Help with the hound group (dogs)

[Show Sebright]

I’m class we are learning about the hound group classified by the AKC but I can’t tell them apart!!! They all look like Beaglea! Please help y’all. Thanks!

 

[Sc_chickengirl]

I think beagles are shorter

 

[TwistedTayy]

I’m confused about what you’re asking… there are more hounds than just the tricolors (beagle, treeing Walker coonhound, foxhound). And many types of hounds, for example sighthounds (greyhounds, pharaoh hounds, Ibizan hounds etc), scent hounds (blood hounds, coonhounds, basset hounds). There are also deer hounds, wolf hounds. And small game hounds like dachshund. All these look very different.

An easy way to narrow down type is scenthounds typically have long ears (compared to say, a golden retriever) and sight hounds have long slender athletic bodies meant for chasing fast prey.

 

[Show Sebright]

I’m confused about what you’re asking… there are more hounds than just the tricolors (beagle, treeing Walker coonhound, foxhound). And many types of hounds, for example sighthounds (greyhounds, pharaoh hounds, Ibizan hounds etc), scent hounds (blood hounds, coonhounds, basset hounds). There are also deer hounds, wolf hounds. And small game hounds like dachshund. All these look very different.

An easy way to narrow down type is scenthounds typically have long ears (compared to say, a golden retriever) and sight hounds have long slender athletic bodies meant for chasing fast prey.

Thanks! I can tell the sight hounds apart but a lot of the scent are hard to tell apart.

 

[TwistedTayy]

I’d say try to not focus on the colors. Maybe look at pics in black and white? That way you can focus more on the actual patterning and body shape.

I’d advise trying to research the breed traits. You can further break down scent hounds by type: hot scent (hounds developed for tracking FRESH scents, like foxhounds and dachshunds) and cold scent (hounds developed for tracking old scents like bloodhounds). Cold scent hounds typically have looooong ears for wafting scents and are heavier. Hot scent hounds are the kinds of hounds you’d need to be a track star to keep up with (though not as athletic as a greyhound).

I have a treeing Walker coonhound and our bloodhound passed away last year but their natural instincts were very easy to tell apart. For example, when sniffing Klondike (bloodhound) kept her nose straight on the ground while Ellie (twc) tilts her head up like she’s stargazing and inhales through her nose deeply.

In terms of separating beagles from foxhounds, I’d focus more on the proportions… for example:

BEAGLE

Ok so ignore the shoe in the background which gives away size. The length of the legs in proportion to the body makes it clear that it’s a smaller sized dog.

HARRIER

Commonly mistaken for beagle. It’s not too much bigger than a beagle but if you drew lines along the legs and body it would be slightly closer to a square than a rectangle. Also the head is larger in proportion to the ears.

FOXHOUND (not sure if this one is American or English)

This dogs legs make a square. The legs almost look too long in proportion to its body and head. And the head looks more proportional to its ears as well.

TREEING WALKER COONHOUND

This one is easy to confuse this with the foxhound for sure but this is a good example for using the ears. This breed was developed by crossing foxhounds with coonhounds (I’ll include coonhound varieties below for comparison). On the spectrum of cold vs hot scent, coonhounds fall in the middle and foxhounds fall on the hot side. TWC fall in the middle of that. But their lineage gives them the longer ears that are more typical of cold scent hounds. They also have a longer back than the foxhound, which as you can see below is more indicative of cold scent hounds. They (cold scent) are more meant for slow and steady hunting rather than the fox hound chase. Also note the difference in leg length proportion TWC vs other coonhounds which shows the foxhound blood too. Ellie’s nickname is “legs” lol. She’s like a supermodel with dumbo ears.


Other hound examples…

BLUETICK COONHOUND

REDBONE COONHOUND

BLACK AND TAN COONHOUND

BLOODHOUND

Note how rectangular the bloodhound is vs the coonhounds vs the foxhound. These dogs are all basically the same height. The body proportions have developed over hundreds of years to help the dogs complete whatever tasks they were bred for so remember that. The histories might help you narrow down traits. For example dachunds are long and short so that they could fit into badger (?) dens and they had a long tail so they could be retrieved. Cold scent hounds have long ears so they can waft scents.

 

[Show Sebright]

I’d say try to not focus on the colors. Maybe look at pics in black and white? That way you can focus more on the actual patterning and body shape.

I’d advise trying to research the breed traits. You can further break down scent hounds by type: hot scent (hounds developed for tracking FRESH scents, like foxhounds and dachshunds) and cold scent (hounds developed for tracking old scents like bloodhounds). Cold scent hounds typically have looooong ears for wafting scents and are heavier. Hot scent hounds are the kinds of hounds you’d need to be a track star to keep up with (though not as athletic as a greyhound).

I have a treeing Walker coonhound and our bloodhound passed away last year but their natural instincts were very easy to tell apart. For example, when sniffing Klondike (bloodhound) kept her nose straight on the ground while Ellie (twc) tilts her head up like she’s stargazing and inhales through her nose deeply.

In terms of separating beagles from foxhounds, I’d focus more on the proportions… for example:

BEAGLE
View attachment 2996512
Ok so ignore the shoe in the background which gives away size. The length of the legs in proportion to the body makes it clear that it’s a smaller sized dog.

HARRIER
View attachment 2996513
Commonly mistaken for beagle. It’s not too much bigger than a beagle but if you drew lines along the legs and body it would be slightly closer to a square than a rectangle. Also the head is larger in proportion to the ears.

FOXHOUND (not sure if this one is American or English)
View attachment 2996517
This dogs legs make a square. The legs almost look too long in proportion to its body and head. And the head looks more proportional to its ears as well.

TREEING WALKER COONHOUND
View attachment 2996520
This one is easy to confuse this with the foxhound for sure but this is a good example for using the ears. This breed was developed by crossing foxhounds with coonhounds (I’ll include coonhound varieties below for comparison). On the spectrum of cold vs hot scent, coonhounds fall in the middle and foxhounds fall on the hot side. TWC fall in the middle of that. But their lineage gives them the longer ears that are more typical of cold scent hounds. They also have a longer back than the foxhound, which as you can see below is more indicative of cold scent hounds. They (cold scent) are more meant for slow and steady hunting rather than the fox hound chase. Also note the difference in leg length proportion TWC vs other coonhounds which shows the foxhound blood too. Ellie’s nickname is “legs” lol. She’s like a supermodel with dumbo ears.


Other hound examples…

BLUETICK COONHOUND
View attachment 2996531

REDBONE COONHOUND
View attachment 2996532

BLACK AND TAN COONHOUND
View attachment 2996533

BLOODHOUND
View attachment 2996534

Note how rectangular the bloodhound is vs the coonhounds vs the foxhound. These dogs are all basically the same height. The body proportions have developed over hundreds of years to help the dogs complete whatever tasks they were bred for so remember that. The histories might help you narrow down traits. For example dachunds are long and short so that they could fit into badger (?) dens and they had a long tail so they could be retrieved. Cold scent hounds have long ears so they can waft scents.

Thank you so much this helped a lot.