Otterhound
A big, shaggy British scent hound built to track otters in and out of rivers. Waterproof oily coat, webbed feet, an enormous voice, and one of the smallest surviving populations of any recognised breed.
- Weight
- 36–52 kg
- Lifespan
- 10–13 years
Weight and lifespan are reference ranges from the breed guide. They vary by sex, lineage and individual dog and do not predict your dog’s ideal weight or lifespan. Read the care descriptions alongside the individual dog’s history.
Background and characteristics
The Otterhound was developed in Britain to follow otters along rivers, working wet for hours at a stretch. Everything about the dog comes from that job: a harsh, oily outer coat over a dense undercoat, webbed feet, and a nose good enough to hold a scent line across water. When otter hunting ended, so did the breed's purpose, and the population never recovered.
Numbers today are low enough that the Otterhound sits on the UK Kennel Club's vulnerable native breeds list, and finding a puppy usually means a waiting list rather than a search.
Temperament and living together
Temperament is classic hound: friendly, boisterous, amiable with strangers, and completely committed to whatever the nose finds. Expect an hour to ninety minutes of daily exercise, and give as much weight to sniffing time as to distance. A scent hound that never works its nose gets bored, and a bored 45 kg dog rearranges your kitchen.
Scatter feeding, tracking games and long sniffy walks do more for behaviour than another mile of pavement. Off-leash freedom outside a fence is a bad bet, because a hound on a line does not hear you.
Coat and everyday care
Coat care is the real workload. Brush thoroughly to the skin once or twice a week to prevent mats, and wipe the beard after every meal and every drink, because it holds water, food and, eventually, smell. After a swim or a bath the undercoat stays damp for hours, so a high-velocity dryer is close to essential, and a wet dog left to air-dry is how skin and ear infections start.
Health considerations
On health, discuss hip dysplasia, gastric dilatation-volvulus, epilepsy and a documented platelet function disorder in the breed that can cause abnormal bleeding. Because of the last one, raise clotting screening with your vet before any surgery or dental extraction. Feed split meals and keep the dog quiet for an hour afterwards.
Home environment and care planning
For a household, the practical questions are noise and mess. The voice is a deep, carrying bay meant to be heard across a valley, which is charming on a hillside and less so in a terraced house. The coat brings water, mud and river smell indoors.
Given a fenced yard, water access and an owner who enjoys the untidiness, this is a genuinely delightful dog; in a small flat with close neighbours it is a difficult one.