Hound

A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey.[1][2]

For other uses, see Hound (disambiguation).
A Beagle is a breed of small hound.

Description

Hounds can be contrasted with gundogs, that assist hunters by identifying the location of prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. They have either a powerful sense of smell or great speed, or both.[3]

There are three types of hound, with several breeds within each type:

  • Sighthounds (also called gazehounds), that follow prey predominantly by speed, keeping it in sight. These dogs are fast and assist hunters in catching game—fox, hare, deer and elk.[4]
  • Scenthounds, that follow prey or others (like missing people) by tracking its scent. These dogs have endurance but are not fast runners.[5]
  • The remaining breeds of hound follow their prey using both sight and scent; they are difficult to classify as they are neither sighthound nor scenthound.

List of hound breeds

Abbreviations

See also

References
  1. "HOUND | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
  2. "The Hound Group - Breed Information Centre". www.thekennelclub.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
  3. "Hound Dog Breeds". Animal Planet. Discovery Communications, LLC. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  4. alkir/Bigstock (2019-02-24). "What is a Sighthound?". PetGuide. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
  5. "Keeping Your Scent Hound Happy". Purina. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
  • The dictionary definition of hound at Wiktionary
  • Media related to Hound at Wikimedia Commons
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