Dog breed · United Kingdom
The Otterhound is an English dog breed. It is a scent hound and is currently recognised by the Kennel Club as a Vulnerable Native Breed with around 600 animals worldwide.
Appearance: The Otterhound is a large, rough coated, and straight limbed dog. The head is deep but not wide with the rough coat giving it a beard or moustache of sorts. The nose is wide. The eyes are deep set with the haw only slightly showing. The ears are long and pendulous, they roll inwards as to create a 'drape' appearance. The neck is long a slight dewlap is allowed. The forelegs are straight from the elbow to the ground. Pasterns are slightly strung. Hind legs are well-muscled with heavily muscled thighs, in a normal stance the hind legs from hock to ground are perpendicular. Feet are large, round, and thick padded. The tail is thick at the base and never curls over the back. The coat is 4–8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) in length, dense, rough, and waterproof; appears broken. Height at the shoulder is 69 cm (27 in) for dogs and 61 cm (24 in) for bitches.
Otterhounds generally weigh between 80 and 115 pounds (36 and [dose — ask your vet]).
Coat Colours: Recognised colours are: whole coloured, grizzle, sandy, red, wheaten, and blue; with white markings permissible in all of them as well as lemon, blue, or badger pied markings.
Health: A survey of breed club members in the UK found a life expectancy of 10.21 years. The same survey identified a predisposition to gastric dilatation volvulus with 9% of Otterhounds having the condition and 7.4% of deaths attributable to the condition.
