English Foxhound

Gentle and sociable, easy with other dogs, deep-voiced.
An English Foxhound
Photo: Original uploader was Venerie at fr.wikipedia
Adult male
29–34 kg
64–75 lb
Adult female
27–32 kg
60–71 lb
Lifespan
10–13 yrs
Class · Field
also Sport

What it's like

Raised and kept in packs, the Foxhound is gentle and sociable, gets on easily with other dogs, and has great stamina and a deep, carrying voice. Hunts count their hounds in couples, and the puppies are traditionally reared by local supporters known as puppy walkers. Since the Hunting Act banned hunting wild mammals with dogs in England and Wales, most packs have turned to trail hunting. Few hounds are registered with the Kennel Club, which lists the breed as a vulnerable native breed.

Day to day
Activity
Needs lots of exercise
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Needs an experienced owner
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Friendly with everyone
Independence
Decides for itself
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Very vocal
Prey drive
Likely to chase small pets
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Living with one

It has a short coat. It sheds through the year rather than in big seasonal moults. Plan on a brush once a week. It needs plenty of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

An English Foxhound is a large dog, about the weight of a grown Labrador. Males end up a little heavier than females.

It is a strongly built hound with straight, heavy-boned legs, round feet, a deep chest and a level back, and it carries its tail, called the stern, high. The coat is short, dense and hard. Most hounds are tricolour, in black, tan and white, though lemon and white and badger pied also occur.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male English Foxhound puppy is already as heavy as a grown Border Collie. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old. The biggest males grow into the size large-breed puppy foods are made for.
Fully grown
12 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight8
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
0102030402m4m6m9m12m18m
0102030402m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
6.1–7.1 kg 13.4–15.7 lb
6.5–7.7 kg 14.3–17.0 lb
3 months
9.2–10.7 kg 20.3–23.6 lb
9.2–10.9 kg 20.3–24.0 lb
4 months
13.6–15.9 kg 30.0–35.1 lb
13.1–15.6 kg 28.9–34.4 lb
5 months
17.4–20.4 kg 38.4–45.0 lb
16.6–19.7 kg 36.6–43.4 lb
6 months
20.7–24.3 kg 45.6–53.6 lb
19.5–23.1 kg 43.0–50.9 lb
7 months
23.4–27.4 kg 51.6–60.4 lb
21.6–25.6 kg 47.6–56.4 lb
8 months
25.3–29.7 kg 55.8–65.5 lb
23.1–27.4 kg 50.9–60.4 lb
9 months
26.7–31.2 kg 58.9–68.8 lb
24.2–28.6 kg 53.4–63.1 lb
10 months
27.5–32.2 kg 60.6–71.0 lb
24.9–29.5 kg 54.9–65.0 lb
11 months
27.9–32.7 kg 61.5–72.1 lb
25.5–30.2 kg 56.2–66.6 lb
12 months
28.2–33.1 kg 62.2–73.0 lb
25.8–30.6 kg 56.9–67.5 lb
15 months
28.7–33.6 kg 63.3–74.1 lb
26.6–31.6 kg 58.6–69.7 lb

Lifespan

No vet study has measured how long English Foxhounds live yet. The 10–13 years shown is a general figure without a published source.

Where it comes from

The English Foxhound is bred to hunt in packs followed by riders on horseback. Its breeding has stayed with the Masters who run the hunts, whose published stud books reach back before 1800, and many packs have a recognisable look of their own. Foxhounds are newcomers to Britain's show rings; in the USA and Australia they have been shown for far longer4,9.

The English Foxhound took shape in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In much of England fox hunting was replacing deer hunting, and landowners bred faster hounds that could cross enclosed farmland at a horse's pace. Hugo Meynell, Master of the Quorn in Leicestershire, is widely credited with refining the type for speed and scenting ability. Hounds exported across the Atlantic helped found the American Foxhound.

Breed standard

The English Foxhound is judged against standard no. 159, in group 6, Scenthounds and related breeds4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured English Foxhound figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a large breed is most likely at the later end.

Compare with related

American Foxhound
Scent hounds · Large
Beagle
Scent hounds · Medium
Bluetick Coonhound
Hound · Large
Treeing Walker Coonhound
Hound · Large
Or compare the English Foxhound with any breed you choose
Track your own English Foxhound
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Sources

Uncited on this page: Lifespan — no reviewed source yet, so it is a general reference figure rather than a published one.
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Parts of this page were written by AI ·