crimsondonkey
pfm Member
Untrainable - not at all! Tame-able, well you can't overcome the instincts of the breed, they're hunting dogs and massively led by their nose and there's nothing you can do to stop that but you can manage things to some extents.
We've had Saffron for about 7-8 months and you're right you don't see too many as domestic pets, they're mostly in packs. Their reputation largely comes from seeing their rowdy pack behaviour and examples when they've been let go from hunts after 8+ years and of course then find it very difficult to adapt to living in a home and can be pretty unruly as a result.
We got Saffron from Foxhoundwelfare up in Gateshead. Jackie who operates this from her own home, tries to rehome hunting dogs, and says it takes on average about 12-18 months to successfully rehome an adult Foxhound. The first 48 hours when we got her home were 'interesting' - we didn't sit down for two days. Up to this point she really hadn't had a proper home and was more used to sleeping in a yard or the garage.
I think that their reputation is a bit distorted, the way greyhounds were also not seen as ideal domestic pets about 15 years ago. She is an absolute sweetheart and loves people, other dogs and also cats (she was 'cat tested' like other working dogs before she came home). We take her to outdoor obedience training in an enclosed field and progress with her recall and other skills have surprised everyone. On Fridays we go to Scent Work classes which make the best of her biggest asset - that nose and hunt drive!
She has her own Instagram account with over 600 followers and growing #saffyfoxhound https://www.mystypic.com/saffyfoxhound/ We did this to show the breed in domestic and outdoor scenarios, off lead etc, to try to show Foxhounds in a different and hopefully realistic light so that people won't be falsely put off from rescuing one themselves.
A couple of pics -