Scenthound Group

Scenthound Group is the name of a breed Group of dogs, used by kennel clubs to classify a defined collection of dog breeds. Dogs listed in a kennel club's Scenthound Group may not all be of the same type of dog.

Coonhound baying

Scenthound type

Hounds are hunting dogs that either hunt by following the scent of a game animal (scenthounds) or by following the animal by sight (sighthounds). There are many breeds in the scenthound type, and scenthounds may do other work as well, so exactly which breeds should be called scenthound can be controversial. Kennel clubs assign breeds of dogs to Groups, which are loosely based on breed types. Each kennel club determines which breeds it will place in a given group.

United Kennel Club Scenthound Group

The Scenthound Group is the Group category used by the United Kennel Club (US), which it divides into two categories. The first includes the American hunting dogs known as coonhounds and the European hounds from which they were developed. These are referred to as Tree Hounds. The category also includes curs, American dogs bred for hunting bears, feral pigs, and similar large game. The second category is referred to as trailing scenthounds, and includes dogs used for tracking of humans, reputedly descended from the St. Hubert Hounds (ancestor of today's Bloodhound breed) kept by monks in Belgium.^[1]

Coonhounds

Curs

Scenthound Group breeds other than coonhounds and curs

Other registries

This article only covers the major kennel clubs in the English-speaking world, but there are national clubs in many countries where many of these breeds may also be listed in similar or other Breed Groups.

Many of the regional breeds recognised by the United Kennel Club are very few in number in the United States. As a US-based club they have specialised in the registry of North American breeds, especially hunting and working/utility dogs. The United Kennel Club also lists internationally recognised (Fédération Cynologique Internationale) breeds that are few in number outside their native areas. Many of these are called rare breeds in the United States, and breeders and dog owners may register their dogs with any of the very large number of small breed clubs, dog sport clubs, minor kennel clubs and internet-based dog businesses, in order to participate in the club's or business' activities. For breeds not yet recognised by one of the major kennel clubs, there are usually numerous competing breed clubs for each individual breed.

Not recognised

A breed that is not recognised by a kennel club means that it has not been sufficiently vetted according to that particular kennel club's rules. It does not mean that the breed is not a breed. A kennel club usually requires a breed to have a large enough breed club to warrant the training of judges for the breed, as well as a specific amount of documentation, to accept a breed.

See also

• Breed Groups (dog)
• Dog type
• Scent hound
• Sighthound
• Sighthound & Pariah Group
• Hound
• Hound Group
• Hunting dog

References