hounds weight

[Rocky2 14]

Some of the huntsmen that I know keep their harriers fairly bare and they look under weight. I like to keep my dogs looking well fed but not fat but some other men I know would say they are too heavy. These are lads that have hunted a lifetime and have brilliant dogs. What would your opinions be on this. Is it right to keep hounds light when hunting them?

[Coyotehunter 689]

Imo, hounds should have a decent covering on them, when totally fit and hard you should see the last couple of ribs but not all of them, some hounds you can see the hinchbones some you cant , it depends on the hound, personally i'd rather have hounds a little heavy than too light , you can easily run a bit of weight off a hound but its hell to try and get it on them once its lost, all hounds are individuals, i have hounds that can look heavy going out in the morning and run up to nothing by the end of the day, like a say hounds that are a little heavy look better to the general public if they come across them when out hunting, if Joe Bloggs comes arcoss a light hound we're all acused of not feeding them, we hound men are in the public eye enough without them saying we neglect our hounds

just my humble opinion

Regards Paul

[harryshounds 936]

when hounds are hunting hard and regular its hard to keep weight on em. well hunted hounds will look bare. i dont like hounds that look bare myself but i've also seen hounds out with packs that aint much to look at but are hardy at stay and hunt all day with the best of em. i think each huntsman and his hounds will have different ways that suit themselves. i dont think the foxhound types would cope well bare but the irish harriers seem a much hardier type.

[harryshounds 936]

when hounds are hunting hard and regular its hard to keep weight on em. well hunted hounds will look bare. i dont like hounds that look bare myself but i've also seen hounds out with packs that aint much to look at but are hardy at stay and hunt all day with the best of em. i think each huntsman and his hounds will have different ways that suit themselves. i dont think the foxhound types would cope well bare but the irish harriers seem a much hardier type.

[thefootman 17]

Now I don't know how scientific this is, but I was always told by one great old huntsman from our area that an Irish Harrier should have the last 3 ribs showing when at hunting weight, any less and it will be too light to hunt two days in a row. Its a rule we try to stick to and I think it works. I think the important thing is that the hound is allowed to hunt down to a hunting weight, it should not be starved down. If it loses weight through hunting its muscles will be strong and well developed. If a hound loses weight just through a cut back in its ration it may not have the same strength. Our hounds would be fairly heavy after the summer but we try to gradualy buld up their hunting through September and October to get them fit for the winter.

 

It does depend on the individual though. Some hounds are gluttons and you really have to control their feeding or no amount of hunting will keep them right. Others can be shy feeders and it is a torture to get them to eat. Funny enough any shy feeders we ever had were demons to chase. One litter we had back in the early 90's were notoriously hard to feed. There were days when we went to hunt when we were ashamed to be seen out with them. Any non-hunting person, or even huntsman at that, would swear we were starving them. They were split among 5 members of the pack and each man had the same problem with feeding. They were tough as nails though and savage to hunt. More often than not they were the last hounds gathered in when to look at them you would think they would not be able to walk let alone keep hunting.