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 Jim and I live in Western Massachusetts, and we must admit that we've have fallen in love with Bluetick Coonhounds. We are not hunters. We just LOVE Bluetick Coonhounds. Our love for the breed started 6 years ago after we rescued a 6-month old Bluetick Coonhound puppy from a local SPCA shelter. We weren't at the shelter looking for a coonhound that day...as a matter of fact, we didn't even know what one was. We were there trying to find a new dog for Jim's mother. His mother had just lost her Pekineese. The shelter was loaded with dogs that day. We had SO much trouble trying to decide which dog to choose. Then, suddenly, a straggly-looking little thing with crust in her eyes limped over to the cage next to me. The dog was very forlorn. She was skinny and very homely looking. The woman at the shelter informed me that this dog had been at the shelter for just over three weeks and that the dog's hopes for adoption were quickly fading. After hearing this, I looked down into the scruffy little dog's soleful eyes. I envisioned her fate as she leaned against my side through the chain link pen. Suddenly, I broke into tears. That's it, I said to myself. It was love at first sight. Casey, as we named her, came home with us that day. After a brief period of house training and "Oh my good this dog will never behave...!", Casey and Keisha (My dobbie/shepherd mix) became the best of friends and went everywhere together with us. (We knew from day one she would stay with us and not Jim's mom, and we were right) Several wonderful years went by with Casey as our companion. Then one day, our life together came to a tragic end. It was four months ago when she learned how to unlatch our fence gate. She got loose one day and during her run, she must have eaten a toxin of some kind. Although our Veteranarian did everything possible to save her, she died within 5 hours upon arrival. Her death was a heart-wrenching blow to our entire family. Her loss obviously had an adverse affect on Keisha too. Keisha went into hiding, and she would not eat for days to come. With the hope that all the nuances and personality that made Casey the love of our life were somehow connected to the breed, we went on an exhaustive search for another female Bluetick Coonhound to take her place. You can well imagine that in Western Massachusetts, this is not an easy task. I learned there are all kinds of Blueticks... long eared, classy, dark blue, old-fashioned (phew are those guys big!). We checked animal hospitals, former breeders, boarders, internet searchs etc. Our phone was ringing off the wall of this person connecting us to that person that may know someone that might have a litter, etc... We actually drove to New York to look at a 10-month old (believe it or not, her name was Kacey...I thought it was fate). Although she was a great dog, I decided not to take her. They had already started hunting her, and I thought it would be unfair to take this experience away from her. Ultimately, we contacted a very nice couple in Texas that introduced me to a breeder in Canada. After many phone conversations with this gentleman, it seemed like we had found a new friend. He had a litter of pups that were 12 weeks old. He told us how beautiful the pups were, and he described their fine lineage. He said all of the pups were beautiful, but the "runt" had a crooked tail (it looks like a question mark at the end). He did mention, however, that the little runt more closely resembled our Casey than any other in his litter. Every ounce of my common sense was telling me to get only one puppy, but my heart told me differently. We decided to get two. The logistics of getting two puppies to Western Mass was no easy task. The breeder initially drove them from Canada to an event in Indiana. From there, a guy from our neck of the woods was supposed to pick them up and deliver them to us on his way back from the event. Guess what? The guy never showed. So the breeder then took them to a Kentucy airport, hoping to get them to us, but they were unable to board the plane. Their health papers were back in Canada. Back to Canada they went . . . .  In the meantime, I'm actually missing these pups I have never met (wierd huh?). I decide to charter a small plane a few days later to pick them up in Buffalo, NY. The breeder would pack the pups up again and meet me there in his truck. Well, my luck couldn't have been worse. On the day they were supposed to fly, the weather was terrible with heavy rain and with snow on the way. Small planes don't fly in this type of weather.
I'm getting desperate at this point, so I called the breeder that same day. He, bless his heart (he had gone WAY out of his way to delivery these pups), agreed to meet me despite the fowl weather. The only difference was that I would be driving there instead of flying. A 7-hour drive, to be exact. Well,... I picked up my nephew for company and I drove and drove and drove to meet this man who had my new Bluetick pups(I'm sure you've got the picture by now) In the meantime, the breeder did the same (drove and drove and drove).... Finally we reached our meeting point and I got to see my two little girls. I also finally got to meet the breeder whom I now considered a friend. I had the pups' names picked out before hand, but it wasn't until I saw their little faces that I decided who would be who. Both were nervous at our initial meeting and unfortunately, I didn't get to spend much time with them as we drove the 7 hours back home. We finally got home after mid-night and got them settled. They were still a bit nervous at that point, but it didn't them long at all to get used to their new home. Keisha, on the other hand, took about a month or so to get used to them. Of course, as you can tell by the pictures, we think they are the best looking dogs you can find. They are also awfully smart (and willful and playful and affectionate - as I have found coonhounds to be). 
SeCay loves to chew, chew, chew and then she chews some more. Although she's the "runt", she's a little bit heavier than her lean sister. SeCay loves new people and especially kids. She is incredibly smart and agile, and because of this, we're forced to raise the fence to 6 feet this spring! She can bark or howl. She looks more like our Casey than does Cassey. She was given her name from the same letters used in Casey's name. Phonetically, her name is the reverse of Casey (KC); SeCay (CK). Cassey loves to play, play, play and then she plays some more. She shys away from new people and she'll come running for her mom if something scares her or if her big sister barks. Cassey has the prettiest eyes and she has real show dog potential...although in our house she is just loved. Cassey has the loudest howl, but she doesn't bark much (she's just now learning that she can bark too). They both "tree" our sliding glass door when another animal goes by or when a neighbor comes home they can see. They are the best of friends and they've never been separated. The vet said they "insisted" about being together when they were spayed. I can only imagine the bark fest going on. They want to play with Keisha all the time, but both are respectful of their older sister (although that took a while and a couple of warnings from the 9-yr old big sis to back off!). They seem to learn from her. Sometimes I think Keisha still looks for Casey when were out walking, but the pups keep her pretty occupied. She missed them like crazy the one day they were spayed... so I'd say overall that we have one big happy family.  |
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