American Staghound

The American Staghound is a type of sighthound that is used in hunting to track a variety of game. Although they have been bred for many years, Staghound is not currently recognized as a dog breed.

Appearance

This is a working dog with long legs, strong muscles and a deep chest. They have excellent eyesight and above average scent ability to aid in tracking game. They have three recognized coat types, the shag, slick and broken. They are known to be comparable to the greyhound in speed, but have greater endurance.

They range in height from 24 to 30 inches (61-77 cm) at the withers and weigh between 45 and 90 lbs (20-41 kg). The females are slightly smaller in size than the males.

Health

They are known to experience torsion bloat if exercised shortly after eating, but carry no other genetic health problems. Typical life span is 12-14 years.

Temperament

Staghounds are very calm and affectionate, making wonderful companion dogs in addition to their tracking abilities. Even with their great size, they are not often trained as watchdogs. They have a high prey drive and may consider any other animal to be quarry.

They require a great deal of area to run and exercise in, so are not suitable for apartment living. Daily exercise is necessary to maintain their health and burn off their excess energy.

History

The current American Staghound is a result of unknown breeding between Scottish Deerhound, greyhound and several other breeds. The staghound appeared with its current characteristics in the 1700s. They were originally bred to hunt predators such as the wolf and coyote. General George Custer used a staghound in 1846 as part of his hunting pack.

This article is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "American Staghound".