Bloodhound

The Bloodhound is a heavy scenthound developed in Belgium to follow cold ground quarry across punishing terrain.

Monks at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert in the Belgian Ardennes bred ancestral tracking hounds during the Middle Ages to trail boar and deer. William the Conqueror transported these hounds to England during the eleventh century, where huntsmen bred them in closed aristocratic strains and developed the moniker Bloodhound to denote noble lineage. British courts began admitting man-trailing evidence from the breed in the nineteenth century, establishing standard procedures still utilized in criminal investigations and search operations worldwide.

The Federation Cynologique Internationale registers the breed as the Chien de Saint-Hubert in Group 6, Section 1.1. Males reach 64 to 72 centimeters (25 to 28 inches) at the shoulder weighing 46 to 54 kilograms (101 to 119 pounds), while females measure 58 to 66 centimeters (23 to 26 inches) and weigh 40 to 48 kilograms (88 to 106 pounds). The short, weatherproof coat appears in black and tan, liver and tan, or solid red over deep facial skin folds and long pendant ears. The breed standard characterizes this hound as gentle, placid, dignified, and devoted to family, displaying stubborn persistence on trails without showing human aggression.

Skin folds require periodic wiping, and heavy ears need weekly cleaning to avoid chronic infections, while high-walled fences prevent escape during spontaneous scent-following. Serious health vulnerabilities encompass gastric torsion, hip dysplasia, entropion, and ectropion. Police and search-and-rescue units use Bloodhounds to trail suspects and missing people.