The Treeing Walker Coonhound, often confused with the American Foxhound, shares the same ancestry as its lookalike cousin although has a different hunting style and different personality traits. Walkers are also more popular, both as a hunter and as a pet. They are currently the most popular of all coonhound breeds.
Walkers are, first and foremost, hunting dogs. This does not suggest that they aren’t adept as pets and companions, but rather gives an idea to a would-be owner about what they are like to live with. If given the opportunity, most Treeing Walkers would chase after a raccoon or squirrel rather than obey their owner’s command to “come”. Although they are certainly trainable, their high prey drive will often overpower their willingness to listen. Because they are also courageous and intense dogs who might put themselves in danger while pursuing prey, it is the owner’s responsibility to keep them safe and never put them in dangerous situations. All of that said – this is not to say that Walkers cannot be trained under high distraction, only that it will take considerable work and consistency before they will be able to work obedience reliably if there are raccoons running around!
When in the house, however, Walkers are generally very easy-going dogs that are polite and easy to live with. Whereas they are alert and energetic outside, most are much more relaxed and calm in the house (provided that they have received enough exercise). Most of them enjoy laying on soft beds or couches, and generally putting in a lot of hours of “couch potato time”. They enjoy humans, especially their owners, and get along well with children. Furthermore, they also do very well with other dogs both in and outside their home. Surprisingly, despite their hunting background, many also live happily with cats.
Exercise should always include plenty of time to run around in a fenced area. Walkers have a lot of endurance and many will spend their time looking for things to hunt! The fence is vitally important unless the dog is highly trained and an owner is always there to supervise. Very few Walkers are trained to this level, and therefore a fence is usually required for their own safety. Some will be fine with a 6 foot fence, but others can scale this height and may need something higher or a modification on the top to keep them from getting out. Back to exercise – in addition to this free time to run around, Walkers must also be given regular walks, jogs and hikes so that they will be sufficiently conditioned both physically as well as mentally.
Walkers are quite smart dogs, but because they are also independent they may be slightly tricky to train. Many are master manipulators! They are intelligent enough to understand what is being asked of them but also smart enough to know how to “trick the system”. A trainer needs to stay on his/her toes while working with this breed, as well as keeping everything as consistent as possible. As they are also a sensitive breed, they learn best with praise and non-harsh corrections.
It should be noted that Walkers also use their smarts in everyday living as well, such as learning how to escape from inside crates or behind gates! Many Treeing Walkers covet certain toys or objects. If they decide that they like something, they may decide to grab it and take it back to their “nest” to add to their collection. This is one idiosyncrasy that could either be endearing or annoying, depending on which objects they try to hoard. It is very important not to let them become possessive of anything they steal, in particular food. Yes – they will use their powerful nose to sniff out food, and their intellect to obtain in by whatever means necessary. It is important to establish rules from a young age to prevent this behavior, as well as keep in mind that this is a breed trait that will undoubtably show up from time to time even in the best behaved of dogs.
Walkers make great watchdogs as their voices are particularly loud! This comes directly from their history, as their job was to alert the hunters once they had treed prey. Their bark/howl needed to be loud enough that hunters could hear even if they were a distance away. If an intruder breaks into their house, however, they will not attack. Looking for a dog trainer for your Treeing Walker Coonhound? If you are in the Austin, TX area give us a call today!
“Treeing Walker Coonhound”. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons