CHAPTER IX 



OTTER-HOUNDS 



There are numerous packs of Otter-hounds kept 

 throughout the United Kingdom, but only in localities 

 where rivers are well stocked with fish and where 

 there is plenty of cover for the quarry of these dogs, 

 i.e., the otter. In some packs pure-bred Otter- 

 hounds are kept, whereas others are of a mixed or 

 nondescript variety. The typical hound is a very 

 workmanlike animal, and seems to have been bred 

 upon lines combining three essential qualities, viz., 

 endurance, speed and adaptability to work of an 

 aquatic nature. As to how the original type of 

 Foxhound has been bred there does not appear to 

 be any very reliable data, but it is a breed that is 

 strongly suggestive of having been evolved from the 

 old Southern hound, and probably the Bloodhound 

 also. In all probability there are not more than 

 two or three packs of pure Otter-hounds, but the 

 Dumfriesshire pack consists of pure Otter-hounds. 

 Many Otter-hound packs are composed of pure Fox- 

 hounds, Welsh hounds, or a cross between Fox- 

 hounds and pure Otter-hounds, and most masters 



of Otter-hounds are in favour of having a mixed 



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