Scottish Deerhound Dogs and Puppies

Temperament and Health

The Deerhound or Scottish Deerhound is a large breed type of dog with an extremely friendly and personable nature. This dog needs a large amount of exercise in order to develop properly and maintain a good quality of health. This fact does not mean that the dog needs a large home to reside in, however the Deerhound should have frequent exercise in a safe or fenced area. This dog should not be brought up with only leash access or in what would be considered a small yard.

Young Scottish Deerhounds will be very destructive particularly when they do not have frequent exercise, however the general adult Deerhound may spend the majority of the day sleeping on the floor or couch. These dogs do require some type of frequent stimulus. This could be another Scottish Deerhound and a nice spacious exercise area to frequent. The dogs are very docile and gentle while indoors and are overall very good around company and children. Be careful with children however these dogs can be quite large.

Deerhounds generally can live to be between 9-11 years old. Some potential serious health issues facing the dog could be osteosarcoma (bone cancer), cardiomyopathy, and bloat (GDV).

History

The Scottish Deerhound is often believed to have been in existence well before recorded history. The dog is very similar to the Greyhound in appearance and has been linked throughout history to the Highland Greyhound. The environment in which the dog worked, which is called the Scottish Highland moor, is thought to have been the catalyst to the rough coated, larger appearance of the breed. The Scottish Deerhound was specifically breed to hunt the red deer using a technique called coursing and covertly deer staling. The hound is very closely associated with the Irish Wolfhound and is considered to be a lead contributor to the recovery of the Wolfhound. These dogs were notably silent, and fast hunters that made very quick work of all game that they were hunting including deer and hare.

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