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English Foxhound - Hound


English Foxhound

Family:

Scenthound


Area of origin:

Great Britain


Original function:

trailing fox


Average size of male:

Ht: 23-27, Wt: 55-75


Average size of female:

Ht: 23-27, Wt: 55-75


Other names:

Foxhound


  • •••••

    Energy

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    Exercise

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    Playfulness

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    Affection

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    Friendliness towards dogs

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    Friendliness towards other pets

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    Friendliness towards strangers

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    Ease of training

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    Watchdog ability

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    Protection ability

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    Grooming

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    Cold tolerance

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    Heat tolerance

Picture: Info Hund Kramer/Okapia/Photo Researchers |

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English Foxhound Temperament

Traditionally a pack hound, the English Foxhound nonetheless makes a stately house dog, as long as he has human or canine companionship. He gets along well with horses, dogs, children and other pets. He is an avid sniffer and trailer, however, and needs daily exercise in a safe area. He is a tolerant, amiable and gentle dog, even though he is not very demonstrative. He bays.

English Foxhound Care

The Foxhound is an easygoing dog that nonetheless needs plenty of exercise. He is bred to run for miles, and can make a good jogging companion on leash or a hiking companion in a safe area. The coat needs only occasional brushing to remove dead hair.

English Foxhound Health

Major concerns: none
Minor concerns: none
Occasionally seen: CHD, renal disease
Suggested tests: none
Life span: 10-13 years

Dogs Related to the English Foxhound

Beagle
Black and Tan Coonhound
Bloodhound
Dachshund (Standard)
American Foxhound
Harrier
Otterhound
Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen
Rhodesian Ridgeback

Interested in the history of the English Foxhound breed?

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Careful pedigrees have been kept of English Foxhounds since the late 1700s, longer than for any other breed. Still, the exact origin of the breed is unknown. At the time of its inception, coursing the stag with Greyhounds was still the favored dog sport of the gentry. Around 1750, a few men envisioned hunting foxes with swift horses and hounds. The hounds would have to be able to track a faint scent while on the run and to maintain their chase for hours. Fox hunting gained its appeal as a pastime of the wealthy, and packs of hounds were tended to by masters of Foxhounds, who looked to the care and breeding of the dogs. Riding to the hounds became an affair steeped in ceremony, with the actual killing of the fox anticlimatic. As the esthetic aspects of the hunt increased in significance, care was taken to produce dogs that looked good not only individually but also as a pack. Thus, pack members would usually share the same coat coloration, most often the black saddle over a tan body with white points. Fox hunting became so popular that by the late 1800s, 140 packs (each with about 50 hounds) were registered in England alone. Foxhounds came to America in the 1700s, although in time a good percentage of these dogs were bred with other dogs to produce the American Foxhound. The latter has since surpassed the English Foxhound in popularity in America, although neither is popular as a pet or show dog. The English Foxhound is still the first choice of hunters wishing a traditional outing on horseback, riding to the melodious bay of this most classic of breeds.


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