How Do Coonhounds Track?

Coonhounds are a type of dog that are bred to hunt small game like raccoons. They are trained to track this game by scent, because their noses are well developed. Many individual dogs can find a scent trail even if it was made days before. They are taught to bark when trailing a scent and especially when they locate the animal that made it.

  1. Coonhound Traits

    • A coonhound's build is part of what makes it a successful scent hound. It has a sleek coat to keep its fur from tangling in the brush. Coonhounds are built low and sturdy because they spend much of the hunt close to the ground. Their ears are long and their muzzles jowly. This extra skin helps channel the scent toward their noses when their heads are down. The noses themselves are wide and have more smell-processing cells than dogs that are not used to hunt by scent.

    Tracking

    • A hunting coonhound picks up a scent and follows it. This is called tracking or trailing. Coonhounds mostly hunt raccoons, hence the name, but can also track deer or squirrels. They have an innate tracking instinct but must be taught what game to follow. This is done by laying false tracks with raccoon scent when they are young and rewarding them with treats and praise for following the trail. Dogs can begin barking when they pick up the trail, called opening. Some dogs bark at nothing, while others may follow the trail to the tree and not bark at all.

    Treeing

    • When a dog tracks the scent of prey and find the animal's location, the dog's bark changes sound. This lets its master know it located the quarry. This is most often up in the branches of a tree for coonhounds. The process of finding or even chasing prey up into the branches is called treeing. Many dogs who track on the ground without making a sound will begin to bark when they tree a raccoon.

    Tracking with Other Dogs

    • Coonhounds can work together to track prey. The way tracking works does not change. Each hound follows a scent trail. Multiple dogs can tree the same animal, resulting in many dogs at the same tree. This can be hazardous if any of the dogs are belligerent towards the others, but these dogs are usually taken out alone rather than in a pack. Some dogs will locate game in a different tree than the rest of the pack. These dogs are prized for their independence. Older dogs can also help to teach coonhound pups by example when the pup accompanies them on a hunt.