The FoxHound
From paintings by Louis Agassiz Fuertes
The English foxhound for more than 300 years has been one of the principal factors
in the great English sport of fox-hunting. Perhaps no other single sport
has done so much to mold the national character.
The dogs in packs follow the fox across country, and the foxhunters,
under the direction of a “master of foxhounds,” ride after them.
Other fine qualities are developed by hard riding,
by facing all kinds of weather, and by the dangers
incident to jumping high fences and wide ditches, coupled
with the sportsmanly behavior which constitutes the
etiquette of the hunting field, were just the traits
required to make gallant soldiers and successful colonists.
An English foxhounds ancient lineage
An English foxhound, while of ancient lineage and
highly standardized in England, has not been found to meet
exactly the requirements of the rougher sport in this country.
Thus, through the efforts of a few assiduous fox-hunters,
there has been produced a somewhat rangier, lighter,
and more courageous dog, known as the American foxhound.
The lighter built and more speedy’- American foxhound is used either in packs,
followed by mounted hunters, as in England, or singly, or in couples,
to drive the fox within range of a gun.
Development of this breed
Development of this breed has been largely due to the
initiative and energy of a few men, notably Mr. Harry W. Smith, of Worcester, Massachusetts,
in the North, and Brigadier General Roger D. Williams, of Lexington, Kentucky, in the South.
In essentials the American and English breeds are, of course, very’ similar.
The English dog is a little squarer and more pointer-like in the head,
with shorter ears and straighter, longer legs.
Our dog seems more like a hound to us, with its fuller leather
and more elastic pastern and hock and stifle.
The English dog looks rather stiff and stilty in comparison, though undoubtedly
just what the Englishman wants.
And surely the English huntsman knows just exactly what he wants.
The hound is a very’ primitive type of dog, and one of the proofs
of this is his unvarying and rigid adherence to his pattern of color.
White, of course, is not natural, but the result ,but the result of
ages of domestication,and may occur anywhere on a dog,as part albinism,
without regard to symmetry or rule.
It will be found however,that through all the ages ,
nothing has been able to upset the fundamental patternon
all the hound like dogs,which we see preserved in it’s
purity in the black and tan bloodhound.
White may supplant it anywhere,but if there is colour,
it will invariably fall accordingto this design.
Thus Beagles,Foxhounds and many other dogs with hound blood in them,
will without exception have their black marks in the
proper area for black to come ,and their tan marks likewise,
whether they come in large patches or as ticks or flecks of colour in a white background.
The Drawings show the main characteristics of the two types,as well as their markings .
