u/No_Wrangler_7814

Before a well-meaning person says his collar is too tight, I can put my whole hand under it. It’s just a dewlap.

This is a relatively new intensity level because recently we got caught outside during a bad storm. This reaction is mid-storm and he settles after everything calms down. I just don’t know how to measure what healthy looks like because this looks painful.

pic 1- relative size, 2- just after neutering, 3-5 progression over time and diet changes from Inukshuk Marine (high energy) to now... "normal food".

Both TWC-AFH xbred (Male 3.5 yo & female 3 yo). Vet says he cannot gain additional weight and she is fine. I've heard a lot of tricks you can do to reduce overall consumption, but my issue is there is a dynamic between them where it hard to not do the same for both. Separating them for meals makes it worse, like he's waiting around to find her guilty of eating something (she was very naughty as a puppy).

The vet was fairly explicit- just keeping him from gaining weight, but there is an interaction where if I deprive him from food- .... the stress becomes shared.

Pictured are the 1-year-old litter mates of my TWC-AFH x-bred (confusing, I know- keep reading or fast forward to link at bottom)... both parents registered (sire 2nd slide-albeit blurry) and there's more to the story that many of you who ask the question is this a coonhound or foxhound might find interesting.

I got a "Lab-hound mix" from a Farmer/Breeder/Hunter, Mark who said he bred bear hunting/livestock guardian hounds and a Lab "jumped the fence". All I cared about was "family dog".... The man clearly loves his hounds. They guard his livestock (protect his property and income) plus he hunts with them. He went on and on about how they absolutely cannot end up in a shelter- bring them back if anything happens at any time... he said I don't care if its 10 years from now. I felt like it was more of an interview than a "select a puppy" event. He even gave us a 7lb bag of food so we could titrate it properly with whatever we chose to feed him. (*edit- AND vaccination records, proof of deworming, initial vet checkup, the works- clearly he cared).

He went on and on about how they are the best dogs- 12 generation of amazing dogs -- on and one, a houndmen through and through. I thought that was a perfect mix (Lab-hound) and we took one home. The vet recorded him as a coonhound or foxhound even though I said Lab mix. I didn't challenge her.

This next part- I am not joking- I thought he was blind and possibly deaf. I'd owned dogs before and this one was not like the others. We'd go on a walk, he'd walk like a dunk leaving a bar after last call- weaving in and out and then stop suddenly freak out and bark at what seemed to me to be a ghost- I'd look around and think- I don't see a person or dog in the area- and he is literally start yapping and barking and in what seemed to be distress (true story! I was so naive). The most concerning thing was I'd try to teach him a command, and he'd focus on only the treat - needing to smell everything instead of listen- and rarely looked at me if I had food...so, the only logical thing would be to have the vet re-check his eyes and ears.

She says she's been treating "hunting hounds" for decades and that is just the way they are and I need to think of him as different from "other breeds" and hounds are bred to follow their nose to the point that all focus is on the nose- and the eyes and ears aren't anywhere near as important to them while "working". I decide because of all this, AND when a "soy and possible chicken allergy surfaced"- vet says very common in coonhounds and foxhounds, maybe its time to call Mark. I didn't simply say my name, I sent pictures of my dog,.... he calls me and says, "the litter must have had 2 sires- he gave me lots of tips and knowledge about "his hounds". And said both dam and sire are registered. And sent me a pic of my dog's littermates (from other person who sent pic of their "working dogs" at the same age as my dog with "known sire" (2nd picture). The flip phone he uses provides the "best of many blurry photos". Here they are not full grown. I forgot to inclue my dog as an adult- you can see how the littermates are not yet full grown and their legs are your typical foxhound legs yet- and they resemble more of a beagle cross (for comparison within comments is my full grown dog with "foxy legs" for comparison (full grown). I included this because he resembles the likely actual sire. (and not a Lab),

I was STILL confused. If the sire is "registered", why doesn't he meet the AKC and UKC standards? BUT, who am I to argue with him... I just accepted "RBC" as an close match. The more I learned the more he couldn't be an RBC. DNA test says 60% TWC plus AFH and other bits of other scent hounds. So, how can Mark- with all his knowledge and love for his dogs say the dog's sire is registered when - that can't be true- based on what I thought was the case.

Turns out the sire is actually a type of American Foxhound that trees... LOL.. Not an RBC- Here is the link Foxhound Registration Rules & Definitions - Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America. AND if you search Facebook or watch large game hunting videos on youtube, you will see actual working hounds are similar combos. In fact, its more common than not- the 6 AKC and UKC coonhound breeds are literally those that fit the archetypical raccoon hunting hound- those that are allowed to participate in competition hunting of raccoons and there are no standards for the xbred who hunts bears and big cats (mountain lions, cougars, bobcats).

This clip looks intense — like it could be resource guarding or the start of aggression — and I’ll be honest, it scared me for a second... that's why I think it's worth sharing. Max’s bark here is serious, but it’s not a threat. He isn’t lunging, he isn’t escalating, and he isn’t protecting an item. What he’s doing is telling me, very clearly:

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After a storm, a dog’s stress hormones — especially cortisol — can stay elevated for 24–72 hours, keeping their sympathetic nervous system in a hyper‑reactive state. When a hound is storm‑fried like that, even small changes in tone, frustration, movement, or emotional energy feel huge. They’re already overloaded, so any additional stressor — even human stress — hits like a shockwave.

And here’s the part people often miss:
distress and resource guarding can look similar on the surface.
A hound communicating a boundary (“please stop, I can’t take more input”) can sound a lot like a hound protecting something. Our online world is quick to slap the “resource guarding” label on any serious bark, but context matters. Physiology matters. Storm recovery matters.

Research shows dogs are extremely sensitive to human emotional cues — posture, breathing, vocal tension, even micro‑expressions (Sundman et al., 2019; Katayama et al., 2016). When their system is already stacked from the storm, those cues register like environmental triggers. That’s why keeping humans calm is so important when a hound is stressed; our emotional spikes feel like pressure to them.

So in this clip, Max isn’t guarding or being aggressive. He’s in distress, overstimulated, and communicating a boundary so he can decompress. His bark isn’t a warning — it’s a storm‑wired hound saying:

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And honestly? That’s a completely valid need.

He really feels comfortable telling me exactly how he feels. And I’m generally appreciative — but today I learned I did not hide the pillows correctly. He was very disappointed in my behavior.

Every time I see a collarless hound photo, my heart does this weird double‑stop — first because they’re so beautiful without the collar,… and then because my brain/heart goes “oh no, is the gate latched?”

I see so many posts with hounds just vibing collarless — inside, outside, mid‑zoomie — and I’m over here clutching my chest like 😱. No judgement at all, genuinely curious how y’all do it. Because Houdini over here needs a collar like it’s part of his skeleton. Same thing with his sister.

Bottom line, I don’t trust mine for a second. How are you guys able to do it?

Edit- He has a safety collar that he can back out of if it’s hooked, but you can also hook a leash in the ring. I should have mentioned this in original post because collars can catch on things… hence, the ring

3.5 years later- I can only imagine the stories they'd share now