Scottish Deerhound

Other Breeds

Keeshond   |   Palomino   |   Pig – Pot Bellied   |  

Alternative Name

Deerhound

Basic Info

The Deerhound, also sometimes called a Scottish Deerhound, is a breed of dog, specifically a member of the sighthound family. TemperamentScottish Deerhounds compete in conformation, lure coursing, and where it is still legal, in some states of the USA, in hare coursing . A few are trained to succeed in obedience competition and few excel in it, fewer still excel in dog agility or flyball because the courses and activities are generally designed for smaller dogs, with lower body weight and shorter stride.

Health

N/A

Habitat

N/A

Behavior

The Scottish Deerhound is a large breed that needs considerable exercise to develop properly and maintain its health. That does not mean it needs a large house to live in. Some live in smaller houses, and occasionally even in apartments, quite happily. The average adult Deerhound (two to three years old) may spend much of the day stretched out on the floor or a couch, sleeping. It does however require a stimulus to exercise properly and frequently. They are gentle and docile indoors and are good around company and children. Outdoors, with room to run, they can be extremely active. They have a long powerful gait and can be extremely fast over a given piece of ground. Some care has to be taken to give them freedom to run in places where they are not likely to be tempted or able to give chase to animals as they can be tireless runners and enthusiastic hunters.

Origin

Scotland

History

The Scottish Deerhound was bred in parallel with the Greyhound for very similar purposes. The Deerhound was developed to hunt deer by “coursing”, and by “deer-stalking”. In coursing deer, a single Deerhound or more likely a couple of Deerhounds, would be brought as close as possible to red deer, then slipped to run one of them down by speed, which if successful would happen within a few minutes - four minutes at the most. In deer-stalking, the Deerhound would be slipped at close range, after a red deer had been singled out and shot, in the case the deer did not fall, the intention being that the Deerhound would pull the wounded deer down as soon as possible. The Scottish Deerhound is closely related to the Irish Wolfhound, and was hunted in a similar manner as the Borzoi, and other large sighthounds. Generally, these big hunting dogs were sporting animals for landowners and the nobility but similar animals were bred and hunted by common folk. These large, fast, silent hunters made quick work of any game from a hare up and were highly regarded by the nobility and poachers alike.

Common Foods

pellet dog food