Bavarian Mountain Hound (Bayerischer Gebirgsschweisshund) is a cross between the Bavarian Hound and the Hanover Hound. Bavarian Mountain Hounds are calm, quiet, poised, and very attached to their masters and family. When hunting, they are hard, single-minded, and persistent. Courageous, spirited, fast, and agile, they are at ease on a rugged terrain, with a superb nose and powerful hunting instinct. However, they need a patient, experienced trainer.
The Bavarian Mountain Hound’s head is strong and elongated. The skull is relatively broad and slightly domed. It has a pronounced stop and a slightly curved nosebridge. The muzzle should be broad with solid jaws, and its lips fully covering the mouth. Its nose is black or dark red with wide nostrils. Its ears are high set and medium in length. They are broader at the base and rounded at the tips, hanging heavily against the head. Its body is slightly longer than it is tall and slightly raised at the rump. The neck medium in length, strong, with a slight dewlap. Topline sloping slightly upward from withers to hindquarters. Chest well-developed, long, moderately wide, and well let-down with a slight tuck-up. It has a long, fairly straight croup and solid back. While its tail is set on high, medium in length and hanging to the hock, carried level to the ground or hanging down.
Calm and balanced, devoted to his owner, reserved with strangers.
The Bavarian Mountain Hound are descended from the original hunting dogs, the ‘Bracken’ have the finest nose for following ground scent and trail; they are firm on scent, have a strongly developed will, to follow a trail and readily give tongue on scent. Only the most reliable and perseverant Bracken were chosen from the pack to be used on the leash to search for the lost trail of the hunted game. From those most calm and biddable Bracken, the Liam Hounds (Leithunde, working only on natural, cold scent) and the ‘Scent Hounds’ (Schweisshund, the so called ‘spoilt Liam Hounds’, working the trail of wounded game) were later bred. Through crossing of genetically fairly close breeds at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, the present day Hanovarian Scenthound evolved. After the Revolution in 1848, in fact, after the break up of the large hunting estates and the replacement of the previous hunting methods by stalking and hiding (waiting for the game) and at the same time with the improvement of the firearms, the dog was needed ‘after the shot’. Specialised in firmly working on the leash, one could not dispense with the loud chase, perseverance and keenness, especially in mountain regions. There the Hanovarian Scenthound proved too heavy. To achieve the desired accomplishments, even in difficult mountain territory, Baron Karg-Bebenburg, Reichenhall, bred the racy and ennobled lighter Mountain Scenthound after 1870, by crossing Hanovarian Scenthounds and red Mountain Scenthounds. More and more these dogs ousted other breeds from the mountain regions so that the Bavarian Mountain Scenthound is, today, the classical companion for the professional hunter and game keeper.
Bavarian Mountain Hound Videos