The Fox Hunter: The English Foxhound By Jeff Nenadic At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

As per the AKC registration, the English hound is considered to be the rarest of the dog breeds. They are considered rare as it is a belief that they were developed in England during the sixteenth and the seventeenth century. The deer population of England was declining due to the foxes which was discerning as the royalty hunted the deer for game and sport; so this breed was developed to hunt foxes. It is a combination of several breeds along with their best qualities. Some of the names of the breeds involved along with their qualities mentioned in brackets are Greyhound (speed), Bulldog (persistent hunting) and Fox Terrier (hunting instinct). They were developed to hunt using their scent and thus were known as scent hounds

Since, when they were bred, they have lived near horses and have been trained to track down foxes during the hunting. Over the years, they have been used for the fox-hunting purpose. Their height can vary from twenty-one inches to a maximum of twenty-five inches. Their weight varies from sixty-five pounds to a maximum of seventy-five pounds. They have lovely and gentle looking eyes. Their paws are round and look like those of the cat.

Originally trained to hunt with the pack, they pull on well and enjoy other dogs company. They are outgoing, gentle and very tolerant breed and mix well with children, humans, horses plus other pets.

Their counterpart, American Foxhound is not preferred as a house pet as they are very active and have large amount of energy because of their hunting instincts. They daily require lot of exercise without fail to keep up with their energy levels or shall be destructive if they try to be active on their own. They hunted with others in a hunting pack.

English Foxhounds have a strong sense of smell and is easily distracted. Hence, training them in obedience is a tough and uphill task. Likewise, teaching the command Come is also difficult. Hence, early training is imperative and the command Come is the first command. The trainers have to patient and bear in mind that once they catch a scent, they get distracted and lose interest in the training session. Once, distracted, getting their attention back is tough.

This breed usually fed among others in packs and did not eat prior the day of hunting. Their diet consisted of horse meat and pudding (oatmeal mash). However, as pets their diet is three cups of dog food (dry) and one can to one and half cans of meat.

The American one is faster than the English hound. The English Foxhounds loves running and would keep running if allowed. They are hyper active breeds and love hunting. If they get exercise and attention, they can pull on well in suburban areas; however they cannot live in apartments due to space constraints required for their activities. Due to their noisy and vocal nature they can be good watchdogs and protect home from intruders.

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