Bavarian Mountain Hound
Temperament:
Bavarian Mountain Hound combines apparent contradictions. He belongs to the FCI group 6, section 2, the bloodhounds. This is a type of hunting dog that is bred and trained to track wounded animals.
The Bavarian Mountain Hound is only given to hunters who work with welding dogs.
Characteristics
The Bavarian Mountain Hound is medium sized with a height at withers of 47 to 52 cm for males and 44 - 48 cm for females. Its weight is between 17 kg and 30 kg. His build is elongated and athletic with strong legs. He has hanging ears. His head is broad and flat, the forehead is set off. He has a strong neck and a sinewy body, which is rather long than high.
The coat is short, dense and rough or smooth. It can have diverse colors from red-yellow to deer-red and semmolu to red-brown. Sometimes it is also brindle. Occasionally the back and ears are slightly darker than the rest of the body. It has been bred to be well camouflaged in the forest with no conspicuous markings.
In terms of character, the Bavarian Mountain Hound is quiet and brave, thereby awake and Attentive. He is brave and always prudent. As a real hunting dog, he definitely needs a task. Then he can also become a really good family dog.
Towards his owner he is affectionate, at the same time reserved towards strangers. He is neither shy nor aggressive.
Because he likes to work and learn, the Bavarian Mountain Hound is good to educate. He accepts his master or mistress and then trusts him completely.
In the family he is quiet. However, he has a great urge to move. The Bavarian Mountain Hound is in no case a city dog. He has a very strong hunting instinct.
Bavarian Mountain Hounds must pass a rigorous performance test. Only then they are allowed to breed. Therefore, their performance level is very high as far as tracking work is concerned.
They have about 12 years of life expectancy.
Like many breeds of medium size and above, Bavarian Mountain Hounds are prone to hip dysplasia. They withstand the harsh weather and temperature changes of the mountains well. They are bred for ruggedness. Daily work is not only well doable for them, but downright necessary.
Coat care:
Shedding:
Energy level:
Trainability:
Children suitable:
The right food
The Bavarian Mountain Hound is a competitive athlete among the dogs. He must be fed accordingly. Otherwise, his diet is no different from that of other dogs.
Dogs that perform at high levels definitely need enough calories in their diet, preferably through added fats. At the same time, the supply of protein must be good enough. Roughly speaking, the more fat the feed contains, the more protein it should also contain. In addition, the feed should contain enough fiber to keep the intestines working.
With a Special food for sporting dogs can cover these needs well. Or you can compose the food yourself.
In any case, you must make sure that the dog has a rest after eating, otherwise there is a risk of a Gastric torsion. It is best to give your Bavarian Mountain Hound two meals a day. A smaller one with enough distance before work, preferably at least two hours, and then a larger one again with distance afterwards.
Sometimes Bavarian Mountain Hounds tend to be Stomach problems. Then you should help them with lighter special food. They may need to get more and smaller meals.
If you reward your dog with treats or chew sticks, you should include these foods in the diet plan.
And one more thing: make sure your dog always has enough water available!
Bavarian Mountain Hound Care
Since the Bavarian Mountain Hound is so hardy, it does not need a lot of care. His rough coat needs to be brushed from time to time. After the walk or work you should put it on Examine ticks and injuries.
Otherwise, he only needs the care that other dogs need.
You should check his eyes and ears regularly.
You should use his Paws control and on its claws pay attention. If the claws are too long, they must be cut, because otherwise the dog runs unhealthy. But this should hardly happen with the Bavarian Mountain Hound - after all, he is on the move all day!
In winter, you have to be careful when your dog walks over grit or de-icing salt. This is not good for the paws. Depending on the situation, wash off the paws after the walk and then apply Vaseline or paw ointment to the pads.
To prevent him from getting tartar, you should either give him the teeth clean or give enough material to chew.
What he needs most of all is employment. The Bavarian Mountain Hound wants to work. You definitely have to give him enough exercise. And you have to give his nose something to do.
He wants to sniff and search. You can do tracking work with him or join a search dog team - the main thing is that he has a meaningful task.
Suitable accessories
The Bavarian Mountain Hound is also undemanding when it comes to accessories. Bowls, a good brush, leash, blanket, collar, some toys. - that's all he needs. He is a working dog who prefers to work outside. In no way does he want to be pampered. If you want to take him not only in the forest, you still need poop bags.
Origin & History
The Bavarian Mountain Hound is not a very old dog breed. He was bred in the middle of the 19th century. At that time the hunting technique had just changed. One needed welding dogs in the mountains, but they had to be more robust than the usual ones. They had to be sure-footed and able to cope with the extreme weather in the mountains. They had to have a good condition and at the same time be excellent welding dogs. For this they needed an excellent sense of smell and a great will to track.
That is why native Bracken were crossed with Hanoverian bloodhounds. The Bracken brought the robustness. The Hanoverian bloodhounds the high performance in the hunting field.
At the end of the 19th century, the Bavarian Mountain Hound was recognized as a breed. In the beginning it was bred without performance tests, but that changed. First, Tyrolean Bracken were crossed in so that the breed became more powerful again.
In the second half of the 20th century, strict performance breeding took place. Only a dog that passed the performance test was allowed to be bred. At the same time, since then strict attention is paid to who gets a Bavarian Mountain Sweat Dog. In the meantime, diseases such as Hip dysplasia respected.
Even today, every Bavarian Mountain Hound is performance tested when bred with.
You can only get a purebred Bavarian Mountain Hound if you are a Schweißhunde handler. Nowadays Bavarian Mountain Hounds are also used to search for missing persons.
