Hounds - Helpful Hunters Trivia Quiz

Answer:

There are lots more hound breeds than the 30 stated as many have subcategories with more than one variety like the bloodhounds, coonhounds and foxhounds. The Irish Wolfhound is not just the biggest hound but the largest of all dog breeds. As well as hunting large prey they were used to guard herds and property.

The dachshund is a scenthound bred to flush badgers and other animals from their burrows. They are the only breed of dog that hunts above and below ground.

While classified as a hound in the UK and US they have their own classification in the World Canine Federation as many argue that their temperament and love of digging is more consistent with a terrier.

The Norwegian Elkhound is another 'cross classification' as its roots and looks lie in the spitz breed but as it was bred predominantly to hunt big game such as the elk and to survive harsh conditions of deep snow and dense forest all day it has been classified as a hound.

The longer legged sighthounds are fast with speeds that can exceed 70 km/hour so working with them requires hunters on horses to be able to keep up with them. The smaller scenthounds have the endurance but not the speed so following on foot is much easier.

Organized hunts, such as fox or coon hunting, use larger scenthounds that hunt in a pack with horseback hunters that wait until the hounds have the scent and then give chase. These hounds bale the quarry up and stop it escaping but leave the kill for the hunters.

The American coonhounds were breed to hunt for raccoons as foxhounds tended to lose the scent once they climbed trees. There are six different breeds that are bred to chase them, as well as opossums and bobcats, up a tree and then to bay to let the hunters know they have it trapped.

Not all hounds bay (the Borzai rarely even bark) and if they do its pitch and tone are different from each other's. One consistency is its volume - it is loud. It needs to be heard over long distances as it is often working independently out of range of their owners.

Its purpose is to let the hunters and each other know what it has found or to let them know it has picked up a different trail. When they all bay together it also creates panic and confusion in their prey which can help them close in on it.

Greyhounds are the fastest breed of hound and will chase any prey but the hare is its natural quarry. An attempt was made to race greyhounds as far back as 1876 but it wasn't until the invention of the electronic hare for them to chase in 1912 that it became a successful sport.

The Scottish Deerhound is similar to the greyhound but larger in height and build. Although they can't beat the speed of a greyhound on a flat smooth surface they can outrun them on the rough or harder surfaces that they were breed for.

The scenthounds will follow or 'stalk' their prey over very long distances and rugged terrains. They literally put their nose to the ground and just keep going until they find their prey or lose its scent.

The Bloodhound is known as the top tracking breed. They have been known to have the ability to find a trail that has been cold for a few days, across running water and as far as 200 kms away. This skill has been used to teach the hounds to find missing people, cadavers, track criminals and in various wartime pursuits.

Hounds like to work independently and do not retrieve game for their handlers. They also often work at a distance and follow their instinct as opposed to obeying commands. This is very different from the gundogs who love to hunt with their handlers as a team and will point, sett, flush and retrieve prey for them.

Many hounds have natural features to help with these duties and others have been bred to increase their effectiveness.

Sighthounds tend to have very long legs and a flexible back which help with their long stride and speed. Compared to other dogs they have a larger heart and lungs which they use for aerobic and anaerobic work, this leads to them having very deep chests while the rest of their body is thin to keep their weight to a minimum.

They are also known as dolichocephalic dogs which means their nose is much longer compared to their head size which gives them a wider field of vision. Their coats are either often short and/or wiry to protect them while running through underbrush.

The exception is the Afghan with its long flowing coat which was needed to keep them warm in the harsh mountain climates they were bred to work in. They also have huge pads on their paws to act as shock absorbers over the rocky terrain they worked in.

The scenthounds on the other hand have large nasal cavities and their droopy moist lips are believed to help trap scent particles. Most have long dangling ears which sweep scents up from the ground to their nose.

Many have short, powerful legs like the Basset which puts their nose on ground level automatically while others have adapted to have their head down which makes their tail go upright. Beagles and Harriers have been bred to have a white tip on the end of the tail to enable their owner to see them in longer grass.

With such focus and energy one would expect them to be high energy dogs but they are actually extremely laidback and most are quite happy to be a family pet when not working. Inside the home they are often happy to be a couch potato and love to cuddle but outside they are not for those that wish to have an obedient dog who can walk off lead.

Owners really should be aware of their natural temperaments before acquiring one. Their singlemindedness means they will ignore you if on a scent or see something in the distance and following their own instincts means they will continue do what they want instead of obeying commands.

This is why it is so important to only walk them on lead, they can easily harm themselves if running in urban areas with streets of traffic and they are a threat to small animals that they will see as prey. This includes other people's pets.

Their independence can be beneficial as they don't tend to suffer the same amount of separation anxiety as some other breeds and yet they are extremely affectionate to the extent of thinking they are a lap dog.

There are many ways to let your hound use its natural abilities in different competitions. Lure coursing is very popular for sighthounds. Originating in the 1970s it was developed to allow them to course without live animals.

A course pattern is irregular and changes at every event. It involves a nylon string on which a mechanically operated lure, usually just a plastic bag, is attached. It must have a certain number of sharp turns to simulate prey changing direction and sometimes involves jumps or hazards.

For the scenthound there is trail or drag hunting which simulates a horseback hunt but without live animals. In trail hunting animal based scents are used while drag hunting uses an artificial scent such as aniseed.