Bloodhound

Other names

Chien de Saint-Hubert
St. Hubert Hound

Origin

Traits
Weight	Male	46–54 kg (101–119 lb)
	Female	40–48 kg (88–106 lb)
Height	Male	64–72 cm (25–28 in)
	Female	58–66 cm (23–26 in)
Coat	short and dense.
Colour	black and tan; liver and tan; red
Life span	7–8 years

Classification / standards
FCI	Group 6, Section 1.1 Scenthounds: Large #084	standard
AKC	Hound	standard
ANKC	Group 4 (Hounds)	standard
CKC	Group 2 - (Hounds)	standard
KC (UK)	Hound	standard
NZKC	Hounds	standard
UKC	Scenthounds	standard

Domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

Traits
Weight	Male	46–54 kg (101–119 lb)
	Female	40–48 kg (88–106 lb)
Height	Male	64–72 cm (25–28 in)
	Female	58–66 cm (23–26 in)
Coat	short and dense.
Colour	black and tan; liver and tan; red
Life span	7–8 years

Classification / standards
FCI	Group 6, Section 1.1 Scenthounds: Large #084	standard
AKC	Hound	standard
ANKC	Group 4 (Hounds)	standard
CKC	Group 2 - (Hounds)	standard
KC (UK)	Hound	standard
NZKC	Hounds	standard
UKC	Scenthounds	standard

Chien de Saint-Hubert
St. Hubert Hound

The Bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar, and since the Middle Ages for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, it is known to French speakers as the Chien de Saint-Hubert.

This breed is famed for its ability to discern human scent over great distances, even days later. Its extraordinarily keen sense of smell is combined with a strong and tenacious tracking instinct, producing the ideal scent hound, and it is used by police and law enforcement all over the world to track escaped prisoners, missing people, lost children and lost pets.

Bloodhounds weigh from 36 to 72 kg (80 to 160 lbs).They are 58 to 69 cm (23 to 27 inches) tall at the withers. According to the AKC standard for the breed, larger dogs are preferred by conformation judges. Acceptable colors for bloodhounds are black, liver, tan, and red. Bloodhounds possess an unusually large skeletal structure with most of their weight concentrated in their bones, which are very thick for their length. The coat typical for a scenthound is hard and composed of fur alone, with no admixture of hair.

This breed is gentle, and is tireless when following a scent. Because of its strong tracking instinct, it can be willful and somewhat difficult to obedience train and handle on a leash. Bloodhounds have an affectionate and even-tempered nature with humans, making excellent family pets. However, like any pet, they require supervision when around small children.

Up to at least the seventeenth century bloodhounds were of all colours, but in modern times the colour range has become more restricted. The colours are usually listed as black and tan, liver and tan, and red. White is not uncommon on the chest, and sometimes appears on the feet. Genetically, the main types are determined by the action of two genes, found in many species. One produces an alternation between black and brown (liver). If a hound inherits the black allele (variant) from either parent, it has a black nose, eye rims and paw-pads, and if it has a saddle, it is black. The other allele suppresses black pigment and is recessive, so it must be inherited from both parents. It produces liver noses, eye rims, paw-pads, and saddles.

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Wikipedia