A hound is a type of dog that assists hunters by tracking or chasing the animal being hunted. It can be contrasted with the gun dog, which assists hunters by identifying the location of prey and/or recovers shot quarry.
There are three types of hound, with several breeds belonging to each type:
| Type | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Sighthounds (also called gazehounds), which follow prey predominantly by speed, keeping it in sight. These dogs are very fast and will catch and kill game (e.g., hares, gazelles, deer) by themselves. | Whippet | |
| Scent hounds, which follow prey or others (like missing people) by tracking its scent. These dogs have endurance, but are not fast runners. | Basset Hound | |
| The 'other' hounds follow prey by both sight and scent. These breeds are difficult to classify other than to say they are neither sighthounds nor scent hounds. | Rhodesian Ridgeback. | |
Read more about Hound: List of Hound Breeds
Famous quotes containing the word hound:
“Do you not hear me calling, white deer with no horns?
I have been changed to a hound with one red ear;
I have been in the Path of Stones and the Wood of Thorns....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)