Trailhound Traits
Trailhounds as a pet, are totally motivated by food, you may find at first that your Trailhound is very greedy and may try to pinch your biscuit or sandwich off your plate (ours did). It is best not to leave food lying around where your Trailhound can reach, they are also great climbers and will if allowed jump onto kitchen worktops if they smell a tasty nibble. Once they realise that they are not in a racing situation anymore and you are able to teach them some manners, they will relax and look forward to meal times with great enthusiasm. In the early stages they gulp there food down so quick that they are often heard to belch, many pack animals do this, often regurgitating and re-eating the food when away from the others (don’t worry Trailhounds don’t do this)
When you first adopt your Trailhound, do not forget that most if not all of them have lived in a kennel for most of their life and will need to be housetrained. It is best to treat the Trailhound as if you were training a puppy and start from scratch. Most learn very quickly but others may take a little longer depending on age and whether the Trailhound has been allowed in the house, as some are.
Please remember also that your Trailhound can clear a 5 foot fence with great ease and at first it is better to take them into the garden on a lead, until you feel sure that this is not a problem. If you carry treats in your pocket at all times, you will conquer this very quickly. Just bear in mind that some of these Trailhounds have only been off the lead when they have been racing.
Trailhounds will eat almost anything and a good quality dried food with perhaps a little added veg will be adequate. They have probably been fed a very high protein diet in their running life, sometimes being fed raw red meat but this is not necessary as a pet, so a low protein dog food is best. Most of them love raw carrot and fruit, such as apple and banana as a treat. Many are fed offal and things like tripe, but this is not recommended. They are also great tea drinkers as many of them will have had tea to drink when they completed their race. Trailhounds love a piece of toast the harder the better as they are great chewers, a particular delicacy is ‘pigs ears’ available from any leading pet shop.
