KENAI
Black and Tan Coonhound

The breeds · tree dog · coonhound

AKC Hound · UKC Scenthound · FCI standard 300

Black and Tan Coonhound.

AKC: first and fundamentally a working dog, a trail and tree hound, able to take winter, summer heat and difficult terrain. UKC: a working hound that trails his quarry completely by scent; strong and sturdy without being coarse. FCI 300: same text as AKC (utilization: hound; group 6 scent hounds, large-sized hounds, without working trial). Columbia Encyclopedia: bred especially for raccoons and opossums..

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.
40–110LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 50 to 110 lb; breed bitches 40 to 110 lb.

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

dogs 23 to 27 in · bitches 21 to 26 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Low and high span AKC and UKC.

Weight

dogs 50 to 110 lb · bitches 40 to 110 lb

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

Low and high span UKC and the AKC page header, which does not split by sex.

Coat

AKC and FCI 300: short but dense to withstand rough going; coal black with rich tan markings above eyes, on sides of muzzle, chest, legs and breeching, black pencil markings on toes. UKC: smooth haired, fine, glossy, but thick enough for protection; deep rich black, tan trim covering not more than 10 to 15 percent of body. Columbia Encyclopedia: dense, short coat.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

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 · Short but dense coat (AKC and FCI 300)

DerivedAKC breed standard

Derived from the coat description (short dense = 4). No measured data.

The dog at home

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

Energy

AKC breed page: Energy Level 3 of 5, Mental Stimulation Needs 3, Playfulness 3, Trainability 3. AKC breed page header lists Life Expectancy 10 to 12 years (the AKC's own figure, not a study).

Breed clubAKC

AKC trait scores are AKC bands, not measured. Life-expectancy header kept here as text only; no Dogs Trust or Teng row exists for the breed.

Grooming load

2 of 5

Breed clubAKC

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

Grooming

AKC breed page: Coat Grooming Frequency 2 of 5, Shedding Level 3, Drooling Level 3.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands.

The work

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

Role

AKC: first and fundamentally a working dog, a trail and tree hound, able to take winter, summer heat and difficult terrain. UKC: a working hound that trails his quarry completely by scent; strong and sturdy without being coarse. FCI 300: same text as AKC (utilization: hound; group 6 scent hounds, large-sized hounds, without working trial). Columbia Encyclopedia: bred especially for raccoons and opossums.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

AKC, UKC and FCI read in full. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Primary game

AKC and FCI 300: used principally for trailing and treeing raccoon. Columbia Encyclopedia: raccoons and opossums. UKC: no quarry named.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Opossum appears only in the Columbia Encyclopedia entry. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Also used on

AKC and FCI 300: also proficient on the hunt for deer, bear, mountain lion and other big game. Outdoor Life (bear-dog guide): the black and tan is one of the hounds that chase coon, fox and bobcat and is capable of pursuing bears; not one of its featured bear breeds. UKC: none named.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Search pattern

UKC: open trailing and treeing instinct and ability; trails quarry completely by scent; History credits probable Bloodhound stock for the famous cold nose. AKC and FCI 300: runs his game entirely by scent. Columbia Encyclopedia: a slow but methodical trailer, nose to the ground much like a bloodhound, and once the quarry is treed he gives voice until the hunter arrives.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

Mouth: UKC says only 'open trailing' (an open trailer gives voice on the track); no source read states chop versus bawl, or locates-at-the-tree behaviour beyond Columbia's 'gives voice until the hunter arrives'. AKC page rates Barking Level 4 of 5. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Field trial standard

UKC Nite Hunt Honor Rules (Jan 1 2023): scored casts at night on raccoon. Strike points 100/75/50/25 for the first four dogs declared struck (the dog must open and be heard opening); tree points 125/75/50/25 for the first four declared treed. A tree call is held three minutes before it is scored; once a dog is declared treed at least one dog must bark at least every two minutes until the cast arrives. A dog not declared struck on or before the third bark after the first minute is minused; babbling (opening three times, or struck where no track is evident) is minused; failing to hunt in any 15 consecutive minutes, or accumulating 400 minus, scratches the dog. Points are plus when a coon is seen in the tree (shining time only); circled when no coon is seen; off game (seen) is minused in the Champion division. Dogs that are spayed or neutered may compete. AKC and PKC coonhound rules were not read.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2023

Source: UKC rule text read in full (pdftotext). The rule set is UKC-wide and does not name this breed. Hunt time length is not stated in the text read; no breed-specific standard published.

How common the problems are

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

Hip dysplasia

16.2% · OFA current all-data, accessed Oct 8 2026: 16.2 percent dysplastic, n 990 evaluations (normal 82.3: excellent 11.7, good 54.1, fair 16.5; dysplastic mild 8.4, moderate 7.4, severe 0.4).

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA evaluates self-selected breeding-stock and owner-submitted dogs, so the figure is skewed toward dogs whose owners expected a clean result and underreports the whole population. OFA gives no date range for its all-data figure.

Elbow dysplasia

4.5% · OFA current all-data, accessed Oct 8 2026: 4.5 percent abnormal, n 312 evaluations (grade 1 3.8, grade 2 0.3, grade 3 0.3).

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Same breeding-stock skew as the hip figure. OFA gives no date range.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 3; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 3; Barking Level 4; Watchdog/Protective Nature 2; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 2; Drooling Level 3; Affectionate With Family 4; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 4.

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 Black and Tan Coonhound 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
Black & Tan, American Black and Tan Coonhound

Every breed, read the same way.

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

All published breeds

Your black and tan coonhound, on the record.

Log the days, the miles and the birds, and the KENAI app keeps the dog’s story beside the breed’s. Free to start.

Get the app