When does a Pharaoh Hound have its first heat?

Pharaoh Hound

Playful and affectionate, with a strong urge to chase.

Photo: Pleple2000

Adult weight

20–25 kg

45–55 lb

Lifespan

12–14 yrs

Class · Companion

also Sport, Field

What it's like

In temperament it is friendly, playful and alert, affectionate with its own household and sometimes reserved with strangers. It is clever but independent, with a strong urge to chase anything that runs.

Day to day

Activity

Needs lots of exercise

Intelligence

Learns readily, likes games

Handler demand

Needs steady training

With people

Affection

Affectionate on its own terms

Loyalty

Bonded to its family

Independence

Decides for itself

Around the home

Sensitivity

Average

Voice

Barks to alert, then settles

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.

Is a Pharaoh Hound right for you?

Take the breed matcher

Living with one

Summary

Detail

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 a moderate amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

Summary

Detail

A Pharaoh Hound is a medium dog, heavier than a Border Collie and lighter than a Golden Retriever. Its weight is an estimate, not a published figure.

It is a lean, graceful dog with a long, chiselled head, large upright ears, amber eyes and a flesh-coloured nose. The short, glossy coat is tan or rich tan. A white tip to the tail is valued, and a small white star on the chest is also allowed. When excited or pleased, its nose and ears flush a deep rose, which owners and breeders call blushing.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log

Summary

Detail

By about 3 months, a male Pharaoh Hound puppy is already as heavy as a grown Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.

By 3 months a male Pharaoh Hound puppy already weighs as much as a grown Cavalier King Charles Spaniel5. It grows fastest between 3 and 4 months, when a male puts on about 0.8 kg (1.7 lb) a week. The chart keeps rising after a dog is fully grown, because many dogs keep putting on some weight into their second year5.

Expected range in kilograms: the breed's own adult weight, grown along the 15–30 kg band of a WALTHAM growth standard5.

Fully grown

11 mo

Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight6

Male

Female

Shaded: expected range

Chart

Table

Age

Male

Female

2 months

4.4–5.4 kg 9.7–11.9 lb

4.9–6.0 kg 10.8–13.2 lb

3 months

6.5–8.0 kg 14.3–17.6 lb

7.0–8.5 kg 15.4–18.7 lb

4 months

9.5–11.6 kg 20.9–25.6 lb

9.9–12.1 kg 21.8–26.7 lb

5 months

12.2–14.9 kg 26.9–32.8 lb

12.6–15.3 kg 27.8–33.7 lb

6 months

14.6–17.8 kg 32.2–39.2 lb

14.7–18.0 kg 32.4–39.7 lb

7 months

16.3–19.9 kg 35.9–43.9 lb

8 months

17.6–21.5 kg 38.8–47.4 lb

17.4–21.3 kg 38.4–47.0 lb

9 months

18.5–22.6 kg 40.8–49.8 lb

18.3–22.3 kg 40.3–49.2 lb

10 months

19.1–23.3 kg 42.1–51.4 lb

18.8–23.0 kg 41.4–50.7 lb

11 months

19.5–23.8 kg 43.0–52.5 lb

19.2–23.5 kg 42.3–51.8 lb

12 months

19.8–24.1 kg 43.7–53.1 lb

19.5–23.8 kg 43.0–52.5 lb

15 months

20.3–24.7 kg 44.8–54.5 lb

20.1–24.6 kg 44.3–54.2 lb

Lifespan

Summary

Detail

No vet study has measured how long Pharaoh Hounds live yet. The 12–14 years shown is a general figure without a published source.

Where it comes from

The Pharaoh Hound is Malta's Kelb tal-Fenek, the dog of the rabbit, hunted in teams while a belled ferret bolts rabbits from stone walls. It took its English name in Britain, where a general's wife, Pauline Block, brought dogs in the early 1960s. A 2004 genetic study did not place it among the ancient breeds; its authors say it may be a re-creation or an old line blurred by crossing7,8,9.

The Pharaoh Hound's English name comes from its likeness to the slender, prick-eared dogs shown in ancient Egyptian art. That likeness once fed claims of an unbroken line from the pharaohs, but the genetic evidence does not support them. The breed's modern standing was settled in the later twentieth century, when the international federation, the FCI, recorded Malta as its country of origin. Malta also regards it as its national dog. On Malta it was kept to hunt rabbits over rough, rocky ground, often at dusk or by night, using its keen hearing and nose as much as its eyes.

Breed standard

The Pharaoh Hound is judged against standard no. 248, in group 5, Spitz and primitive types4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Pharaoh Hound 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 medium-sized breed is most likely somewhere in the middle.