American Foxhound

• Weight. Average weight of males and females will range between 65-75 ponds.
• Height. Average height for both males and females is between 21-25 inches.
• Coat. American foxhounds come in four different colors they are red, black, tri and blue. The thickness of the coat is short and hard.
• Lifespan. American foxhounds will live to an average of 10-12 years.

About the American Foxhound

The American foxhounds as we know of today originated in the United States. They are a cross between English foxhounds and French hounds. English foxhounds were brought to the United States in 1650. The story goes that an English gentleman by the name Robert Brooke arrived in the colonies with his pet dogs, most of them were foxhounds. After wards at some point George Washington, who owned some English foxhounds received French hounds as a gift from the Marquis de Lafayette and hence the American foxhound was born. Later on Irish foxhounds were mixed with this breed to help increase speed and endurance. There are many false rumors associated with this breed, the main one being that they were used to hunt the native people of the Americas. This is not true; they were only used for the purpose of hunting foxes.

Temperament wise American foxhounds are very playful and sweet dogs to get along with. They are known for their caring affectionate attitude and are good around children. This breed is very energetic and needs to be taken for walks on a regular basis. Because of their high energy it is not a good thing to leave them alone for long periods of time in a small house or room. If this is done then their temperament will manifest in ways by being a little destructive. When this happens they may tear up upholstery or news papers lying around. They are intelligent by nature and will learn how to open gates and doors and even refrigerator doors. American fox hounds have a strong sense of smell and once they pick up a scent they have tendency to stick with it, to the point where they may ignore any commands.

A good trait of American fox hounds is that they do not tend to carry any genetic disorders. The main health risks associated with this dog is putting on weight from over eating and lack of exercise and platelet diese known as thrombocytopathy. In more recent times dysplasia has started to manifest in this breed of dog. The main thing that is needed with this breed of dog is a generous amount of space for it to roam around.