Obedience will make a fair "grade dog" as they are called....seem like he is much more. A good handling dog is a joy to take out, even on a bad night. If you have never hunted with dogs, especially long ranging dogs like hounds...then you don't have a clue how frustrating it is to spend half the night hunting coons and the other half hunting your dog, or trying to catch and load him. Our fine Walker "Cinch" handles without a lead strap. he will hunt for you, heel for you, and go on to the truck and be waiting in his box if he is told to do so. I wish I could take the credit, but I got him already trained. Someone did a LOT of work with this dog, and it is sure paying off for me
I'll second that. It seems that most houndsmen don't socialize nor do any obedience training what so ever. It is very irritating to me to be around dogs that don't come when they are called and don't listen. Spend some time with a puppy and this stuff is easy to do and will make your dog much more enjoyable. My brother and I can both call our dogs off of a track if we want to go home or if they are heading where they aren't supposed to be. Very handy.