Hound

Hounds are wolf-like monsters that attack in packs. They are not usually found while exploring (although there are exceptions to this, see below) but periodically attack every 3-10 days. At least 2 will typically appear, with more spawning at once as the game progresses. Hounds take two blasts from an Ice Staff to be frozen. When killed, they drop Monster Meat, with a chance of dropping a Hounds Tooth.

Warning
When a pack of Hounds is nearby, you will hear sniffing and growling sounds. These sounds start off softly and grow louder the closer the Hounds are. Characters will call attention to these sounds with phrases such as, "Did you hear that?" Usually these warnings appear at least twice before the Hounds come. Once the hounds appear the growling will be replaced by a running/panting sound as they charge.

Character Warnings:
 * Wilson: Did you hear that?
 * Willow: Show yourself!
 * Wolfgang: I hear puppies!
 * Wendy: The hounds are baying.
 * Wickerbottom: Something is approaching.
 * WX-78: SOMETHING IS COMING.
 * Maxwell: The hounds are growing restless.

Behavior
Hounds immediately charge the character when they appear, even if they are hiding in a bush hat. Unlike other monsters, they are not distracted by Meats on the ground, although they occasionally stop to eat it when they lose interest in the player. After a while they can become interested in other creatures such as Rabbits, Birds, Bees  and Beefalos and may attack them if the character is some distance away. Hounds will even sometimes sit outside rabbit holes if the rabbit has escaped inside. If there are walls between the hounds and their target, they will attack the walls and attempt to break them down.

Fighting
Hounds are fast and cannot be outrun, unless they are being distracted and/or the character is running on a road. They will bite as soon as they are in range and pause for a moment after this. It is possible to dodge their bite and then strike back during the pause, although this is difficult with multiple Hounds attacking. Wearing an item that slows the player, such as the marble suit, will greatly increase the chance of being bitten. It takes Wilson 5 hits with a Spear to kill a Hound. once a hound executes an attack, succesful or not, they may stop to bark. When they do this, their AI will target the nearest mob/food, and cause them to go for it instead. This is a great way to kill them, as when they attack one Beefalo, they will be quickly dispatched.


 * Tooth Traps and Bee Mines are very effective against Hounds.
 * Pigs will attack them on sight, as will Beefalo in mating season.
 * Neutral Treeguards are very effective against Hounds, as when a Hound gets distracted on a Treeguard and tries to bite it, Treeguard will kill it in one hit (unless it's a small Treeguard).
 * Also, the player can lead the hounds to bee hives, killer bee hives, spider dens, spider queens, rundown houses, tentacles, Pig houses and a herd of beefalo and run around, until hounds decide to get into a fight with the mobs.

Hound attacks in sandbox mode
Hound attacks are a threat in sandbox mode. The default hound attacks escalate until they are too dangerous to fight alone. You can teleportato to a new world and reset the days, but you can only take your inventory with you. Custom hound attacks are constant.

After the second attack, there is a chance that some of the hounds will be red hounds in the summer and blue hounds in the winter. The chance of red and blue hounds increases by the day. There is currently no hounds in caves. The attack script is in: DontStarve > data > scripts > components > hounded.lua According to the script, the default hound attacks eventually escalate to "crazy."

Strategy

 * For a few hounds (1~3), you should be able to defeat them with Spear, Log Suit and Football Helmet. Even just a Log Suit and an Axe can prove sufficient.
 * For lots of hounds, lead them to tooth traps or lure them to the Beefaloes. Once Beefalos are bitten by the hounds, all the Beefaloes will join in to attack the hounds. You can also help them at the same time. This would probably kill all the hounds and you may have a chance of getting bonus Meat from Beefaloes.
 * The same basic strategy can be employed using Pigs instead of Beefaloes.  The main consideration when choosing between the two would be the proximity, the number of neutral mobs available, and the time of day (pigs go back to their houses for the dusk/night). Pigs can deal with Hounds faster, because they attack them on sight and kiting.
 * Attacking a beehive, or luring the hounds to some bees is also an easy way of dealing with the hounds
 * If you can run around enough to make the hounds make the barking action, and it is night, they will go to sleep, thus giving you some time to prepare. Try and run around your fire or you may risk being attacked by the Grue.
 * Some players create a "panic room" - a walled off area with an entrance filled with tooth traps, through which incoming hounds are funneled. Sometimes a fire pit and supplies are kept inside.

Bugs
Sometimes, you can hear the hounds growl, but they don't come for several days.

Trivia

 * When playing as Maxwell, upon examining normal Hounds he states: "They don't recognize me!"; Fire Hounds: "I put fire gems in there as a joke."; Ice Hounds: "I had a lot of surplus gems!".