european hound

[houndsandterriers]

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[Old dog]

I knew a guy years ago that had a pair of elkhounds. they were hell on wheels on a hot track but wouldn't stay on a cold track for long. one of them did learn to stay with my cold nosed red dog till he got it hot enough but even then that dog would quit a track if it didn't get hot within a hour. the fella did catch as many coons as I did by the end of the winter with his elk hounds.

[Varminator]

My Guess is that they would overheat so you would have to shave them. Then they would be getting something in there ears because they are erect.

"But" if crossed with a hound! and you (here I go again) Select the ones that look like the hound and breed back to the hound I'll try one!!

[david]

You have asked the same questions that have been on my mind for a while now. Scott westfall of west Virginia died in 2011. He had been breeding elkhounds for hunting since the 1950s. As near as I can figure out there are more elkhounds being used for hunting in West Virginia than in any other state. So they must somehow handle warm weather at times. This goes way back in the states history, so I would not be surprised if they were brought there by Scandinavian immigrants.

You can ask the same questions about the Finnish spitz, Norbotten spitz, Kerelian Beardog, Jamthund, West Siberian Laika, East Siberian Laika, Russo Europian Liaka, and any of the spitz type breeds I have missed. DPetty on here will have some insight for you.

You are right they are ancient, and appearantly as old as the gray hound but for some reason have not been used much over here. I think one reason was pretty well pointed out already; we have a hound culture that has gotten used to a certain look and sound. Most would not be caught dead with an elkhound on their rigging box. This is no lie, I have watched a hound man stop his rig and hurry up and put a certain dog in the box when he saw someone coming. She was a great game catcher but did not look the part.

[david]

Just like our hounds, there are different strains over there. Some are bred to hunt close such as those used among wolves. Some are bred to get gone, and we'll see you bayed or treed. As near as I can figure, this is the only type dog I know of that has been bred specifically for the treeing trait for thousands of years. In my Norwegian bred mind, they are the original tree dog.

Go Vikings!

[al baldwin]

I think the reason Elk Hounds are not used more in the south is they do not have a good hound mouth, most are tight mouthed & etc. Nothing wrong with that if it is what one enjoys hunting, however as a kid growing up in Virginia those traits are not what I recall hound hunters talking about enjoying. Al

[houndsandterriers]

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[BoarHunter1]

The Laikas ive seen are very fast and extremely agile. Look very good on boar, bear and moose.
Do i mention how fast and agile they are?
Obviously More suited to Northern hunting though or cool climates at the least.









The Hunting (Swedish) Elkhounds are very different from the AKC version, built for strength and endurance, not short backed show dogs...

[houndsandterriers]

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[david]

It is fun to see your interest in these dogs. I have been very curious about them myself but have never taken the leap. I always wanted a cat dog that I could hike into the wilderness with midwinter northern "tundra" and not give a thought to them sleeping in a snow bank for a few nights. I really like the bay style of these dogs also: for my interest in choosing myself which cats die. The word "elkhound" is a mistranslation of "elghund". "Elg" is their word for moose. "Hund" is simply "dog". Literal translation would be "moose dog". They are bred to bark so the hunter can know their location and stalk in on the bayed moose. The art these dogs practice is to hold the game in one place while not making it want to move. They stay back and for the most part to not make the animal feel over threatened (so it will not break and move away) while at the same time keepping him fenced in. It is the bay style I would like in a bobcat dog so the dogs would not kill it but hold it in one place. Just my preference. I don't know how a bobcat is going to react to their style of baying, but I am pretty sure the dogs would be trying to achieve this on the cat.

Be sure and give us a report on your progress!

[david]

I read a quote about these dogs. "He who hunts with an elkhound will never go hungry"..

They use them to tree grouse or smaller turkey type birds also, they tree bark on them While at the same time trying not to spook it and at the same time keeping the birds attention away from the approaching hunter... and if the bird moves, they follow them till they can tree them again. Will do the same for squirrells.

You should have a blast out there with your dogs.

[houndsandterriers]

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[dpetty]

Excellent discussion. The property and the people have changed in my area and I switched to West Siberian Laika. Hounds covered so much ground and started to get me in trouble. I have not ran mine on Big Game but coon and squirrel. They have worked hogs at the bay pen just to see reaction... bay ability. What I have found is a dog that hunts for me in a partnership. Also, a higher percentage of dogs that tree and they just do it early. At this time I have had four all treed and the ones I raised treed before they were four months old. I have a litter of pups and was asked to train three of them for the owners (first time laika hunters). The natural hunting instinct for dogs so young is amazing to me. Also, breaking them off what I don't want to hunt was easy. You ignore it they will quit hunting it and you don't shoot out anything to them you do not want to hunt.

They are not for everyone but they are not the sled dog and as one guy said yard yappers that hunt with their eyes. They were tested so hard on using all three senses and even at extreme temperatures. Some people kept saying they did not have the nose ability etc. so I created a youtube site with video of my dogs. Most of the Laikas over here were for small game but the Big Game Laikas have to have a cold nose and the stamina to trail a moose for miles to get it bayed or Wild Boar. I write articles in Full Cry about Laika and other aboriginal hunting breeds. As was mentioned the large amount of Elkhounds were in West Virginia. After some research it was because of a group of immigrants that were loggers and moved to West Virginia. It was interesting to me that almost every Elkhound guy that called to talk to me lived around a hundred miles from each other and they often did not even know the other guys.

The most Laika in the US are in Arkansas so they can handle the heat. I have hunted mine in the high 80's and I give them water just like any hound or cur I owned. They are extremely athletic. If you want to talk about miles they can do watch the movie "Happy People" the dog ran 90 Km that day behind the snow machine (you can find it on youtube unless they took it off again). Many an old time squirrel dog guy told me they loved to breed a spitz to their feist for the tree and then get the hair bred down on them because they are very natural tree dogs. Some of my contacts over in Finland have said two reasons they will not sell spitz in the US is they do not want them crossed and they are not hunt tested here.

You do need to socialize them with other dogs they were not bred to run as a pack they were bred to run as breeding pairs but can be socialized when young to get along with other dogs. My male will rig and strike on squirrels or coon out of the back of the truck. His dad is one of the best rig coon dogs I have ever seen or been around. Cats will not bail out and get away as easy from them because they watch the game in the tree and don't crowd the tree. Watch them timber a sable for a long ways before the hunter gets a shot.

Saying all this again they are not for everyone and if you get one you must bond with it they suck as kennel dogs; the more love you poor on them the better they hunt for you. Case and point my brother bought one out of the same line as mine. I ended up taking the dog to a dog training school for all areas of dog training, because the dog I was going to take came in heat. This dog was amazing for me he was a first time pass on the AKC good citizenship test, was best dog on the agility equipment, and finished with the fastest time on the tracking test in 90 degree heat. My brother spent no time with him and just took him hunting when he could. The dog would not hunt for him or listen to him. He went to show some people all the commands he knew and he looked at my brother like "hey dummy I am not doing that for you." I walk over and the dog hits every command. It had nothing to do with me as a dog trainer that is just the way they are. I do not claim to be some expert and I grew up hunting hounds. I studied these dogs hard and spend a lot of time learning from people around the World that had ancestors hunting them sense the beginning of time. If you have a question let me know, if I don't have the answer I will point you to people that can answer it. You can see my youtube channel with my dogs and the pups I am training: MrDpetty1

[houndsandterriers]

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[BoarHunter1]