Things like Bloodhound History, Bloodhound Basic Information, Bloodhound Basic Needs, Bloodhound Basic Care, Bloodhound Basic Health, Bloodhound Health Problems... to Bloodhound Personality, and Bloodhound Traits; and of course, there is their Amazing Bloodhound Nose which gives them their Incredible Scenting and Trailing Abilities.
Welcome to our page! We are happy you stopped on by!
We are also happy to help you learn about Bloodhounds!
If you have any specific bloodhound questions, just send us an email!
Investigate the breed to learn about them and see if the breed is a good fit for you (your family).
Meet as many bloodhounds as possible. (Visit dog shows, or private homes whatever you have to do.)
Be patient and not in a hurry. Bloodhound puppies and adults are not sitting on a shelf. A responsible bloodhound breeder has puppies rather infrequently.
These important Bloodhound Health Tests are a must for the Sire (Father) and Dam (Mother) of any litter:
- OFA Heart Certificate (an Echo by a Cardiologist)
- OFA Hip Certificate (Excellent or Good preferred, Fair maybe, but avoid dyplastic hips)
- OFA Elbows (should be normal, not dysplastic)
- DM Test (one parent can be a Carrier or At Risk, but it is important that one parent be Clear)
*Run away from any breeder without these tests!
Talk with several breeders and find a breeder you feel you can trust. Be prepared to fill out an application and if approved to be sold a puppy on a contract. Also be prepared to spend $2,000 +/-.
Sadly, not all bloodhound breeders are responsible!
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BLOODHOUND HISTORY
A Condensed Version
Compiled by Marlene Groves
Ancient Bloodhound History
1000-2000 BC - There is a plaque, some say is a type of a bloodhound from Ancient Babylon.
630-699 BC -There is an illustration of an ancient dog in the Nineveh Palace that is referred to as a bloodhound/mastiff.
55 BC - When the Romans arrived in Britain they spoke of finding great scent hounds.
European Bloodhound History
727 AD - Beginning with St. Hubert, the French Monastery bred hounds with great noses, courage, endurance, & throatiness. These dogs were mainly black with some red/fawn accents. Many say St. Hubert is the beginning of the true bloodhound.
1066 AD - St. Hubert Hounds were brought to England (often gifts for royalty).
1066 AD - There were also Talbot Hounds (white hounds) at this time.
1270-1305/07 - Bloodhound were called Sleuth Hounds and often used to track and hunt people during the Medieval times of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace.
1859/1860 AD - The first dog show in England was in 1859, the first bloodhounds were entered in the 1860 show.
1888 AD - The Bloodhound Breed standard was written by Edwin Brough. He is pictured below with one of his bloodhounds at Scalby Manor in 1899.
American Bloodhound History
1700 -1863 - It is said that throughout much of the American Slavery time period Bloodhounds were used to track down runaway slaves.
1888 - Three Bloodhounds were entered at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.
1899-1909 - This was the time of the legendary bloodhound mantrailing dog - Nick Carter. This one bloodhound is credited with over 650 finds and sending 126 criminals to jail. He worked one trail that was 55 miles.
1910 - There were only about 200 Bloodhounds registered in the American Kennel Club (versus 2,379 Collies, the #1 breed at the time).
1916 - West Virginia mantrailing bloodhound photo.
1952 - The American Bloodhound Club was formed with the main objective to encourage and promote quality in the breeding of purebred Bloodhounds.
1962 - The National Police Bloodhound Association was established. It was originally called the Eastern Police Bloodhound Association.
2005 - Knotty the Bloodhound (above) won the Eukanuba Dog Show (now called AKC National Dog Show). This remains the biggest win for any dog show bloodhound and it also brought much attention to the bloodhound breed. That year the AKC had 3,112 bloodhounds in their registry.
2016 - K9 Radar, owned, loved, trained and worked by Bloodhound Mantracker President & Handler Frank Hurst, won the AKC ACE Award for Uniformed Service. Since that time, this local bloodhound bred by David, Marlene & Karissa Groves of Buffalo Groves Bloodhound Ranch has worked and solved hundreds of cases and put away nearly 40 murderers.
2021 - The Rocky Mountain Bloodhound Club was formed to support local bloodhound owners.
GENERAL BLOODHOUND INFO
Basic Info, Needs, Care, Health
Shared by Marlene Groves
Bloodhound Basic Info
They're a large independent minded scent hound (most well over 100 lbs) designed/bred to follow a scent trail. They like to be in charge, make decisions, go where they want and be so focused they do not pay attention to their humans.
They are very smart but can also be very stubborn.
Bloodhound Basic Needs
Bloodhounds need a strong pack leader!
They need good training - sit, stay, off, and come!
They should be trained & walked on a leash and
put in a harness only for trailing & working!
We highly recommend puppy kindergarden and a basic obedience class for all bloodhounds!
Bloodhounds need mental and physical exercise
or they get bored and stuff happens!
(stuff like digging, chewing and getting into things)
They do best in a home with a large fenced yard but also need some inside/house time to be with their people. Be prepared to not have a beautiful flower bed outside; and to have slobber towels inside.
Bloodhounds like kids, but it is best to supervise young children so they don't pull ears, etc.
They are very sensitive dogs (some down right emotional). They make strong human bonds so need their humans to love them their entire life!
Their size combined with their exuberance can be an issue around toddlers and seniors, which can easily get knocked down by a large bloodhound. Their tails can knock things over in your home.
Remember bloodhounds are nose/scent driven, so they are gonna sniff. Including sniffing people; sniffing stinky stuff (trash, laundry, dirty diapers); sniffing anything and everything. Some may be sensitive to strong smells such as perfume, smoke, any chemical and even bug spray.
Bloodhound Basic Care
EARS: Bloodhounds need their ears cleaned regularly. We recommend unscented alcohol free baby wipes every couple of days. Some bloodhounds may need their ears cleaned and flushed weekly or monthly (each dog is different).
EYES: Bloodhounds can have some eye drainage. Wipe any eye boogers and if things start to look yellow/infected, get a vet to prescribe a opthalmic antibiotic. Also bloodhounds can get entropic eyes (eye lids rolling in) or ectropic eyes (excessive sagging outward of the eye lid) - if you suspect either, that take your bloodhound to an eye vet.
NAILS: Trim their nails at least twice a month.
GROOMING: Brushing and furminating to get the undercoat out is recommended at least monthly, but why not do it twice a month when you do nails.
BATHING: Because hounds can get stinky, we suggest bathing monthly or every other month.
Bloodhound Basic Health
Bloodhounds live anywhere from 8 to 10 years; but some pass as early as 5 or 6 and others live to 12 or more. Ask your breeder for information on the lifespan and health problems in their line of bloodhounds. We highly advocate for having all bloodhounds microchipped and for them to go to the vet for regular vaccinations and care. Some folks get health insurance for their bloodhounds.
Bloodhound Health Problems
Cancer - like all dogs about 1 in 3 will get it and for many bloodhounds this will be what takes their life.
Bloat/Torsion - like many deep chested dog breeds they are prone to it. This can kill your dog quickly; but there is a preventative gastropexy surgery (to tack the stomach to the rib) which many breeders and vets recommend.
Hearts - sadly some bloodhounds have bad hearts, but if your breeder did proper heart testing you should not have this trouble (but it is a breed item).
Ear Infections - they are very prone to ear infections, so keep up on ear cleaning.
Eye Problems - Entropic (eye lids rolling in so much as to causing harm to the eye) - it can require surgery or dogs can lose vision. Ectropic (the excessive protruding of the eye lid) - it can also require eye surgery or be a constant problem.
Allergies - Bloodhounds can have awful allergies to food (especially chicken), grass, all sorts of things. It tends to run in lines, so something to visit with your breeder about.
Immune Problems - This too runs in certain lines of bloodhounds and can cause a variety of health issues; again visit with your breeder.
Epilepsy - runs in some bloodhound lines too.
Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) - is something good bloodhound breeders are testing for before breeding, and hopefully breeding to avoid; but it's something bloodhounds can develop at a later age.
Foreign Objects (in their stomach) - they like to eat things, even rocks, and this can be a real problem with bloodhounds and require surgery or even be something that causes death.
We Love Bloodhounds
From Bloodhound Puppies to Bloodhound Seniors
ABOUT THE BLOODHOUND NOSE
Incredible Scenting & Trailing Abilities
Written by Marlene Groves
Bloodhounds are unique dogs.
They are literally designed to sniff/smell
and to process scents (Ps - they love it)!
- Their Nose is wonderful and important:
- they have large nostrils to breath in scent/smells
- the nostril shape even allows for more inflow
- their long noses which means more olfactories
- olfactories are what process scents/smells
- bloodhounds have 300 million scent receptors
( compared to humans with about 6 million)
- Their Ears help them too as they sweep up scent
- Their Surplus Skin around their head and neck, also help by trapping and holding in the scent
- Their Body is very Sturdy, giving them stamina to trail for many (many) miles
- Their Loose Baggy Body Skin helps to protect them from injuries
- Their Big Chest Cavity allows them good large functioning Heart and Lungs.
- Their Feet are Strong and tightly knuckled up to support them on a variety of lengthy trails
- Their Long Neck makes sniffing the ground easy
- Their Drool even helps as the drool somewhat enhances the scent (think potpourri)
A little about Scent and Dander:
- Humans shed little skin rafts (unseen dander)
- Each person has their very own unique rafts and with that their own unique scents (like scent dna)
- Bloodhounds can smell these scents and they can discern each person's unique scent (this means they can also can follow a unique scent trail)
- Now think Charlie Brown's friend Pig Pen as that is somewhat how rafts and scent drop
Tracking -versus- Trailing
Tracking (also called Man-Tracking)
is really following a scent "track"
more so the actual foot steps of the "track"
Trailing (also called Man-Trailing)
is truly following the scent "trail"
which due to weather, etc.
it may or may not be on the foot "track"
Law Enforcement & SAR (SearchAndRescue)
often uses and interchanges the terms
Tracking & Trailing
as for them, the bottom line, is to find
the mission person, lost child, cadaver,
criminal, criminal evidence, etc.
Bloodhounds can be excellent Cadaver Dogs
that find decomposing human remains
(bodies, body parts, bones, blood, tissue, etc.)
Dogs Smell in 3D
Dogs smell differently with each nostril
(a bit like we see differently with our eyes
and then our brain combines it)
Dogs take the different scents for each nostril
and it is combined
Dogs can even Smell Underwater
in part due to the 2 holes in their skulls
allowing dogs to draw in scent without inhaling
they also dive underwater with mouths opened
bringing in scents without inhaling
Bloodhounds also Air Scent
(smell scents in the air, not on the ground or objects)
Bloodhounds can Work a Trail
for Hundreds of Miles
that is Weeks Old
even Years Old for Evidence
and Hit on just 1 Drop of Blood
Bloodhounds are Proven (not Certified)
Proven by records, cases, finds, etc.
Certified is just an annual test (not real work)
