FEIvIv HOUNDS 



ears of a fell hound are never rounded, but are 

 left in their natural state. In our opinion a 

 hound with rounded ears looks less hound-like 

 than one whose ears have not been tampered 

 with. In The Field of Oct. 8th, 1921, there is a 

 note by Sir Ian R. Amory, Bart., Master of the 

 Tiverton, which we take the liberty of quoting 

 here. He says, with regard to the rounding of 

 hound's ears, " When I took the foxhounds 

 eleven years ago, I was warned that an un- 

 rounded hound might do for stag-hunting, but 

 that he would not do for fox-hunting. He 

 does all right and takes no harm, he even catches 

 foxes sometimes. Years ago people used to cut 

 the ears of their horses ; such a practice seems 

 about as sensible — and about as foolish — as to 

 cut the ears of hounds. If uniformity is what is 

 wanted why not cut their tails too, they are not 

 all the same length." 



In the old days, when the fell hounds were 

 trencher fed, distemper was quite unknown 

 amongst them. Of late years however they 

 have suffered to some extent from this complaint. 

 Trencher fed hounds led a free and untrammelled 

 existence, whereas hounds in kennel are neces- 

 sarily herded together, and once a complaint of 

 any kind breaks out amongst them, it has every 

 opportunity to spread, despite care and isolation 

 of the patients. A number of years ago blood- 

 hound blood was introduced into some of the 

 Northern kennels, in consequence of which dis- 

 temper soon made its appearance. The blood- 

 hound is a delicate breed with a poor constitution, 

 and is therefore very susceptible to disease. In 

 the same way in more recent times, south country 

 hound blood has been used occasionally to improve 

 bone, and seeing that hounds of the standard type 



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