Hounds

How does one find a good home for Walker Hound? We rescued 2 of them from the woods this summer while on vacation. They were maybe 8-10 weeks old, so that makes them roughly 7-8 months old. It was not my plan to keep them... My husband and youngest son thought otherwise. I finally got my youngest to pick ONE. He picked the female and she has spent the night on his bed for a couple months now. My youngest already has a Hound that sleeps with him, and just got part of his Christmas... we found 2 one year old ferrets, with everything, including the 4 story house (they are spayed and neutered) for $150. He has wanted a ferret for quite some time. Long story short, one child does not need two dogs and two ferrets (and the reptiles he has). I need to find the Walkers a home. My problem? I know they'll end up in a 30 dog kennel somewhere... If you are not familiar with the "hunting" practices here, they use these dogs to run deer and rabbits. Like everything, there are always the exceptions, but as a general rule these dogs are kept in big (as in numbers, not space) kennels, with little care, and then turned out to "run" during hunting season. Many end up dead and if the county picks them up, chances are the "owner" won't bother to go pick them up. I stood in the feedstore one day last season and listened to one guy bitch and complain because when he finally located the dog (they use tracking collars and receivers) she was dead in the swamp and now he was going to have to wade into the swamp to retrieve the collar. In other words it didn't mean a damn thing the dog was dead, but to lose that tracking collar was the hot topic of the day!! My other experience was 2 years ago when I called the number on a collar of a female that stayed on our porch for 3 days. Back when our property was not fenced in, we'd get them often. I learned to just ignore them and usually in a few hours they'd be on their way. This girl wouldn't leave. So I called the number. The guy says, "oh she's a young dog and didn't stay with the pack. She's been gone almost 3 weeks, I'd given up on her". Then went on to say "do you have a place for her to stay until tomorrow?" WTF?? If your dog had been missing for 3 weeks and someone is now on the phone with you saying they have the dog, would you ask if there's a place for the dog to stay until tomorrow?? Ugh! The two Walkers we have are gorgeous and true to Walker form, they have perfect temperaments. The male has a mouth when he's keyed up, but other wise they are quiet. They do not howl like Beagles do. I don't know what to do, or where to post them. I don't want anything but a good home for them. They are crate trained and have recalls, and like I mentioned the female sleeps in Dylan's room at night. I've had no problems keeping them in my fence. If there is someone that can help me, I'd sure love it! We really have a lot of "pet" dogs at the moment, so these 2 pups really, really need to go! Putting them in the local paper is my last choice as I know what their fate will be...

Please contact me at alikaycurtis@yahoo.com if you have any suggestions- or want them! :-) I told my husband he could not feel sorry for any more animals!! (I guess I'm colder than he, because I saw the pups first- mumbled to myself "poor babies"- but kept on 4 wheelin'. Ben was behind me, and stopped....)