The breeds · tree dog · coonhound
AKC Hound · UKC Scenthound
Plott Hound.
AKC: a hunting hound of striking color that traditionally brings big game to bay or tree; noted for stamina, endurance, agility, determination and aggressiveness when hunting. UKC: active, fast, bright, kind, confident and courageous; vicious fighters on game, a super treeing instinct, take readily to water. AKC Expert Advice: a big game hunter that traditionally tracked and cornered (brought to bay) or treed large game; coon hunters later adopted it. Outdoor Life: the most recognized bear dog breed, known for grit and staying power..
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.
The body
What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.
Height at the shoulder
Low and high span AKC and UKC. No center.
Weight
Low and high span AKC and UKC.
Coat
UKC 2020 revision no longer disqualifies a solid-colored Plott.
Shedding
AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.
Heat tolerance
Derived from the coat description (short single smooth coat = 5; AKC says double coats are rare). No measured data.
The dog at home
What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.
Energy
AKC bands, not measured. Life-expectancy header kept as text only; no Dogs Trust or Teng row.
Grooming load
AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.
Grooming
AKC bands.
The work
What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.
Role
AKC temperament notes a distinction sometimes appears between strains bred for big game and those bred as coonhounds. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).
Primary game
Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).
Also used on
Bear and boar bay work: the bear and boar quarry is in the AKC standard (big game), UKC History and North Carolina History; hog work today is stated only by AKC Expert Advice ('wild boar'). Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).
Search pattern
Mouth is open trailing with bawl and chop per UKC (a bawl and chop are both stated); no source read separates the two by situation. Locate-at-the-tree: Outdoor Life photo caption and AKC Expert Advice describe dogs treeing bear. 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
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. Plott Hound events by breed association (Plott association) were not reached.
More
akc bands
Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.
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
- Plott
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour plott hound, on the record.
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