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English Foxhound

The breeds · scenthound · scenthound

AKC Hound · UKC Scenthound · FCI standard 159

English Foxhound.

FCI 159: packhound for mounted hunt (Group 6, large scenthound, with working trial). UKC: developed in Great Britain in the 13th century to trail the red fox during a mounted hunt; breeding has always been in the hands of the Masters of Foxhounds; full of stamina and the capacity for endurance, with a natural ability to hunt. AKC standard: endurance is of even greater consequence than speed. Wikipedia: stud books date back before 1800; hounds were exported to India for jackal coursing. The Hunting Office (UK) runs the stud books for hunting with hounds..

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.

13YRMedian lifespan11.4 to 16.9, measured on real dogs.
0INHeightall null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
60–75LBWeight, all linesbreed 60 to 75 lb.
2.5+ HRSExercise, every dayRKC: more than 2 hours per day.. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

22.8 to 25.2 in

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 159

Sexes not split by any source. Low and high span the UKC and FCI ranges; the Wikipedia figure is shown but not used for the span. No source prints an ideal.

Weight

60 to 75 lb

Breed clubAKC

Weight comes only from the AKC breed page header, a summary and not the standard.

Coat

AKC: short, dense, hard and glossy; color not regarded as very important, any good hound color (black, tan and white or any combination; hare, badger, yellow or tan pies). UKC: short, dense and weatherproof; any good hound color. FCI: short and dense, weatherproof; any recognized hound colour.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1935

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: short, dense, hard and glossy. UKC: short, dense and weatherproof. FCI: short and dense, weatherproof.

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1935

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

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

13 years (11.4 to 16.9)

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

McMillan et al. 2024 / Dogs Trust table. In the UK 'Foxhound' is the English Foxhound. Small n and a wide interval. The AKC band is shown for reading only.

The dog at home

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

Exercise need

RKC: more than 2 hours per day.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule.

Energy

4 of 5

Breed clubAKC

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

Grooming load

2 of 5 · RKC: grooming once a week; short coat; sheds. (AKC breed page coat grooming band 1, not mapped.)

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule.

The work

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

Role

FCI 159: packhound for mounted hunt (Group 6, large scenthound, with working trial). UKC: developed in Great Britain in the 13th century to trail the red fox during a mounted hunt; breeding has always been in the hands of the Masters of Foxhounds; full of stamina and the capacity for endurance, with a natural ability to hunt. AKC standard: endurance is of even greater consequence than speed. Wikipedia: stud books date back before 1800; hounds were exported to India for jackal coursing. The Hunting Office (UK) runs the stud books for hunting with hounds.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 159

FCI, UKC, AKC standard, Wikipedia and Hunting Office page. The UKC 'two hundred and fifty packs' figure is historical, not current.

Primary game

Red fox, trailed by a mounted pack (UKC; FCI: packhound for mounted hunt).

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2009

UKC history and FCI utilization. Current legal status of UK hunting not asserted.

Search pattern

Pack work: the huntsman directs the hounds and carries a horn to communicate with hounds, followers and whippers-in; whippers-in keep the pack together and stop hounds 'rioting' on other animals (Wikipedia, Fox hunting). UKC: free striding and tireless, with the ability to gallop. AKC standard: straight stifles preferred because endurance outweighs speed. Wikipedia (Beagling): beagles have a higher-pitched cry on the line than foxhounds. No source read describes the foxhound's own cry or mouth.

EditorialWikipedia

Hunt-organisation text is Wikipedia (Fox hunting and Beagling); conformation points are from the standards.

Field trial standard

FCI classifies the breed 'with working trial'. RKC: the annual Festival of Hunting at Peterborough shows hounds from many packs in competition; Foxhounds have only recently been in the UK show ring, though shown in the USA and Australia for much longer. No working trial rules were read.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 159

FCI classification and RKC breed page text.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 4; Trainability Level 4; Barking Level 5; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 4; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 1; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 4; 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 English 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. 7 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

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