American Canine Association

Breeds

Otterhound


History

A descendant of the Old Water Dog breed, Frisian Dog, and Gypsy dogs, the Otterhoun was developed in the Dutch Province of Friesland. This breed was bred for hunting small animals and birds. Though the Otterhoun almost became extinct during World War II, this breed was brought back in full force due to their high popularity with hunters and families.

Appearance

Built stocky and petite, both males and females typically weight 33-44 pounds in weight and measure 21-23 inches in height. This breed demonstrates a "wool" like coat, that is curly and thick, only available in liver in white, black and white, or solid versions of these. Their tail carries a much more fluffy coat that stands out from the rest of their coat, and should be positioned upwards and over their back. Their large pendant shaped ears have a tight curl to them as they frame their face. Otterhoun's have round eyes that are only available in dark brown or black. This breed has 4 large paws that are round in appearance and extra thick pads for their hunting journeys.

Temperament

This breed is not recommended for all potential owners, as they are a difficult breed to own. Only suitable for adult households with no other animals or generally dog breeds. The Otterhoun is best suited for county living and will not do well in apartments. This breed requires a firm, consistent and strong owner who only uses positive reinforcement training methods. The Otterhoun will remain loyal and loving to his or her family at all times, and skeptical of strangers. This breed needs to have a job and work, they thrive when working along side of a hunter and would do best in this position. Requiring a long daily walk and other agility activity outdoors every day. This breed is an "all weather" kind of dog, and will do fine while outside with his or her owner in every type of season. This breed is extremely watchful, brave and ready at all times, so be sure to remain on your toes as well to keep this pup out of trouble caused by being bored.

Grooming

Daily combing is required for this breed, only bathe when needed. This breed is an average shedder.

Special Notes

A generally healthy breed. Please fully educate yourself about the Otterhoun prior to adding one to your family to ensure this is the correct breed for you and that you are able to make a life long commitment to your new addition. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.

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