Elvis sang about them -- hound dogs -- and most of us tend to think of them as being for the common folk, but those canines of the coon variety are actually pretty special.

So special, in fact, that one coon dog has won its owner more than $1 million in hunting competitions, and a pet cemetery in north Alabama allows only coon dogs to be buried there.

"There's a difference in a coon hound and a coon dog," said Drew Werndli of Huntsville, creator of coondawgs.com and a coon hunter himself. "A coon dog is a coon hound that can tree a raccoon. The dog has to earn the title."

That explains the exclusivity of the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard, near Cherokee in Colbert County. Underwood started the cemetery on Labor Day 1937 when he buried his beloved dog, Troop, in the wooded spot that was a favorite camp site among coon hunters. When Underwood died in the 1980s, fellow hunters and members of the Tennessee Valley Coon Hunters Association assumed care-taking duties. As the original members aged, a nonprofit group, Friends of the Coon Dog Cemetery, was formed, and with the help of the Colbert County Tourism and Convention Bureau, takes care of the cemetery and handles events held there.

Every Labor Day, the coon hunters association remember Underwood and Troop with a celebration at the cemetery with music, food and a liar's contest. T-shirts, caps and other items are sold to benefit the cemetery.

Susann Hamlin, executive director of the tourism bureau, said the commemorative items are available for purchase year-round through the tourism office. "All of the profits from selling the items go to the cemetery," she said.

To qualify for burial in the cemetery, certain requirements must be met:

* The owner must claim the deceased pet is an authentic coon dog.

* A witness must verify the deceased pet is an authentic coon dog.

* A member of the local coon hunters' organization must be allowed to view the deceased animal and verify it is an authentic coon dog.

This is serious stuff.

"We must see the dog's registration papers, and we must have either a letter or a verbal testimony from a friend that the dog has actually treed a coon," Hamlin said. "We make copies of the papers and keep them on file."

The owner must pay a $50 burial fee once the dog has been approved, she said.

Currently, the cemetery is home to the remains of more than 225 coon dogs, Hamlin said.

While most burials are simple, a funeral in 2008 was more spectacular.

Raynor Frost and his girlfriend, Helene Perkins, drove from Pennsylvania to bury his coon dog, The Merch, in the cemetery. Hamlin said the tourism bureau and the cemetery auxiliary planned a funeral complete with a minister, flowers and more than 200 mourners, all of whom wore black.

In addition to regular pallbearers, several "paw bearers" were on hand to escort the pine coffin carrying the body of The Merch to his final resting place.

While most coon dogs are hunting companions by night and family pets by day, some hunters do take their hobby to a professional level, entering competitions that pay winners in cash and prizes.

"Some people think this is a country-hick blood sport," Werndli, a website designer, said. "But when you're competing for $25,000 cash or a $30,000 truck, I don't see anything country-hick about that."

In fact, there's little violence or blood involved, either. While it's true that a treed raccoon may experience emotional distress, most of the masked forest-dwellers live to be treed again. And again.

"This is mostly a catch-and-release sport, much like a fishing tournament," Werndli said.

Coon dogs are more than typical canine pets, according to Werndli.

"There's a bond between a man and his coon dog that is special," he said. "They have to depend on each other. In fact, some hunters spend more time with their dog than they do with their wife.

"It's really hard to put into words unless you've walked behind a coon dog."

Hunting is done after the sun goes down because raccoons are nocturnal creatures. Werndli says most hunts take two or three hours, but depending on the situation, a hunt can last all night long.

"Most coon hunters are working men, so sometimes they come in from a hunt and have to go straight to work," Werndli said. "I got in trouble with my wife once when I took my son hunting, and we didn't get home until sun-up -- and he had to go to school."

Join the conversation, add a comment or e-mail: vkennedy@bhamnews.com

