American staghound

Does anybody have ANY sources on these dogs? The more I read about them, the more I think they may be a great fit for our family. We have been wanting a sighthound, but want one that can go hiking with us. The local greyhound rescue has informed us that a grey would much rather get it's beauty sleep than go hiking in the hills, but we still love the laid back-ness around the house attitude of many sighthounds.

I have looked high and low for weeks now, and not one whiff of a staghound breeder or puppies. I found some borzoi deerhound mix puppies on petfinder, which is an extremely close match to what we are looking for but they are in Georgia and the rescue will not ship them. Unfortunately we just can't afford a road trip to Georgia.

Please help chazzers!

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/staghound.htm

I found that, it's from dogbreedinfo.com so it may not be very reliable. That says that they are not a recognized breed so that is why you probably don't see many breeders. They are used as workers only.

The reason the mix does not show up in shelters is probably because the people at the shelter do not know of the breed so they label it something else, either that or they are so rare that very few end up in shelters.

Yeah, I found that too. Hmm...I guess we should add American staghound to the thread about dogs that still are bred strictly for work.

These seem, if not rare, highly guarded, it would probably be best to start poking around the live coursing circles... if you can find them.

Keep checking petfinder, there are normally quite a few interesting mixes that roughly equate to the "Lurchers" of England. Herding dog crosses with greyhounds or whippets.

This doesn't seem like the type of dog that would be good for off-leash hikes due to its high predator-chasing drive...

It sounds like these are a startlingly bad choice to be a family pet. I'm sure they're lovely and all, but that high prey drive probably means no walkies with the kids for fear the dog will rip the leash out of Jr's hand and take off after another animal, ending in either a horrible attack or a traffic accident.
Why not go with one of the AKC breeds, which are further from their origins and so have less drive?

No.. off leash would still be a bad idea with one of these, but many people do still hike with the dog on leash. No one mentioned a child holding the leash either... Additionally, I would not bet on many AKC sighthounds having less of a chasing drive. It may be less pronounced, but cars are the leading killers of almost all of them, after chasing a cat into the street.

My main problem with the Greyhound, and it seems like the poster's too, is that they seem to HATE the rain, mud or snow. The rougher coated staghounds are more weather resistant than those.

I would not walk a dog off leash under any circumstances (especially around here!!) and I would never let a child walk a dog, unless it was a toy breed and I was there to make sure they didn't get attacked by some random stray.

When we first began looking into sighthounds, it was understood from the start that they can never be walked off leash. In fact, all greyhound adoption groups make you sign a contract stating that you will never let the grey off leash. That's just a fact of life with that group of dogs. However, we do live with 1/4 a mile of three elementary school with fenced playgrounds which would make the perfect romping place for any sighthound.

As for denying a child the joy of walking their dog, I am much more concerned for the lives and safety of my children and pets. Anyway, I could still let them walk the dog, just make sure I have a second leash clipped to the collar in case it bolts.

Around here we have javalina, coyotes, foxes, cougar, jaguar, all kinds of creatures that like to eat/fight dogs. We also have rattlesnakes, who don't appreciate having someone stick a nose in their face. We also have gila monsters, coral snakes, and hallucinogenic toads that are fatal to dogs that lick them. We also have cacti with wicked 3"+ spines, that would really tear a dog up it if ran through them chasing a bunny or something. No, I would never under any circumstances let ANY dog go hiking with me off leash.

The other appeal of staghounds, and many sighthounds in general is they have a very low incidence of genetic diseases (unlike many other AKC dogs). Their main problems are suceptibility to bloat, and a sensitivity to chemicals and anesthesia, and short lifespan . Most of which aren't really problems if you're mindful of them and have a vet experienced with those kinds of dogs.

On the subject of getting a leash ripped out of your hands, some bored physicists on a greyhound list calculated that if a 55 lb greyhound takes off a a full run on a leash, within 3 seconds (3 seconds = 45 mph) you are having 280 lbs of pull per square inch being exerted on your arm. Pretty awesome huh? opcorn:

From what I gather a Staghound is a Greyhound/Deerhound mix . . . though many lines of American Staghounds have been bred together for a few generations. They're a relatively new breed, meant for hunting. Some people use them for coyote hunting (as they do Longdogs).

As far as Greyhounds go: my own personal Grey gets tired after a 30 minute walk. But my friend has a Greyhound who she runs with for at least 2 miles a day and that dog STILL has energy to burn!! Frankly I firmly believe that there is a Greyhound out there for EVERYONE you just need to look for it. If you PM me your area I can ask around for other Greyhound Rescues who may be able to help you out!!

Are Irish wolfhounds and Deerhounds out of the question? I don't know much about staghounds, but from what I got out of the picture on dogbreedinfo (they look gorgeous by the way) is that the wolfhounds and deerhounds may be a bit larger and coarser in coat.

What was it that you were originaly looking for in a dog? The sighounds are a wonderfull group of dogs, but there may be a breed out there other than the staghound that is more suitable for you.

We've been working with two greyhound rescues in our area. Part of the problem is greyhounds do not have an undercoat, so they are very susceptible to heat and cold. Here that's what it is. One half of the year it is 115 in the day and 80 at night. The other half it is 70 in the day and 35 at night. A staghound or deerhound would have a bit more protection against those kinds of temperature fluctuations and extremes at least.

From what I was able to find about staghounds, is that some lines are very recent, even first generation, mixes between a deerhound and a greyhound, sometimes with borzoi thrown in for good measure. There are also some extremely old lines that have been maintained since the revolutionary war, but beats me if I can find a breeder with those dogs. General Custer had one that he coursed the day before Little Bighorn with his pack of greyhounds. I think that Psy is right, we'll probably have to travel to some live coursing events and start asking around.

Either that, or try and find a wire coated galgo for adoption. Ah, I love the variety of dogs out there!

here get yourself one of these, basically a staghound in my book

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=8378830
http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=6862243
http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=8213589

there are actually a lot of Scottish deerhound mixes on petfinder, that might be your best bet. There were a lot of them mixed with greyhounds and borzois like these http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=8334260

petfinder does not know of the breed staghound so you can't search for them, but many of these are called staghounds (like three of the ones I posted). SO search for Scottish deerhounds and borzois.

Staghounds are not a new breed. George Washington kept and hunted with staghounds. The problem with them is that the sport they are bred for is now illegal in most places, so you will find it hard to locate a breeder who will talk to you.

Washington had three staghounds when he was president, Sweet Lips(!!), Vulcan, and Scentwell.

if your looking for a high energy dog my beagle just turned 8 last week and you would think he was still a puppy.. also my mom used to have a springer spaniel/lab mix who had a lot of energy

No! No beagles! Sorry, they are lovely dogs but definitely not for me. I can't think of any scenthound that is. Anyway, I am not looking for high energy. I am looking for a laid back sighthound, but with more stamina than a racing greyhound.

Thanks for the petfinder links! I did see some of those dogs already and inquired about them, but they are over 1500 miles away and the rescues will not ship them. I do see a couple of new ones on there though, thanks!

Then again......I just made the mistake of going to the shelter and they have a white wolfhound mix, he is so sweet! The poor guy has a gimpy leg. He looks exactly like a purebred irish wolfhound, but he's only about 50 lbs I'm guessing. Proportioned just right and everything though. I only hope they put him up for adoption before they put him down. He was all sad and crying so I petted him, then I asked the employees if I could take him out in the play area. They said, "Absolutely not! He's not up for adoption!" So I asked when he might go up, and they said IF he does, it will be some time in June, but he might not because he is old and has a gimpy leg. This is a yucky shelter, where they just hose down the dogs when they poop in their cages and get poop all over themselves because they don't have any room. Also, if he gets kennel cough while there he will be automatically euthanized.

Grrrr... I know we want a hiking companion, and a gimpy wolfhound mix isn't exactly it...but the poor guy! We're trying to get the shelter to be more forthright with info on him and let them know someone has interest in adopting him at least. Maybe his limp isn't something permanent either, it could even just be a sprain.

Sorry for the rant. It just seems like people working in animal rescue would have a little more interest in helping folks who want to take an old gimpy animal off their hands so they don't have to kill it.

Success! Cold Wet Noses rescue swooped in and pulled him out! And they contacted us to foster him. It turns out this guy is only about 9 or 10 months old, very underweight, and has hot spots. Also, his limp is a muscle sprain that comes and goes so it should heal up soon. The head of the rescue owns a wolfhound, and thinks that he is a wolfhound/deerhound mix.

He is a real sweetheart, but it will take some time to see what his personality is like. He spent all last night with explosive diarrhea and vomiting, and he's pretty low key today. I think between his stomach and his leg it will be a while before we can know what his personality/energy level is really like. He's also afraid of our broom and raised hands. We'll probably adopt him as long as he turns out to be workable with the cat. If not, the rescue says they'll have 50 people lined up to adopt him because of his breeding. But he's out of that place, and off the cement floor. Hopefully his leg will be better soon.

Congratulations!

Poor dog must have a had one hard life I'm glad he's with you now and hope he fits in well!

Aww, I'm glad the boy got out. Good for you for helping him out. It sounds like this may be fate stepping in with the right dog . I hope he continues to feel better.

Aww, poor little guy.
Humongous kudos for taking him in- he's so lucky for that chance.