Posture

The attitude of the Bloodhound is quite undemanding. Ideally, you keep the dog breed in the countryside with a house and garden. The Bloudhound is not an apartment dog. On hikes and walks through nature, however, he is an extremely pleasant companion if you keep an eye on your four-legged friend’s hunting instinct, as well as his body language and the thinking of dogs that have been optimized for tracking work for thousands of years. If you then know and understand your four-legged friend properly, then you can even let him run free during the walk without a leash.

Nevertheless, the Bloodhound is and remains a working dog. It does an excellent job not only in hunting, but also in the police or customs.

Due to the friendly and willing to learn character of the dogs, their education is also quite simple. However, he needs and wants the guidance of his master or mistress, even if at the same time he will retain a certain life of his own. The be-all and end-all of parenting is definitely loving consistency. Due to its intelligence, the Bloodhound recognizes any inconsistency very quickly and takes advantage of it when needed. For the sake of a good relationship, you must also accept the stubbornness of your four-legged friend.

Nutrition and care

When feeding your four-legged friend, you should make sure that you always feed him with high-quality food. It should be a balanced mix of proteins, fats, crude fibers, minerals and carbohydrates. Due to the physical strain, hunting dogs also require more fats than other dog breeds.

Care for the animals is relatively undemanding. The short, waterproof coat is extremely easy to care for and only needs brushing from time to time.

Eyes and ears should be checked regularly and cleaned if necessary to prevent inflammation.

A healthy puppy from a reputable breeding usually has the best conditions for a long dog life. However, joint diseases such as elbow – or hip dysplasia occur more frequently even in seriously bred dogs.

History

Already in the 2nd century, the ancestors of the Bloodhound have served the Gauls and Celts as running dogs. Monks of the Belgian monastery Saint-Hubert in the Ardennes have bred the black or black-and-tan hunting dogs from the 7th century, which is why the Bloodhound is also called ,,Hubertushund“. The Belgian stud book carries the name to this day.

Then in the 11th century Englishmen took some specimens of the breed to their homeland, which explains the English name of the animals. But why exactly ,,Bloodhound” is not exactly clear to this day.

While some suggest the name is meant to emphasize the purebred blood of the dogs, others believe the name is due to the dogs’ exceptional sniffer nose, which is used to follow the blood trail of injured game.

Conclusion

If you can offer your intelligent four-legged friend a lot of space and are willing to challenge his extraordinary nose, you will have a lot of fun with the animal.