Australian Staghound

The Australian Staghound is a type of dog used in Australia for various kind of hunting, for example hunting for boars or kangaroo. The Staghound is not regarded a race as much as a type of dog much like the Alaskan Husky, as is the case with several other native 'breeds' of Australia, and some other 'breeds' in the rest of the world. I.e, the Staghound have not been recognized as a distinct regarded breed, nor is there efforts of trying to make it recognized as such.^[1][2]

Description

The staghound is best described as a dog resembling the Greyhound and the Scottish Deerhound. The Australian Staghound is a distant cousin of the American Staghound, with a distinct bloodline that's native to Australia. The Staghounds would be regarded as "lurchers" in the United Kingdom. As the dogs were - and are - bred for function over looks, the dogs may differ much from different bloodlines, but may still be regarded a 'staghound'.^[3]

History

The staghound were used for hunting in Australia dating back to the late 18th century. The first dogs to be bred as staghounds were brought to Australia by European settlers. The general consensus is that the 'breed' was a Greyhound and Scottish Deerhound hybrid. From then on, the breeding of the dogs have differed depending on what the breeders was trying to achieve. The original purpose is regarded to have been primarily to hunt predators and rabbits, as well as bigger prey. As the original purpose was to be a good Hunting dog, there were probably infusion of different breeds as well, partly to make it a better dog for hunting, but also because one used what was available at the time. Therefore, some lines of today may be infused with foxhounds, bloodhounds and other breeds of dogs. That is often more obvious in older pictures of the dogs, as today's bloodlines are often infused with newer additions of sighthound breeds.^[4]

See also

• Kangaroo Dog

References