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THE OTTERHOUND is an ancient British breed of Scent hound and the first record of otterhunting was during the reign of Henry II, in the 1100s. The Otter was classed as vermin and hunted not for sport but to protect the fishponds, which held food stocks particularly around the monasteries. At this time a variety of hounds were used for the purpose. The Otterhound, as we know it today, appeared sometime in the 1700s and books provide evidence that the rough-coated Otterhound was considered to be the ‘classic’ form of the breed by 1800. As well as hunting through the centuries, Otterhounds from all the famous packs of the time were shown at early dog shows (the first recorded being at Leeds in 1861) and through into the early 1900s under Kennel Club rules. Eventually, in 1910, the Association of Masters of Otterhounds was formed and thereafter hounds were only shown on the flags at their show at Rugby.
In the early 1970s hunters reported the dramatic reduction in the numbers of otters in our rivers, the Association then set about a formal study and the conservation work necessary and came to the conclusion that the otter was at serious risk because of the changes in farming practice which created disturbance to their habitat and death from the wide use of chemicals on the land. It was decided that hunting should cease at the end of the 1977 season and in 1978 otterhunting was banned in England (Scotland followed two years later). The Masters of the two remaining, purebred, Otterhound packs, The Dumfriesshire and The Kendal & District got together with respected breeders and the Kennel Club came to the rescue of this wonderful breed, which was facing extinction. All remaining purebred hounds of breeding age were registered and distributed to people desperate to save the breed.
We are searching all the time for a purpose for the Otterhound today. They have an excellent nose for tracking work and, hopefully, they may be used eventually for tracing drugs. One has been an extremely successful Dog for the Disabled. |
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Dumfriesshire otterhounds with Will Scott |