Other Long Legged Scent Hounds

Beagle

The English scent hounds are the dogs usually associated with the English hunt scenes. In 1534 when Dr Caius wrote the first classification of dogs, he gave the general name of Harrier to dogs which hunted in packs of Scent Hounds. As the centuries rolled by, Harriers became a breed in their own right and packs of mixed Hounds containing Foxhounds became common. The now popular Beagle was the smallest of the English Scent Hounds.

From Scandinavia we have the Finnish Hound from Finland, Hamiltonstövare and Drever from Sweden, as well as the Norwegian Elkhound, the Norwegian Lundehund, as well as the Dunker, Haldenstoslashvare, and Hygenhund all originating from Norway.

The Swiss Hounds are vary according to the district in Switzerland where they were originally developed. These include the Bernese Hound, the Jura Hound, the Lucerne Hound and the Schwyz Hound each separate breed coming in two varieties, namely with long legs or with short legs.

In addition there are different breeds of Scent Hounds developed from Bosnia, Croatia, Spain, Greece, Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, Austria Poland and Slovakia.

Rhodesian Ridgeback deserves a special mention. He is a hound developed in Rhodesia which is in the Southern part of the African Continent now called Zimbabwe. He was a hunter and guardian against lion and the country's other hostile predators. The 'ridge', a band of hair growing in the opposite direction to the remainder of the coat, is the dog's identifying mark. A similar ridge also appears on Thailand's native dog, the Thai Ridgeback, although this dog looks more like a heavier version of the Australian Dingo which is not yet a recognised pure-breed.