KENAI
Tatra Hound

The breeds · scenthound · scenthound

FCI standard 377

Tatra Hound.

FCI 377 utilization: hound; Group 6, Section 2 leash (scent) hounds, with working trial. Persistent in work with a great sense of smell and orientation in the field; eager to work and brave in contact with game; the most typical movement while working is the trot. Slovak Wikipedia: a small hound used mainly to track wounded game and to drive game (durenie, dohladavanie zveri); suited to work as a driver (durič) and blood-tracker (farbiar) and can run all hunting-aptitude tests for those breeds; approved by the Slovak Kennel Club general assembly on 14 June 2016. Breeders' club (Slovak): the breed was built on small or off-colour Slovensky Kopov puppies, with other hunting breeds added only to strengthen driving and tracking of hoofed game; a low-legged driver of medium-to-small size in the Slovensky Kopov type, for blood-tracking shot game and driving, especially hoofed game when hunted individually..

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.
22–33LBWeight, all linesbreed 22 to 33 lb.

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

dogs 14.6 to 16.5 in · bitches 13.4 to 15.7 in

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

No ideal printed. Low spans the breeders' club and Slovak Wikipedia 34 cm; high is the FCI 40 cm. FCI 2026 and the 2016 Slovak standard overlap only 36 to 38 cm.

Weight

22 to 33 lb

EditorialWikipedia (Slovak)

Single editorial source; the FCI standard prints no weight.

Coat

FCI: coarse, close fitting, with sufficient shine; shorter and softer on head and limbs. Two colours: black and tan (exactly bounded tan or reddish markings on head, above the eyes, muzzle sides and lips, chest and limbs, around the anus, underside of tail; white on chest and limbs acceptable, also a white spot on the top of the head) and solid red, light tan to deer red, some black tolerated, black mask on foreface tolerated. Slovak Wikipedia: black with precisely bounded brown or brown-rust markings, or brown from light brown to deer red, all with some black mixture. Breeders' club standard: hard, thick, clearly close-lying with sufficient shine; two colours as in FCI, brown variety asks for a black mask on the foreface but allows none.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

FCI and Slovak Wikipedia agree on the two varieties. The club standard asks for a black mask; FCI says colour without mask is sought after and a black mask is tolerated. Both stand.

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · Coarse, close-fitting coat with sufficient shine, shorter and softer on head and limbs (FCI); the standard mentions no undercoat

DerivedFederation Cynologique Internationale

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

The dog at home

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

Energy

FCI: intelligent, full of temperament, easy to handle; balanced in character, no signs of aggressiveness or fear of surroundings; friendly with people. Slovak Wikipedia: temperamental with good controllability; undemanding on space and food (suited even to hunters living in town, minimal car transport needs); hardy.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

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

The work

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

Role

FCI 377 utilization: hound; Group 6, Section 2 leash (scent) hounds, with working trial. Persistent in work with a great sense of smell and orientation in the field; eager to work and brave in contact with game; the most typical movement while working is the trot. Slovak Wikipedia: a small hound used mainly to track wounded game and to drive game (durenie, dohladavanie zveri); suited to work as a driver (durič) and blood-tracker (farbiar) and can run all hunting-aptitude tests for those breeds; approved by the Slovak Kennel Club general assembly on 14 June 2016. Breeders' club (Slovak): the breed was built on small or off-colour Slovensky Kopov puppies, with other hunting breeds added only to strengthen driving and tracking of hoofed game; a low-legged driver of medium-to-small size in the Slovensky Kopov type, for blood-tracking shot game and driving, especially hoofed game when hunted individually.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Provisional FCI breed. FCI states only 'hound'; the driver and tracker roles are Slovak Wikipedia. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Primary game

Breeders' club: aimed at small hunting districts (roe-deer districts) on plains to hills where wild boar has recently concentrated; chief use tracking shot hoofed game (raticova zver) and driving. FCI 377 names no quarry.

Breed clubKlub chovatelov tatranskych duricov (Tatra Hound breeders' club, 2016

Club statement of intended use for a developing breed; the species are named by the club only.

Also used on

Breeders' club: blood-tracking (farbiar) of shot hoofed game alongside driving (durič); can run all hunting-aptitude tests for both groups.

Breed clubKlub chovatelov tatranskych duricov (Tatra Hound breeders' club, 2016

Range

Breeders' club: a smaller 'action radius' when driving than the Slovensky Kopov; the club says this is why the larger Kopov is lost or runs off in small districts. No distance figure is printed.

Breed clubKlub chovatelov tatranskych duricov (Tatra Hound breeders' club, 2016

Qualitative only; no metres or yards stated.

Search pattern

FCI: persistent in his work with a great sense of smell and orientation in the field; trot is the typical working movement; eager to work and brave in contact with game. Slovak Wikipedia: loud (hlasity) on the warm track and at game; small and portable, easy to carry to a stand (transport na posed), undemanding of space and feed. Breeders' club: a slower but persistent, systematic and loud drive and a slower, more deliberate, persistent following of a wounded game's track, with a smaller 'action radius' in driving than the Slovensky Kopov (which the club says is the cause of that breed's losses and run-offs); in individual hunting it is used chiefly to track shot hoofed game.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

'Loud on the warm track' is Slovak Wikipedia only. Pack or single work is not stated. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026). The club's 'smaller action radius' is the one range statement found.

Field trial standard

FCI: with working trial. Slovak Wikipedia: can take all hunting-aptitude tests (skusky poľovnej upotrebiteľnosti) for driver and blood-tracker breeds. Breeders' club standard: 'so skuskou z vykonu' (with working trial), FCI Group 6 Section 2.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Slovak test rules were not read; see open_gaps.

How common the problems are

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

Most common disorders

Slovak Wikipedia: hardy, without significant health problems, especially hereditary diseases. FCI history: the breed was founded on small-sized or off-colour puppies from Slovensky Kopov litters, with other breeds crossed in at first to widen the breeding base and improve scenting ability.

EditorialWikipedia (Slovak)

Editorial only; no screening or survey figure read. Genetic base is narrow per the FCI history, but no inbreeding figure was found.

No KENAI kennel lists the Tatra Hound 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. 3 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Tatransky duric, Tatranský durič, Tatranský honič

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