Bloodhound

For other uses, see Bloodhound (disambiguation).

Bloodhound
Male Bloodhound
Other names	Chien de Saint-Hubert St. Hubert Hound Sleuth hound
Origin	Belgium/France or England/Scotland
Kennel club standards Fédération Cynologique Internationale standard
Dog (domestic dog)

The Bloodhound is a large breed of dog originally bred for hunting deer and wild boar, and later specifically to track human beings. It is a scenthound, tracking by smell, as opposed to a sighthound, which tracks using vision. It is famed for its ability to discern human odors even days later, over great distances, even across water. 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.

Appearance

Bloodhounds weigh from 33 to 50 kg (80 to 110 lbs), though some individuals weigh as much as 72 kg (160 lb). They stand 58 to 69 cm (23 to 27 inches) high at the withers. Bloodhounds have a typical lifespan of about 9 to 11 years. According to the AKC standard of the breed, larger dogs are preferred by conformation judges. Acceptable colors for bloodhounds are black, liver, tan, or 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.

Temperament

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

Health

Illnesses

Compared to other purebred dogs, Bloodhounds suffer an unusually high rate of gastrointestinal ailments, with bloat being the most common type of gastrointestinal problem. The breed also suffers an unusually high incidence of eye, skin, and ear ailments; thus these areas should be inspected frequently for signs of developing problems. Owners should be especially aware of the signs of bloat, which is both the most common illness and the leading cause of death of Bloodhounds. To minimize bloat the owner should feed a Bloodhound at least an hour before or after exercise and place food and water in a raised feeder. The thick coat gives the breed the tendency to overheat quickly.

Lifespan and mortality

Bloodhounds in a 2004 UK Kennel Club survey had a median longevity of 6.75 years, which makes them one of the shortest-lived of dog breeds. The oldest of the 82 deceased dogs in the survey died at the age of 12.1 years. Bloat took 34% of the animals, making it the most common cause of death in Bloodhounds. The second leading cause of death in the study was cancer, at 27%; this percentage is similar to other breeds, but the median age of death was unusually young (median of about 8 years).

History

Bloodhounds circa 1915

Chien de St Hubert

The St Hubert was, according to legend, first bred ca. 1000 AD by monks at the Saint-Hubert Monastery in Belgium; its origins are likely in France, home of many of modern hounds.

From ca. 1200, the monks of the Abbey of St Hubert annually sent several pairs of black hounds as a gift to the King of France. They were not always highly thought of in the royal pack. Charles IX 1550-74, preferred the larger Chien-gris, and wrote that the St Huberts were suitable for people with gout to follow, but not for those who wished to shorten the life of the hunted animal. He described them as pack-hounds of medium stature, long in the body, not well sprung in the rib, and of no great strength. Writing in 1561 Jaques de Fouilloux describes them as strong of body, but with low, short legs. He says they have become mixed in breeding, so that they are now of all colours and widely distributed. Both writers thought them only useful as leash hounds.

They appear to have been more highly thought of during the reign of Henry IV (1553–1610), who presented a pack to James I of England. By the end of the reign of Louis XIV (1715), they were already rare. In 1788, D’Yauville, who was master of the Royal hounds, says those sent by the St Hubert monks, once much prized, had degenerated, and scarcely one of the annual gift of six or eight was kept.

Upon the French Revolution of 1789, the gifts ceased, and hunting in France went into a decline until the end of the Napoleonic wars. When it recovered during the 19th Century, huntsmen, with many breeds to choose from, seem to have had little interest in the St Hubert. An exception was Baron Le Couteulx de Canteleu, who tried to find them. He reported that there were hardly any in France, and those in the Ardennes were so cross-bred that they had lost the characteristics of the breed.

Writers on the bloodhound in the last two centuries generally agreed that the original St Hubert strain died out in the nineteenth century, and that the European St Hubert owes its present existence to the development of the Bloodhound.

Bloodhound

References to bloodhounds first appear in English writing in the mid 14th century, in contexts that suggest the breed was well established by then. It is often claimed that its ancestors were brought over from Normandy by William the Conqueror, but there is no actual evidence for this. That the Normans brought hounds from Europe during the post-Conquest period virtual certain, but whether they included the Bloodhound itself, rather than merely its ancestors is a matter of dispute that probably cannot be resolved on the basis of surviving evidence.

In Medieval hunting the typical use of the Bloodhound was as a ‘limer’, or ‘lyam-hound’, that is a dog handled on a leash or ‘lyam’, to find the hart or boar before it was hunted by the pack hounds (raches). It was prized for its ability to hunt the cold scent of an individual animal, and, though it did not usually take part in the kill, it was given a special reward from the carcase.

It also seems that from the earliest times the Bloodhound was used to track people. There are stories written in Medieval Scotland of Robert the Bruce (in 1307), and William Wallace (1270–1305) being followed by 'sleuth hounds’. Whether true or not, these stories show that the sleuth hound was already known as a man-trailer, and it later becomes clear that the sleuth hound and the Bloodhound were the same animal.

English Bloodhound 1563

In the 16th century, John Caius, in unquestionably the most important single source in the history of the Bloodhound, describes its hanging ears and lips, its use in game parks to follow the scent of blood, which gives it its name, its ability to track thieves and poachers by their foot scent, how it casts if it has lost the scent when thieves cross water, and its use on the Scottish borders to track cross-border raiders, known as Border Reivers. This links it to the sleuth hound, and from Caius also comes the information that the English Bloodhound and the sleuth hound were essentially the same, though the Bloodhound was slightly bigger, with more variation in coat colour.

The picture on the right was published in Zurich in 1563, in Conrad Gesner's Thierbuch (a compendium of animals) with the captions: 'Englischen Blüthund' and 'Canis Sagax Sanguinarius apud Anglos' (English scent hound with associations of blood). It was drawn by, or under the supervision of, John Caius, and sent to Gesner with other drawings to illustrate his descriptions of British dogs for European readers. It is thus the earliest known picture published specifically to demonstrate the appearance of the Bloodhound. We are told it was done from life, and detail such as the soft hang of the ear indicates it was carefully observed. Fully accurate or not, it suggests changes between the Bloodhound of then and today. The collar and long coiled rope reflect the Bloodhound’s typical functions as a limer or leashed man-trailer in that period.

File:Bloodhpunds1826.jpg

A brace of Bloodhounds used to find deer for the gun 1826

The earliest known report of a trial of the Bloodhound's trailing abilities comes from the scientist Robert Boyle[6], who described how a Bloodhound tracked a man seven miles along a route frequented by people, and found him in an upstairs room of a house.

With the rise of fox-hunting, the decline of deer-hunting, and the extinction of the wild boar, as well as a more settled state of society, the use of the Bloodhound diminished. It was kept by the aristocratic owners of a few deer-parks and by a few enthusiasts, with some variation in type, until its popularity began to increase again with the rise of dog-showing in the 19th Century. Numbers, however, have remained low in Britain. Very few survived the Second World War, but the gene-pool has gradually been replenished with imports from America. Nevertheless, because of UK quarantine restrictions, importing was expensive and difficult, throughout the 20th century, and in the post-war period exports to the USA, and to Europe where the population had also been affected by the war, considerably exceeded imports.

File:HordleHercules.jpg

A probable ancestor of all today's pedigree Bloodhounds, 1902

During the later 19th century numbers of Bloodhounds were imported from Britain by French enthusiasts, who regretted the extinction of the ancient St Hubert. They wished to re-establish it, using the Bloodhound, which, despite its developments in Britain, they regarded as the St Hubert preserved unchanged. Many of the finest specimens were bought and exhibited and bred in France as Chiens de St Hubert, especially by Le Couteulx de Canteleu, who himself bred over 300. Whatever few original St Huberts remained either died out or were absorbed into the new population. As a result, the Bloodhound became known on parts of the Continent as the Chien de Saint Hubert, and is recognised under that name by the Federation Cynologique Internationale. Its country of origin is given by the FCI as Belgium, while in the UK it has been regarded as a native British breed, with the modern European St Huberts accepted as Bloodhounds.

In Le Couteulx’ book of 1890 we read that ‘Le Chien de St Hubert actuel’ is very big, from 0m,69 to 0m,80 (27½-31½in) high. This does not accord with the 16th century descriptions of the St Hubert given above, nor with the FCI standard, but the idea that the St Hubert is much bigger (up to 0.915m, 36 in) than the Bloodhound persisted well into the 20th century, among some St Hubert enthusiasts.

When the first Bloodhounds were exported to the USA is not known. Bloodhounds were used to track runaway slaves before the American Civil War, but it has been questioned whether the dogs used were genuine Bloodhounds. However, in the later part of the 19th century, and in the next, more pure Bloodhounds were introduced from Britain, and bred in America, especially after 1888, when the English breeder, Edwin Brough, brought three of his hounds to exhibit at the Westminster KC show in New York City. He went into partnership with Mr J L Winchell, who with other Americans, imported more stock from Britain. Bloodhounds in America have been more widely used in tracking lost people and criminals - often with brilliant success - than in Britain, and the history of the Bloodhound in America is full of the man-trailing exploits of outstanding Bloodhounds and their expert handlers, the most famous hound being Nick Carter. Law enforcement agencies have been much involved in the use of Bloodhounds, and there is a National Police Bloodhound Association, originating in 1962.

In Britain there have been instances from time to time of the successful use of the Bloodhound to track criminals or missing people. However man-trailing is enjoyed as a sport by British Bloodhound owners, through national working trials, and this enthusiasm has spread to Europe. In addition, while the pure Bloodhound is used to hunt singly, bloodhound packs use bloodhounds crossed with foxhounds to hunt the human scent.

Meanwhile, the Bloodhound has become widely distributed internationally, though numbers are small in most countries, with more in the USA than anywhere else. Following the spread of the Bloodhound from Britain in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, imports and exports and, increasingly, artificial insemination, are maintaining the world population as a common breeding stock, without a great deal of divergence in type in different countries.

Bloodhounds are now coloured red, black and tan or liver and tan; however, until Elizabethan times they also occurred in other solid colours, including white, and all other hound colours. It is possible that the Talbot, now extinct, was a white Bloodhound, but this is uncertain.

During the late 19th century, Bloodhounds were frequent subjects for artists such as Edwin Landseer and Briton Riviere; the dogs depicted are close in appearance to modern Bloodhounds, indicating that the essential character of the Bloodhound predates modern dog breeding. However, the dogs depicted by Landseer show less wrinkle and haw than modern dogs.

Breed standards

Descriptions of the desirable physical qualities of a hunting hound go back to Medieval books on hunting. All dogs used in the hunting field were 'gentle', that is of good breeding (not necessarily pure breeding), and parents were carefully chosen to maintain and improve conformation. In 1896, making some use of wording found in earlier descriptions, Edwin Brough and Dr J Sidney Turner published Points and Characteristics of the Bloodhound or Sleuth-Hound. This was adopted by the newly-formed Association of Bloodhound Breeders, and ultimately became, with very little change, the 'official' breed standard of the KC and the AKC. Meanwhile, the Belgian or Dutch Comte Henri de Bylandt, or H A graaf van Bylandt, published Races des Chiens in 1897, a huge and very important illustrated compilation of breed descriptions, or standards. In this French edition the Bloodhound appears as the Chien de St Hubert, although the pictures illustrating the standard are all of British Bloodhounds, many of them those of Edwin Brough. The book was revised and reprinted in four languages in 1904, and in this edition the English text of the standard is that of the Association of Bloodhound Breeders, while the French text is closely based on it. However, the present FCI standard uses a quite different layout and wording. The AKC standard has hardly been altered from the original of 1896, the principal change being that the colours, 'black and tan', 'red and tan', and 'tawny', have been renamed as 'black and tan', 'liver and tan', and 'red', but the British KC [7] has made considerable changes. Some of these were simply matters of presentation and did not affect content. However, responding to the view that the requirements of some breed standards were potentially detrimental to the health or well-being of the animal, changes have been made affecting the required eye-shape and the loose skin, the most recent revision being 2008-9.

Derivation of name

Most recent accounts say that the etymological meaning is ‘hound of pure or noble blood’. This derives from an original suggestion of Le Couteulx de Canteleu in the nineteenth century, which has been enthusiastically and uncritically espoused by later writers, perhaps because it absolved this undoubtedly good-natured dog from suggestions of bloodthirstiness. Neither Le Couteulx nor anyone since has offered any historical evidence to support this view. Before that the word had been taken to mean, roughly, ‘blood seeking hound’. This was the explanation put forward by John Caius, who was one of the most learned men of his time, and had an interest in etymology, in the sixteenth century. It is supported by considerable historical linguistic evidence, which can be gleaned from such sources as the Oxford English Dictionary (OED): the fact that first uses of the word ‘blood’ to refer to good breeding in an animal post date the first use of ‘Bloodhound’; that other comparable uses, as in ‘blood-horse’ and ‘blood-stock’ appear many centuries later; and that derogatory uses of the word ‘Bloodhound’, which any suggestion of noble breeding would sadly weaken, appear from as early as c1400. Other early sources tell us that hounds were supposed to have an interest in blood, and that the Bloodhound was used to follow the trail of a wounded animal. In the absence of anything in early usage, or any historical evidence whatsoever, to support the modern explanation, the older must be regarded as correct.

Colour-types

See Main Article Coat (dog)

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.

The second gene determines coat pattern. It can produce animals with no saddle (essentially all-tan, but called ‘red’ in bloodhounds); ones with saddle-marking; or ones largely covered with darker (black or liver) pigment, except for tan lips, eyebrows, forechest and lower legs. These last are sometimes referred to as ‘blanket’ or ‘full-coat’ types. In a pioneering study in 1969 Dennis Piper suggested 5 alleles in the pattern-marking gene, producing variants from the red or saddle-less hound through three different types of progressively greater saddle marking to the ‘blanket’ type. However, more modern study attributes the variation to 3 different alleles of the Agouti gene. A^y produces the non saddle-marked "red" hound, A^s produces saddle-marking, and a^t produces the blanket or full-coat hound. Of these A^y is dominant, and a^t is recessive to the others. The interaction of these variants of the two genes produces the six basic types shown below.

• 
  Black and tan, 'blanket' or full-coat type
• 
  Liver and tan, 'blanket' or full-coat type
• 
  Black and tan saddle type
• 
  Liver and tan saddle type
• 
  Red, black-pigmented type
• 
  Red, liver-pigmented type

Scenting ability

The Bloodhound's physical characteristics account for its ability to follow a scent trail left several days in the past. Under optimal conditions, a Bloodhound can detect as few as one or two cells. The Bloodhound's nasal chambers (where scents are identified) are larger than those of most other breeds. The large, long pendent ears serve to prevent wind from scattering nearby skin cells while the dog's nose is on the ground; the folds of wrinkled flesh under the lips and neck—called the shawl—serve to catch stray scent particles in the air or on a nearby branch as the Bloodhound is scenting, reinforcing the scent in the dog's memory and nose.

The number of olfactory receptor cells are 4 billion in a bloodhound, compared to just 5 million in a human and 100 million in a rabbit

The surface area of bloodhound olfactory epithelium is 59 sq.in. compared to human's 1.55 sq.in. (10 sq.cm.)

Voice

A common misconception is that Bloodhounds are employed in packs; while this is sometimes the case in Britain, in North America, Bloodhounds are used as solitary trackers. When they are on a trail, they are usually silent and do not give voice as other scenthounds. The original use of the Bloodhound as a leash-hound, to find but not disturb animals, would require silent trailing.

Nevertheless, the Bloodhound bay is among the most impressive of hound voices. When hunting in a pack they are expected to be in full cry. They are more likely to 'give tongue,' 'throw their tongue,' or 'speak' when hunting in a pack than when hunting singly, and more when hunting free than when on the leash. The quality of 'speaking to the line', that is giving tongue when on the correct scent while remaining silent when off it, is valued in British Bloodhound circles, on aesthetic grounds and because it makes it very easy to 'read' the hound's tracking behaviour. As a result special trophies for speaking to the correct line are on offer at British working trials (where hounds hunt singly), although rarely awarded.

Bloodhound Packs

File:CoakhamPack.jpg

The Coakham pack of bloodhounds starting a human trail in England

The Medieval bloodhound was not primarily a pack hound, but a leash hound, though there may have been packs in different places or at different times. Up to the nineteenth century, a single hound or a brace was used on deer-parks, to find deer for the gun. However, mid century two packs appeared, that of Thomas Neville, who hunted in the New Forest area, and who preferred very black hounds, and that of Lord Wolverton. Both these hunted semi-domesticated deer (‘carted deer’), which were recaptured on being brought to bay, and returned home. It was said of Lord Wolverton's hounds that he found it difficult to get them to hunt as a pack, because each liked to follow the scent on his own. Eventually, many were sold to Le Couteulx de Canteleu and taken to France. At the turn of the century several packs existed briefly, following either deer, or the ‘clean boot’ - individual human scent without any enhancement such as animal blood or aniseed. Since the second world war there have been several packs, perhaps most notably that of Eric Furness, who introduced a cross to a Dumfriesshire foxhound into his peak bloodhounds. Generally, masters of bloodhounds since then maintain a level of outcross breeding in their packs to improve speed and agility, while retaining bloodhound type. These packs hunt the clean boot and are followed by a field on horseback.

Noteworthy bloodhounds

Grafton was the bloodhound in Landseer's famous painting Dignity and Impudence[8] (1839). Both dogs in the picture belonged to Jacob Bell.

Mr T A Jennings' Ch Druid, known as 'Old Druid' was the first bloodhound champion. Born in 1857 he was later bought by Emperor Napoleon III for his son, Prince Eugene Louis Jean Joseph, and taken to France. Photographs of him, of another famous hound, Cowen's Druid, and a bitch named Countess, appear in a rare book from 1865 in the British Library[9], and may be the oldest photographs of bloodhounds to have survived.

A bloodhound named Nick Carter is frequently cited as the archetype of the trailing bloodhound and the extensive publicity this dog received may be the source of much bloodhound-related folklore. Born in 1900, Nick Carter was owned and handled by Captain G.V. Mullikin of Lexington, Kentucky; he is credited with more than 650 finds, including one that required him to follow a trail 300 hours old, that is 12 days.

Ch. Heathers Knock on Wood, known as Knotty, is one of the most awarded bloodhounds of all time.He received more Best-in-Shows than any other bloodhound, and is the first liver-and-tan bloodhound ever to win a Best-in-Show. Knotty was awarded Best-in-Show at the Eukanuba Tournament in 2005 and won the Hound Group in the Westminster Kennel Club Show the same year. Knotty's offspring have also been showdogs, and as a result many of his puppies receiving the title of "Champion" by the AKC, Knotty was inducted into the AKC's Stud Dog Hall of Fame shortly before his death in Spring of 2008.

On the popular 1960s sitcom Beverly Hillbillies, veteran canine actor Stretch portrayed Jed's bloodhound Duke.

The US Army 615th Military Police Company, mascot is a bloodhound named for the Company's pet and mascot during Vietnam named Andy.

Fictional bloodhounds

• Pluto, pet of Mickey Mouse, officially a mixed-breed dog, but designed after a pair of bloodhounds from The Chain Gang (1930)
• Ol' Red, from the George Jones (later remade by Blake Shelton) song of the same name.
• Ladybird from King of the Hill
• Beaureguard in Pogo
• Broom Dog from Alice in Wonderland and Alice in Wonderland 2
• Pedro, the bloodhound owned and used by the English detective, Sexton Blake.
• Henry, a bloodhound in a popular series of British TV dog food commercials, with Clement Freud
• Trusty in Lady and the Tramp and Lady and the Tramp 2
• Snuffles in Quick Draw McGraw
• Napoleon from The Aristocats
• Duke, Jed's bloodhound from the Beverly Hillbillies
• Hubert from Best in Show
• Bobby Lee and others from Virginia Lanier's Bloodhound series
• Buddy, in Cats & Dogs
• Bruno in Cinderella and Cinderella 2
• The Bumpuses' hounds in A Christmas Story and My Summer Story
• Woofer and Whimper in Clue Club
• McGruff the Crime Dog
• Jasper T. Jowls at Chuck E. Cheese's
• Achoo from the Provost's Dog trilogy by Tamora Pierce
• General Pepper from Star Fox, by Nintendo videogame
• Everett from Back at the Barnyard
• Bear & Bryant in Sweet Home Alabama
• Pommes Frites, faithful and remarkable companion of Michael Bond's culinary detective, Monsieur Pamplemousse
• Waylon and Floyd in The Fox and the Hound 2
• Sniffer in Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws
• Tweak in One Hundred and One Dalmatians and 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure
• Laughing Dog from Duck Hunt, by Nintendo videogame
• Bayard Hamar from Alice in Wonderland
• B.H. (Calcutta) Failed : a bloodhound that lost its sense of smell, in The Perishers, cartoon strip published in The Daily Mirror
• Frank in The Dog Who Thought He Was Santa by Bill Wallace
• Beauregard Jr. in Hee Haw
• Sergeant Murphy from The Busy World of Richard Scarry and Busytown Mysteries, by Richard Scarry

In popular culture

• A bloodhound appears when Big Daddy goes outside while changing the porch light in the 1958 classic movie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
• The bloodhound is seen in the 2009 film, Hotel for Dogs.
• A pack of bloodhounds track down Paul Newman's character in Cool Hand Luke.
• A bloodhound is seen while Lennie and Eli are tracking down the title character in the 1991 film, Bingo.
• A bloodhound is seen as part of the dog pack in Secondhand Lions.
• The bloodhound is seen in The Borrowers (1997 film).
• Lightning the bloodhound is seen in Racing Stripes, voiced by Snoop Dogg.
• A pack of bloodhounds finds Tim Robbins character, Andy Dufresne, after he escapes prison in The Shawshank Redemption.
• Doug Heffernan briefly adopts a bloodhound in the King of Queens episode Ruff Goin'.
• Hubert is the name of Harlan Pepper's (Christopher Guest) bloodhound in the cult comedy Best in Show (2000 film)
• In the animated show King of the Hill, Hank Hill's beloved dog Ladybird is a bloodhound
• The abilities of bloodhounds were put to the test in two episodes of Mythbusters.
• The bloodhound face is used as a logo for the main antagonist "Elite Hunting Club" in Hostel (2005 film), Hostel: Part II, and Hostel: Part III respectively.
• "Mcgruff" The Crime Dog was a notable animated bloodhound.

See also

• Dog type
• Northern (North Country Beagle) and Southern Hounds

Further reading

• Barwick, M. Aspects of Bloodhound History
• Boitard, Jean-Pierre, Le Chien de Saint-Hubert, éditions Artémis 2002. ISBN 2-84416-155-3
• Dalziel, Hugh. British Dogs Ch IX
• Fogle, Bruce (2000). The New Encyclopedia of the Dog. Dorling Kindersley (DK). ISBN 0-7894-6130-7.
• Reed, Lena and Brey, Catherine F. (1991). The New Complete Bloodhound. Howell Book House. ISBN 0-87605-077-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Tweedie, Jan (1998). On the Trail!: A Practical Guide to the Working Bloodhound and Other Search and Rescue Dogs. Alpine Publications. ISBN 1-57779-005-7.

External links

Media related to Chien de Saint-Hubert at Wikimedia Commons

• http://www.bloodhound-info.com
• "Training Bloodhounds for Police Work." Popular Science, June 1942, pp. 117–119.
• Dalzlel, Hugh : British Dogs 1879

• Bloodhound at Curlie