Appearance

The Scottish Deerhound is fairly similar to the Greyhound, but they are a bit more larger and heavily boned than their cousin. They are lean, tall sighthound that sports a shaggy coat, which could grow to 3 to 4 in. and comes in shades of gray, blue-gray, brindle, or fawn, has a distinctive beard, mustache, and mane. Their head is broader at the ears, which are set atop of the head and folder back. Their eyes, which are chestnut and hazel in color, are slightly narrower. The hair on the head is a little bit long and soft compared to the rest of the coat. The muzzle tapers slightly toward the nose; light colored dogs have a darker muzzle compared to their other counterparts. Their tail is long and possibly curved or straight.

History

The Scottish Deerhound, also known as Deerhound, has been in existence since time immemorial. Although the Scots and Picts have kept the breed’s ancestors quite well, evidence found on the 1st century AD found in Argyll that depicts the deer hunt using large rough hounds. The Hilton of Cadboll Stone in the 7th century AD also shows evidence hunt using hounds. Until the end of the 19th century, the Scottish Deerhound were bred to hunt deer using “coursing” and “deer-stalking,” However, these slow tracking dogs were replaced by fast and far-running Deerhounds when rifles and smaller deer-forests entered the modern history.