KENAI
American Foxhound

The breeds · scenthound · scenthound

AKC Hound · UKC Scenthound · FCI standard 303

American Foxhound.

UKC: developed in colonial America from the English Foxhound base, with Irish, French and other hounds in refinement. FCI 303: a hound with working trial. MFHA: the governing body of organized mounted hunting with hounds in the US and Canada, which registers eligible foxhounds in the Foxhound Stud Book; American, Crossbred, English and Penn-Marydel foxhounds and Harriers are eligible. By the early 1700s mounted hunting with hounds was established in Maryland and Virginia (MFHA history)..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
60–70LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 65 to 70 lb; breed bitches 60 to 65 lb.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 22 to 28 in · bitches 21 to 26 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2011

AKC standard upper limit 26 in versus 24 in elsewhere; both stand.

Weight

dogs 65 to 70 lb · bitches 60 to 65 lb

Breed clubAKC

AKC page header only.

Coat

AKC: a close, hard hound coat of medium length (a short, thin or soft coat is a defect). UKC: same, with a very slight brush on the tail. FCI: close, hard hound coat of medium length. Color: any color.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2011

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · AKC and FCI: a close, hard hound coat of medium length; UKC: close, hard, medium length.

DerivedAKC breed standard, 2011

Derived from the standard's coat description (short, dense, hard hound coat = 4). No measured data.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Energy

4 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

1 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

UKC: developed in colonial America from the English Foxhound base, with Irish, French and other hounds in refinement. FCI 303: a hound with working trial. MFHA: the governing body of organized mounted hunting with hounds in the US and Canada, which registers eligible foxhounds in the Foxhound Stud Book; American, Crossbred, English and Penn-Marydel foxhounds and Harriers are eligible. By the early 1700s mounted hunting with hounds was established in Maryland and Virginia (MFHA history).

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2009

UKC history, FCI classification, MFHA rules and history. No standard states a field role in so many words; the MFHA registration rules do.

Primary game

Fox, coyote, bobcat and mountain lion, hunted in packs; also the drag (a laid scent line). MFHA: hounds in the Foxhound Stud Book, and their sires and dams for two generations, must be certified as having legally hunted these quarry.

Breed clubMasters of Foxhounds Association of North America

MFHA registration rule (c), archive copy. The quarry list is the rule's own; 'drag' is a laid scent line, not game.

Field trial standard

No hound field trial rule was read. The MFHA standard is the stud-book hunting requirement: registered hounds must be certified as having hunted acceptable live quarry or drag (rules (c) to (e)); hounds with up to one fault in the third generation can be 'listed'. MFHA-sanctioned hound shows admit stud-book hounds if the show allows them.

Breed clubMasters of Foxhounds Association of North America

This is a registration standard, not a trial format. Check for AKC/NKC/American foxhound club hunt or trial rules.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Most common disorders

OFA publishes no hip or elbow statistics for the American Foxhound (the breed is below OFA's minimum count or not listed).

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

'No row' is a finding: the OFA data service was searched Oct 8 2026 for fox-named breeds and returned only terriers. Do not substitute the UK 'Foxhound' (English Foxhound) Dogs Trust row.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 3; Barking Level 5; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 1; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 3; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 3.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

No KENAI kennel lists the American Foxhound yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 5 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Foxhound

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

Your american foxhound, on the record.

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