It has been a while since I wrote about Blue, the Coonhound. It has now been almost 6 months since we adopted him and he is finally settling in and getting to know us. He sometimes listens, especially when there are treats involved.

If you remember from our first post about Blue’s story, part of the reason we rescued him was to help when Dan would be deployed. Now that he is learning trust and feeling at home, it is a lot less time spent training, and more time spent hanging out! Once this snow and winter breaks, I can’t wait to get out and go hiking with him more.

A few lessons learned:

1. Blue doesn’t mind being in his crate. When we first got him, I felt guilty leaving him all day while I went to work. He actually feels safe in there. As long as you never make their crate a punishment, they will have their little spot.

2. Check out groomers in your area. We found one where it costs $35 for grooming (nails, butt, bath, ears) and he gets to play with his friends for 5 hours! One happy pup! Petpaws here in Lexington, KY.

3. Give him time. Blueticks in general are very sensitive. When new people come around they need time to warm up to them. He also needed time to warm up to us completely. He has never slept better than he does now!

4. Have fun! Kiss him and teach him new things! Spoil him!

Do you have a hound dog or rescue dog? What are your lessons learned?

Thanks for reading!

Kim