Bloodhound Breed Facts and Information

Coat & Grooming: A Bloodhound will do its best to shed all over your home, so this can be a slightly high maintenance breed. Their coats are coarse and they drop fur quite easily. Regular weekly brushing and a consistent bathing schedule will help you keep the fur at bay. Be prepared to do a lot of vacuuming and wiping to clean up after your Bloodhound. If you aren’t able to invest in a lot of grooming time at home, don’t be afraid to rely on professional help from a local groomer.

Coat length: Short

Grooming: Frequent

Shedding: Shedding and drool are the two big drawbacks of the Bloodhound adventure. If you are prepared to maintain a good grooming schedule, you can gain the upper hand. Let things slip and get ready to do a lot of vacuuming and cleaning up after your dog at home. Special tools, such as shedding blades, can help with your grooming routine. Any Bloodhound owner will rapidly become accustomed to cleaning and managing drool.

Bloodhounds are faithful companions with a lovable personality and an affectionate nature. They can be stubborn, and Bloodhounds are tireless on the hunt with a scent to follow. They can be slightly stubborn to train, but the results are worth it. With a good heart and a gentle nature, Bloodhounds make excellent family pets.

Barking: Bloodhounds have a bark and they aren’t afraid to use it. They tend to mark their territory with sound and won’t shy away from making regular announcements. Since the breed was traditionally a pack hunting animal, they are used to friendly competition and arguing over scraps. Crate training can be very useful, and always walk your Bloodhound on a leash.

Training: Training a Bloodhound depends on your intended use for your dog. There are very specific and regimented programs to develop your Bloodhound into a tracking dog, but most readers will prefer a companion animal curriculum. Positive reinforcement and a firm resolve are your best tools when training your Bloodhound. Start early, don’t be timid, and make sure you pay close attention to your companion’s mood. It helps to keep enthusiasm high and don’t let the training sessions run too long.

Behavior with kids: Bloodhounds are a great breed for families since they have a super-friendly manner and they love to be the center of attention. Always keep an eye out with any small children around, but you can rely on your Bloodhound to be a gentle giant around kids and other pets.

Protection: The friendliness in your Bloodhound companion is one of the big selling points. Bloodhounds won’t chew on any strangers unless they smell really good, and they make terrible guard dogs. This is a breed built for loving, not protecting.

Life Span: Bloodhounds live to be about 10-12 years old.

Inherited health issues: There are many conditions in the Bloodhound that are either inherited or occur at an increased incidence in this breed. The conditions occurring at increased incidence mostly occur due to their deep-chested and droopy-eyed conformation. Following is a partial list: gastric dilation and volvulus (GDV aka Bloat), hip dysplasia, aortic stenosis, ectropion, entropion, prolapse of the gland of the nictitating membrane (Cherry Eye), macroblepharon, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and elbow dysplasia.

Preventive care:  Since Bloodhounds are at an increased risk for hip and elbow dysplasia, keeping your dog at a lean and healthy body weight is the best way to lessen the stress placed on these joints. Be sure to feed your dog properly portioned meals and avoid excess treats or table scraps. Fish oil supplements can be beneficial to decreasing any inflammation in the joints that could be related to arthritis. Regular veterinary care will also monitor the joints for palpable changes during a physical exam.

Keeping your Bloodhound’s skin folds clean with veterinary anti-fungal wipes can be beneficial to avoiding more significant yeast infections. Routine veterinary exams will continue to evaluate your Bloodhound’s eyes for signs of inherited ocular conditions because many of a Bloodhound’s eye conditions require surgical correction.

As a deep-chested breed, Bloodhounds are at an increased risk of developing bloat (GDV; gastric dilatation-volvulus). A surgical procedure called a gastropexy can be performed to tack the stomach to the body wall, preventing it from flipping. However, this does not prevent a “simple bloat” (GD; gastric dilatation), whereby the stomach distends with food and/or fluid. Even with this procedure, keep your dog’s food bowls on the floor, feed several smaller meals through the day, encourage your dog to eat slowly and avoid strenuous exercise immediately before or after eating.

Since Bloodhounds are prone to developing both elbow dysplasia and hip dysplasia, keeping your dog at a healthy body weight is critical to reduce the stress placed on these joints. Closely measure your dog’s food portions for their ideal body weight. Feeding at least 2-3 meals per day and pacing the rate at which your dog eats can also be helpful to try to decrease the incidence of bloat (GDV; gastric dilatation-volvulus). Special bowls can be purchased to encourage slower eating, but other options include offering kibble in muffin tins or spreading out kibble on baking sheets.

Daily Consumption: Average daily consumption for an adult Bloodhound is 3-5 cups daily

Energy Level: Enjoys some moderate exercise every now and then

Exercise: As you begin your dog training adventure, one key ingredient is high enthusiasm. Work your way up to longer sessions and more complex obedience tasks. Learning to read your Bloodhound is a key part of the training process – pay attention! Positive reinforcement and a wide exposure to environments with help you instill good habits in your Bloodhound. Take some time every day to share experiences with your Bloodhound. Exercise and playing games are good for both you and your pet.

Climate: Bloodhounds do well in most places. If you live somewhere very hot or cold, pay close attention for signs of distress outside. Their coats are built for time outside in nature, but they will suffer with extreme temperatures over a long period.

Living space: Bloodhounds need considerable space for their daily exercise. Don’t stick a Bloodhound in a small condo in the sky or you’ll risk an unhappy and restless dog. Make sure your backyard has a good fence because that famous hound dog nose will get your companion into trouble.