Bavarian Mountain Hound

Temperament:

Balanced, Reserved, Loyal
Size: Medium
Height: 44-52 cm
Weight: 17-30 kg
Lifespan: 12-15 years
Coat: Shorthair
Colors: Deep red, deer red, reddish brown, reddish yellow (pale yellow to semolina)
FCI Group: Scent hounds and related breeds

The Bavarian Mountain Hound combines apparent opposites. It belongs to the FCI Group 6, Section 2, the sighthounds. These are hunting dogs that are bred and trained to track down wounded animals. The Bavarian Mountain Welding Dog is only given to hunters who work with hunting dogs.

Bavarian Mountain Hound
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Characteristics

The Bavarian Mountain Hound is of medium size with a height at the withers of 47 to 52 cm in males and 44 to 48 cm in females. Its weight is between 17 and 30 kg. His build is elongated and athletic with strong legs. He has drooping ears. The head is broad and flat, the forehead is prominent. It has a strong neck and a sinewy body that is rather long than high.

The coat is short, dense, rough or smooth. It can have different colors, from reddish-yellow to reddish-brown to deer red. Sometimes it is also brindled. 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 without conspicuous markings.

In character, the Bavarian Mountain Hound is calm and courageous, yet alert and attentive. He is courageous and always level-headed. As a true hunting dog, it absolutely needs a task. Then he can also become a very good family dog.

He is affectionate towards his owner, but reserved towards strangers. He is neither fearful nor aggressive.

As he loves to work and learn, the Bavarian Mountain Hound is easy to train. He accepts his human and trusts him completely.

He is quiet in the family. However, it has a great urge to move. The Bavarian Mountain Hound is by no means a city dog. It has a pronounced hunting instinct.

Bavarian Mountain Hounds must pass a strict performance test. Only then are they approved for breeding. Their performance level in tracking work is therefore very high.

Life expectancy is around 12 years.

Like many medium-sized breeds, Bavarian Mountain Hounds are also prone to hip joint dysplasia. They tolerate the harsh weather and temperature fluctuations in the mountains well. They are bred for robustness. The daily work is not only feasible for them, but downright necessary.

Coat care:

Little
Medium
Intensive

Shedding:

Little
Medium
Intensive

Energy level:

Little
Medium
High

Trainability:

Little
Medium
Good

Children suitable:

Less
With supervision
Perfect

The right food

The Bavarian Mountain Hound is a competitive athlete among dogs. It must be fed accordingly. Otherwise, its diet is no different from that of other dogs.

Dogs that perform well definitely need enough calories in their diet, preferably in the form of added fats. At the same time, the protein supply must be sufficient.

You can cover these needs well with a special food for sports dogs. Or you can put together the food yourself.

In any case, you must make sure that the dog gets a rest after eating, otherwise there is a risk of gastric torsion. It is best to feed your Bavarian Mountain Dog twice a day. A smaller one at a sufficient interval before work, preferably at least two hours, and a larger one at a sufficient interval afterwards.

Sometimes Bavarian mountain dogs tend to have stomach problems. Then you should help them with a lighter special food. They may need more and smaller meals.

If you reward your dog with treats or chew sticks, you should include these in the diet plan.

And one more thing: make sure your dog always has enough water available!

Health & Care

As the Bavarian Mountain Hound is very robust, it does not need much grooming. Its rough coat needs to be brushed from time to time. After a walk or work, it should be checked for ticks and injuries.

Otherwise, he just needs the same care as other dogs.

You should check his eyes and ears regularly.

You should check his paws and pay attention to his claws. If the claws are too long, they need to be shortened, otherwise the dog will walk unhealthily. However, this should hardly ever happen with the Bavarian Mountain Dog - after all, he is out and about all day!

In winter, you have to be careful when your dog runs over grit or road salt. This is not good for the paws. Depending on the situation, wash the paws after the walk and apply Vaseline or paw ointment to the pads.

To prevent him from getting tartar, you should either brush his teeth or give him enough material to chew on.

But above all, he needs something to do. The Bavarian Mountain Hound wants to work. You definitely need to give him enough exercise. And his nose needs to be kept busy.

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 Dog is also undemanding when it comes to accessories. Bowls, a good brush, lead, blanket, collar or harness, some toys - that's all he needs. He is simply a working dog who prefers to work outside. Under no circumstances does he want to be pampered. If you don't just take him into the woods, you'll also need poop bags.

Bavarian Mountain Hound

Origin & History

The Bavarian Mountain Hound is not a very old breed. It was bred in the middle of the 19th century. At that time, hunting techniques were changing. Welding dogs were needed in the mountains, but they had to be more robust than the usual ones. They had to be sure-footed, be able to cope with the extreme weather conditions in the mountains, be in good physical condition and at the same time be excellent sled dogs. They also needed an excellent sense of smell and a strong will to track.

For this reason, native Bracken dogs were crossed with Hanoverian hounds. The Bracken brought robustness. The Hanoverian Welding Dogs provided the high hunting performance.

The Bavarian Mountain Hound was recognized as a breed at the end of the 19th century. Initially, it was bred without a performance test, but this changed. At first, Tyrolean Bracken were crossed in to make the breed more powerful.

In the second half of the 20th century, strict performance breeding was practiced. Only a dog that passed the performance test was approved for breeding. At the same time, since this time, strict attention has been paid to who gets a Bavarian Mountain Hound. In the meantime, attention is also paid to diseases such as hip joint dysplasia.

Even today, every Bavarian Mountain Hound to be bred is subjected to a performance test.

A purebred Bavarian Mountain Hound can only be acquired as a dog handler. Today, Bavarian Mountain Hounds are also used to search for missing persons.