The trick is to find your window. Catch her on the way up. She’s easy to read, since she wears her heart on her sleeve. You can intervene constructively as you face all of the drama together. If you learn how to keep her chugging along at a nice steady pace when she’s a babe, and always manage her carefully with locks and leashes when life presents too great a temptation for her to ignore, you can avoid ever having a runaway train on your hands.

Interests and Hobbies

Hunting is at the top of her list, of course . . . and also sniffing, eating, sleeping, playing, cuddling, barking, walking, lying in the sun in the winter, couching it near the AC in the summer. Basically anything may be of great interest to your hound. The range of a scent hound’s fancies is so incredible, in fact, that some might think of her as a bit of a contradiction. She can be a footloose and fancy free, outgoing, fun-loving and adventurous girl driven by wanderlust and the call of new horizons. Or her feel-good character can make her gravitate toward all the comfortable warm and fuzzy things in life—from snuggly beds to the arms of the ones she loves. Whatever the moment has to offer, the common denominator is her passion for it. She’s all about her senses, and just plain passionate about being passionate—one great interest at a time.

Your scent hound is undoubtedly thrilled by any chance to chase and tree a critter in the yard and bark with great enthusiasm for hours as it shudders on a limb waiting for her to leave. And yet, she might completely miss the half dozen rabbits hopping about the edges of your garden while she’s napping in the sun, so engrossed in the experience of her wonderfully peaceful slumber. She is in the moment of her present mission at all times, whatever it may be.

So while it is true that she is a go-with-the-flow, anything-goes kind of girl, it is also important to remember that she will have her druthers. If something hurts her feelings or scares her—if she has decided for any reason that something is “bad” and should not be on her interest list—you might conclude that theatrics are indeed her truest calling above all else.

Education

There are two primary things you need to remember about your scent hound when it comes to her learning. First, like many of the other genetic groups, she was not exactly designed to follow your directions; she was designed to follow her heart (well, nose and emotion). And, second, those feelings (and smells) that drive her are often obstacles to productive learning. Your job, throughout her education, is to be the engineer of her heart’s experiences.