late 18th century engraving of otter
hunting
History of the Otterhound
Though references to "otter dogges" in England date back to
the 12th century, the breed does not appear to have reached
its current form until some time late in the 18th century .
Otterhounds were used in packs to hunt river otter, initially
as a way to keep otters from destroying a needed food source,
and only later as a sport. King John of Magna Carta fame
hunted otter with large shaggy dogs, described at that time as
a "rough sort of a dog, between a hound and a terrier". Queen
Elizabeth I was the first "Lady Master of Otterhounds".
The modern Otterhound is documented to have Bloodhound and several of the rough-coated
French hound breeds in his background, as well as the now
extinct Southern Hound. Otterhounds and terriers were bred to
create the Airedale Terrier.
Otter hunting reached its peak of popularity in the years
preceding World War I. At that time there were more than 500
hounds in 24 packs which hunted otter, though most of those
dogs were not purebred Otterhounds. Indeed, the hunt packs
continued to cross-breed their hounds well into the 20th
century to improve hunting abilities. One of the results is
that all current purebred Otterhounds pedigrees go back to a
Bloodhound/Griffon Nivernais cross done in 1958. A drastic
drop in otter population, due to water pollution, caused otter
hunting to be banned in England in 1978 and in Scotland 2
years later. The purebred Otterhounds in the remaining packs
were dispersed to private owners, with some going to the mink
hunting packs. The first Otterhounds were apparently
brought to the US early in the 20th century, with six
Otterhounds exhibited at an AKC show in 1907. Veterinarian Dr.
Hugh Mouat began the first serious breeding program in the US
in 1937. A bitch and dog, Bessie's Countess and Bessie's
Courageous from Dr. Mouat's first litter became the breed's
first AKC champions in 1941. The Otterhound Club of America
was founded in 1960 and held the breed's first National
Specialty in 1981.
There are fewer than 1000 Otterhounds world wide, with the
largest numbers in the UK and US, and smaller populations in
the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland, Canada,
and New Zealand. Currently it's estimated that there are about
350 Otterhounds in the US and Canada.
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