Snickers and Reese were formerly called Gorilla and Gatara of Sweet Pea’s litter. Snickers (male with brown spots over eyes) and Reese (female) are now 10 months old and have a typical brother-sister relationship. One minute they are playing and having a great time and the next one of them gets upset (usually Reese) and lets the other one know it. Snickers and Reese live on our 350-acre farm filled with cattle, pigs, chickens, and pheasants. Around our home and barns containing our animals, Snickers and Reese are able to roam within their invisible fence (but away from the animals for everyone’s safety). During walks/runs around the property, they run with our utility vehicle off-leash as they have been successful in their off-leash training. They will gladly spend all of their time outdoors keeping watch for any animal that wanders in or flies over “their zone.”

Snickers is more of a gentle giant. He looks like a bear and has mastered the sad face look to get some unwarranted sympathy. Though he loves a good run, Snickers is more than happy to sit on your lap (he does consider himself to be a lap-dog in size at 50 pounds) and be rubbed by you. He never gets tired of this and if you pause or stop he will turn and look up at you and give you a little gurgle to urge you to continue. Snickers acts like he’s not the brightest bulb in the pack, but has learned basic commands faster than his sister (though she may just be too stubborn), and usually doesn’t have to be shown anything twice.

Snickers’ favorite thing to do is go to the pond on our farm and swim around and chase the birds…perhaps he’s a Black and Tan Birdhound. The birds too have enjoyed this daily ritual and come around to tease Snickers, much to his delight. His excitement leads to continuous barking which seems to get the birds more excited. Even though he dives right into the pond, he doesn’t like the rain and would rather “hold it” then go outside to the potty if it’s raining out (his sister is the complete opposite).

Reese is definitely the alpha dog and is very high-strung. She is independent and unless you’re giving Snickers too much affection (thus leading to jealousy), is content with just a quick rub or pat as you walk past. She keeps Snickers in line and doesn’t let the roughhousing get out of hand. She has more of a rapid-fire bark instead of the typical hound howl. From the start Reese has been quite the Houdini. She has managed to hide in very confined spaces to annoy her bigger brother and can get out of any pen she’s put in. When we were building our barn, at three months old she managed to climb a four-foot high enclosed cement stall.

Reese spends her time at the pond patrolling the shallow end trying to (unsuccessfully) capture any fish. She quietly tiptoes around and, like jaws, when she sees a fish, she goes in for the kill (or lack thereof) and all you see are dog legs and water flying all around. Perhaps Reese is more of a Black and Tan Fishhound. After a hard day at the pond Reese returns home with us and proceeds to fall over onto the ground. One minute she’s standing there and the next she falls completely over on her side like she was shot. The first time we saw her do that we completely panicked and she looked at us like we lost it. When you walk over to her she follows you with her eyes but never moves…it’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen. We still laugh every time we see her do it and wait for her to roll onto her back, feet up in the air a couple minutes later.

Unfortunately, the dogs will not get to normal Black and Tan size and will remain around 50-55 pounds. This was due to having to take them off of puppy food around four months, thus their growth was a little stunted. Snickers had a rough time after arriving here and we found he was allergic to beef, chicken, and wheat. Snickers would itch until patches of skin would be missing and sores were covering his body. It was such a hard time for everyone and for Snickers it was very painful. We went through many dog foods and trials until we found an all-stages dog food that he could eat. As a result of his allergies, Reese too has to eat the same food and we have to be cautious of making sure no food falls onto the floor (which is difficult with a toddler) and I have to make their treats. The all-stages dog food hasn’t allowed them to grow to their expected full size, but the vet is happy with their health (he isn’t concerned with their growth) and Snickers has recovered and that is what’s important.

We are very grateful to have Snickers and Reese in our lives and cherish all of the laughter (lots of laughter) and joy they bring to our family. At times it feels as though we have three toddlers running around with the little one and the two dogs. At least all are potty trained (the dogs being the easiest as they trained themselves)! Thank you Coonhound Rescue.

Dave, Margie, David, Snickers, and Reese