Pig Hunting:
It should be remembered that in the past Deerhounds were usually hunted in pairs and if you don't have two Deerhounds they should be teamed with another breed when out hunting. We have had great success using the Deerhound and Rhodesian Ridgeback together. The Ridgeback would find the pigs then both dogs would chase and hold. Deerhounds don't use their nose much when hunting, they rely on their excellent vision and speed. These hounds are good to have when out spotlighting on open ground or grain stubble as it is rare that a pig would out run a Deerhound. A simple voice command is all that is needed and these dogs will let go of a caught pig and go chase another one.

Characteristics:
The Deerhound has an excellent temperament. They are trustworthy with children, pets and livestock. These are the type of dog that can go out and catch and kill foxes, than come home and share its food with the family cat. They are obedient and intelligent and make excellent pets although they do not make good guard dogs. Purebred Deerhounds have a few faults as pig dogs as they hunt mainly by sight not smell and their long coat is not suitable for burr invested country. The ideal height and weight of the Deerhound should be:-

Dogs - Minimum Height 76cm and Bitches - 71cm

Dogs - Minimum Weight 45kg and Bitches from 36kg

Acceptable colours include dark blue/grey, darker and lighter greys or brindles. The yellow and red colours died out many years ago.

Choosing a Pup:
When choosing a pup of this type it is important to remember that they grow very rapidly and need plenty of high quality food to maintain strong bone growth. It should also be remembered that these puppies, although large in size do not mature mentally until they are 12 months to two years old and should not be expected to start hunting as early as smaller dog breeds.

Exercise is very important for the growing pup but it is not a good idea to over do it in the first ten or eleven months as over exercise could lead to bone deformities in the young pup.

Difference between the Deerhound and Irish Wolfhound:
The large hunting dogs of the Celts found their way across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and were used to hunt deer, wolf and wild boar. The dogs of Scotland (later to become the Scottish Deerhound) and the dogs of Ireland (later to become the Irish Wolfhound) were originally the same type, but were gradually modified to suit the
different needs of their owners. The Scots needed a lighter, faster hound to catch and kill red deer, while the Irish wanted a stronger, heavier dog better suited to killing
wolves.

Today the Deerhound and Wolfhound are still confused with each other by some people. The main physical differences are Irish Wolfhounds have larger, heavier heads and body than the deerhounds. The hunting styles are also different. A Wolfhound uses its nose when hunting and the Deerhound uses mostly eyesight.

The pure Irish Wolfhound makes a better pig dog than the pure Deerhound although the Deerhound is better on all other game being faster and more agile.

I owned Wolfhound/Greyhound crosses for approximately 10 years and found them excellent but I now use pure Deerhounds as I hunt a larger variety of game.

It is also very hard to find pure Irish Wolfhounds which come from hunting kennels and most hunting Wolfhounds that are advertised aren't pure bred.

I find the Deerhound to be an excellent alternative to the Wolfhound in regard to cross breeding for different types of pig dogs. Most pig dogs already have a good sense of smell, the deerhounds are certainly a lot faster, cheaper and more easy to obtain than the Irish Wolfhound.

Our aim is to breed quality Deerhounds which excel on the hunting fields.