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Hound Dogs

If you search the words Hound Dog on the internet these days, you’ll sooner find the famous song by Elvis Presley or a recent movie made in 2007. But the actual Hound dog has been around far longer than either of those. There is a large range of Hounds in the Hound breed: the Bernese Hound, the American Staghound, the Balkan Hound and the list goes on, but perhaps of all the Hounds in the Hound family, the Basset and Blood Hounds are the most popular and root back to the 16th century. Even Walt Disney’s Minnie Mouse owned Rover, a bloodhound and let’s not forget Pluto, Micky’s pet and then there was Goofy, yet another bloodhound. Although not complete representatives of real Hounds, the cartoons did hold true to their appearance. With their long oversized ears, and droopy eyes, it’s no surprise most cartoon dogs back in the day were based on the Hound dogs physical attributes. They made for quite an adorable yet funny sight to see.

Overall, Hounds have a great sense of smell and sight that is far superior to that of any human being, which is why they were originally bred to be very low to the ground for tracking purposes. These breeds are not one that would kill prey first hand and will sooner alert hunters of rabbits and rodents already passed then hunt and kill them themselves.
The song by Elvis brings light to the Hounds howling cry ‘ah oooooo’ hence the words, ‘you aint nothing but a hound dog, crying all the time’. Given their howling reputation, it’s good to know most Hounds will whine or howl during an emergency or weather change and will chatter in a human talking sort of way to beckon its master for treats or food.
Speaking of food, we are brought to another popular type of Hound; the Beagle, also referred to as the English Beagle. All dogs love to eat, but this one in particular might take after their master by loving to eat a good tasty snack then settling down to take a long nap. The obesity rate in this type of breed makes this one of its main problems. The Beagle is an incredible dog for children and is very playful in general but should be put on a well maintained doggy diet and exercise frequently so as to not face a future of bad physical health.