I found a Coonhound (looks to be a Treeing Walker) last year, a skinny 7lb sunburned, bug covered puppy along the road. We nursed him to health and now lives with us in a suburban neighborhood. Does an electric fence work with this breed? I am very concerned about him getting hit by a car, if he gets loose he really runs. We have a retriever who doesn't really wander far from the yard. Any tips on keeping as a pet?

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If you are talking about those radio fences it might! They are smart enough to know that when it starts beeping they are fixing to get shocked and avoid the shock. If you ar talking about running a peice of electric fence over the top and bottom of your 4 ft chain link fence yeah definitely.

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it's not the destination but the journey

underground fence does not work very well for hounds. ( mine anyway ) they know if they get far enough away on the other side it will quit shocking them.
i have a bloodhound that will sit on the ground by the buried wire and bark i know she is getting schocked cause i can hear it. i have also held the collar in my hand in the very same spot and got poked.

i think the fool likes it.

It might not be tight enough around the dogs' neck. I also have a half blue heeler and half Austrailan sheppard who has one around his neck. Sometimes it loosens up and wont work as effectivly. Then he takes off into the woods or the pasture behind the house.

no the collar is tight. she will also rub against the electric horse fence. i think she is oblivous to pain. i think some HOUNDS are just hard headed.

if you buy the real thing with the above ground wire and a good box itll work!!!! i have two pit bulls and a blue tick in one pen rign now and none of em bother trying to get out till i go let em out. and oit bulls have an extremely high pain tolerence.

Just make sure you get a system that administers a progressive shock if the dog does not go back inbounds.

I've not heard of a collar with a progressive shock, it keeps shocking once they cross the boundary?

The PetSafe Radio Fence works on some coonhounds if you upgrade to the stubborn dog collar and turn it up to the highest setting. It's the RF-275 collar. Also, I recommend turning OFF the warning beep. If they have a warning beep to listen to, they will take advantage of that to help detect "holes" in the fence. It does fairly well with my hounds, but not good enough that I leave the house when they're in the yard. They are more likely to want to wander off if they know I'm not home. If the batteries get low, or if the electricity is out for a bit, they're OUT OF HERE. We are putting up a "real" fence around the pasture this summer and will continue to use the Radio Fence to discourage the dogs from climbing or digging through the physical fence. I also intend to hook up the old-fashioned electric cattle fence, as well. Coonhounds can be hard to keep in, so I figure a 3-tiered system is best. And even then, the dogs stay in the kennel if I'm not home.

-Elizabeth

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http://www.mthoodblues.com

yeah, the hardest dogs i even saw to keep from running off.

Coonhounds are mostly able to ignore pain pretty well. They can charge right through the weaker fences and actually seem to enjoy the challenge. Whatever fence you go with will only work if the dog respects it. Using a "real" electric fence like for livestock is probably an excellent idea but like Elizabeth said, don't leave the dog outside if you are not home unless it is kenneled or chained. It will take advantage of any opportunity to run.

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Thanks to everyone for the useful info. I don't know what I'm going to do about the fencing, not sure if I feel comfortable with the electric fence.
Do you think obedience training, I would just like him to come when called, so he doesn't get hit by a car. Does anyone know of a training center in Northern Kentucky?

There are some on the market that administer a harsher shock if the dog does not get back into the boundry in a certain amount of time.

No, I do not think you will have any luck keeping him in the yard with obedience training. It is theoretically possible... I have heard of a FEW people who have been able to do that with coonhounds... but it would probably take a lot more training than any mere mortal would have the time or $$ to do. Wandering is just too bred-in to coonhounds... it's what they're genetically designed for, much more than other dogs.

If your concern is letting the dog go in the yard under your supervision without wandering off, I think a combination of obedience training and the PetSafe system with the "stubborn dog" collar will probably do the trick. The PetSafe system comes with a video that shows you how to train your dog to respect the boundry. If you're right there watching, and you always make sure the batteries are good, and that the collar is on snug, this will probably do the trick. The place where you can't trust it is if you're leaving the dog alone in the yard. Once it sits around getting bored for a while, and then it spots a cat across the street, it has a high chance of taking off.

-Elizabeth