"Hi Howard, we have a year old Hanovarian bloodhound, who is quite difficult to train. When out walking off the lead, she goes into stalking mode and just doesn't hear the whistle or ignores it. We have tried everything to get her to respond. At home she comes back straight away to the whistle. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Tara."

H&C blogger and gundog expert Howard Kirby replies: "Hi Tara, dogs that are bred specifically for a job of work have a high prey drive; this of course means that whenever there is the slightest scent of game around, the dog will flick up into hunting mode. This hunting mode is a very focused state of mind not to mention one that your dog enjoys.

Over-riding and distracting, this mind set will need a combination of skills from the trainer. Basic obedience, ensuring that you teach your dog to stop to a whistle or voice command serves to literally stop the dog in it's tracks and therefore give the handler an opportunity to re-direct the dog's train of thought. Secondly, you can try a game or reward that substitutes the hunting. This is not quite so easy with hounds as they are not always quite so easy to engage in play.

Hounds, as you know, are expert trackers and specialists through breeding at following scent with a quality and determination that is nothing short of amazing. Once on the hunt, it takes a lot to distract them away from the job in hand.

Try long-lining initially; this will allow you to ensure that your dog comes back when called, re-look at basic obedience and practice the recall and all associated basic behaviours in an environment that gets progressively more challenging.

It would be great to hear whether your dog is at all toy or treat motivated? Let us know what you've being doing and how the training is going and we will do everything possible to advise you,

Howard."