How do I avoid the hounds?

Is there ANY way to avoid hounds other than jumping into a wormhole?

I still haven't really gotten past the first 25 days of the game, and hence I haven't built any powerful weapons yet.

So, every time I hear something approaching, I have to start running for a wormhole. And, if I don't find one in time, it's basically game over.

Am I missing something strategy-wise?

What you're missing is your ability to fight back. 25 days into the game you should already have science machine tier tools, which means you should be able to easily fend off relatively weak enemies like hounds with ease, even in large numbers.

For your first few hound attack, you can use:

• Spear
• Log suit
• Football helmet

With these, you can confidently take on the hounds even if your dodging skills are imperfect. Once you get some hound teeth, you can start making traps like tooth traps, which can help deal with later attacks and other enemies.

Other strategies for dealing with hounds include drawing them to other neutral mobs, like beefalos, pigs, and pacified treeguards. When the hound pauses to bark after attacking you, he may switch to any of these targets, which would likely result in the hound quickly being beaten to a pulp. Note that running away is not a very good option, as hounds are faster than a player with no movement aids, like roads or a cane.

Obviously, when you can fight the hounds, it's best to fight them. But sometimes they can catch you off guard, when you don't have the necessary equipment.

I found that a good way to fight them is to take them to marshes. Tentacles there are very aggressive and very easily do the job for you. Killer beehives are also good at making the hounds stop. Running away from the dogs is not that hard, by the way: when they try to make an attack, they pause, so if you keep running, you will be fine despite that you are slower than them.

My favorite Strategy for the Hounds is to use the Bush Hat while near some of the other mobs.

The hounds will approach you, bark and then attack the other mobs.