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Our P.B. was obtained from Mrs Betty Judge in 2000 (PLUSHCOURT MECHEF). We named him “Louis”, after the French blood in him.
During the first few weeks, before he went out of the garden we put him on an extending lead, held out a small treat, gave a gentle tug to the lead, with the words “Louis - Come”. He very soon picked this up and we then taught him the ‘family whistle’ which he also learnt very quickly.
We soon discarded the lead, and within the garden he readily came on command, or whistle – not always followed by a treat, but always praise.
Once he was free to meet other dogs, we took him to the local Park just down the road and for a few days kept him on the extending lead, still calling him to Come to voice and whistle. There was a field close by fenced all round where we first let him off the lead and let him wander off some distance. We practiced calling and whistling to him and generally he came straight away. However, being a hound there was sometimes a short delay – just until he had finished sniffing, or following a rabbit trail and then he decided to come.
After a few more weeks, we used to go further afield with some friends who had a couple of dogs who did come immediately when called. Louis would stay with them either playing ‘chase me’ or just exploring. We called all the dogs together and usually they all came back together – generally Louis was the last to arrive of course.
When he was about 6/8 months old he was off the lead all the time in the Park where Louis spent much of his time trying to get his friends to chase him. Once in full flight he could easily avoid them by zig-zagging at full speed – good training for later years when he caught a few rabbits.
As time progressed, we took him everywhere and he loved local woodland walks as well as hills (The Malverns) and down in Cornwall (Padstow area). Near cliff or quarries we kept him on the extended lead for safety, otherwise he was off the lead. He would sometimes disappear into the undergrowth for 10 minutes or so, and once or twice 20/30minutes! He would always reappear just as if he had only been a few yards away. In such cases after calling him to no effect we just sat down and waited knowing that he would eventually come back. (Once with a rabbit clamped in his jaws )
Now that he is 10years old – with very poor sight – he is still off the lead and still goes off on a scent but due to his poor sight we don’t let him get far before we call him back, or stop.
One big problem all along has been ‘bitches in season’ (irresponsible dog walkers in the park!). As Louis still has all has faculties and once he picks up a trail in the park, he’s off. Once or twice in his life we have toured the neighbourhood and found him trying to dig under someone’s front door!!
Rob & Hilary Powell & Louis
