Living with a Bloodhound

Tweet

A couple of years ago, my wife informed me that we were going to adopt a bloodhound from a rescue league. With my knowledge of bloodhounds being limited to watching them track fugitives in movies, I was not sure what to expect. Now that Mason (you can see him in my avatar as the handsome one on the left) is part of my family, I want to share some of my experience with him. First of all, Mason has become my favorite dog of all time. He is great with my whole family which includes two children. He gets along well with our beagle (who is getting a little old and can be cranky at times). He is good with the cats though they do get a little annoyed with him constantly sniffing them. Mason is a lot bigger than what I expected him to be. He weighs around 125 pounds and stands around 5 feet tall when he is up on his hind legs on the deck railing. He has a great temperament, but many that do not know him find him very intimidating due to his size. Mason spends a great deal of his time sleeping but always gets up whenever I am moving around. We spend a lot of time with him sitting next to me so that I can pat his head while we watch Red Sox games. He is patient with all of his humans and gentle at all times. Mason is always fun to watch when he is tracking something down. When he finds a scent to follow, his head goes down and he loses track of surroundings. He will follow the scent which can lead to him to driving his head into walls, railings or any other object that is in his way. After he runs into something, he always stops, shakes his head, looks at the offending object with the reaction of who the heck put that wall there? There are a few drawbacks to owning a bloodhound as a household pet. The biggest one is the drool. I have known Saint Bernards and I thought they could drool but it is nothing compared to the river that flows from Mason's mouth. When he shakes his head, you can very easily end up with an impromptu shower. Stock up on cleaning supplies if you plan on owning a bloodhound as you will be cleaning drool off the TV, pictures, the other animals, and the ceilings. The other drawback with Mason is that his ears and neck need constant cleaning due to the dampness of these areas. Overall, I find my bloodhound to be a great family pet. He is fun to watch and is very loyal to the whole family. He is a great dog for family protection not because he is dangerous but because others find him intimidating. He is very high maintenance with the cleaning so please be sure that they are what you want before you consider owning a bloodhound. Overall, I think bloodhounds are great for the family.