever as it's a bit expensive and hard to get down to the vet's whenever I run out. Someone had recommended Natural Balance so I tried that and she was good for a little while, but again started with diarrhea. Someone mentioned trying a fish/sweet potato mix (also Natural Balance I believe), or Blue Buffalo grain-free turkey. Anyone else have any experience with this and have something you could recommend?
Sorry this post is so long and if I sound somewhat clueless, lol.. Like I said, first experience with this breed.
My puppy Abby is nearly 11 months old and she's a TWCH/Beagle mix. She is very mouthy. She's calmed quite a bit over the months that I've had her (adopted her when she was 5 months), but being half coonhound, she's very energetic and I know this is typical of the breed. Whenever she's in a playing mood, she likes to mouth me, especially my hands. I know she's only playing, but her teeth hurt. She also nibbles on my fingers after she kisses them. I've heard it's a sign of affection but again it tends to hurt. I've read the thread on preventing biting and I've tried various methods. The pulling my hand away and yelping basically does nothing at all. I've given her chew toys and it usually helps, but not all the time. Anyway my question is: is it typical of coonies to be mouthy like this, even as older puppies? My last dog was a purebred beagle and she stopped this by at least 5 months old. I take her on walks and it usually uses up her energy and makes her calmer, but there are times when it's hard to walk, like when it's very hot/humid outside.
Second question: She has all the TWCH instinct of treeing animals and barking, but her bark is a bit strange. It's like a hysterical, high-pitched, almost squeaky bark. I don't really know if it classifies as a bay, it's more like a chop bark but again high-pitched. Do coonhounds do this? Most of the videos I've seen of them treeing/hunting they don't sound much like this.
Third question: Is it typical of coonhounds, especially Walkers, to have sensitive digestive tracts? When I first adopted her (she is a rescue dog), they had fed her Iams dry puppy food. I started her on that and gradually changed over to Wellness (my beagle always ate that and was good with it). It gave her diarrhea, so the vet put her on a prescription diet that helped. I didn't want to keep her on that forever as it's a bit expensive and hard to get down to the vet's whenever I run out. Someone had recommended Natural Balance so I tried that and she was good for a little while, but again started with diarrhea. Someone mentioned trying a fish/sweet potato mix (also Natural Balance I believe), or Blue Buffalo grain-free turkey. Anyone else have any experience with this and have something you could recommend?
Sorry this post is so long and if I sound somewhat clueless, lol.. Like I said, first experience with this breed.
