Crowe wrote:
I crate-trained a 9 year old bluetick coonhound. I also trained him to break from scent. It's difficult but you CAN break inbred habits and traits.
Sure you can. But IME the overwhelming majority of people who are just looking for a good family dog don't want to make the job any more difficult than it has to be. Especially people who have young kids -- they generally simply do not have time to do a ton of training. They're doing good if they teach a dog a few basic commands, maybe get to a beginner obedience class. And that's why I'll always advise people to consider things like a herding breed's desire to herd (including a tendency to nip), a beagle's tendency to bay and raid trash cans, many terriers' instinct to dig, etc. Having spent years working in rescue, I want to stack the odds as much as possible in favor of the person getting a dog they're going to be willing and able to keep.
