Hi everyone,

I aspire to owning a deerhound and am very excited to find this forum - so much information to take in and so many beautiful hound photos! Unfortunately we don't know anyone who has a deerhound - I have been getting a good yearly hound-fix at Lodge Park deerhound coursing day though!

I have a few questions about deerhounds, exercise and children. At the moment me and my partner both work full-time, which really precludes hound ownership but hopefully we will finally be able to get a deerhound when we start a family and at least one of us is at home more. We both had dogs as children (although not hounds) and have really fallen in love with the deerhound breed. We live in Bristol, UK, near quite a few large parks, plus one really large public estate which is enclosed and very dog friendly with open areas for racing around, wooded walks, etc. We spend quite a bit of time getting out of the city on weekends to go walking on Exmoor and Dartmoor etc.

I have read a lot about exercise on this site - am I right in thinking that a puppy or an adult hound would be best taken to the estate for a good run daily, plus shorter walks on a lead, plus any weekend countryside walks/runs? I have seen that pups should not be taken for long walks on a lead as they tire easily. The thing that worries me is that a lot of the deerhound owners on this forum seem to have a lot of acreage, which is not going to happen in a city - although we do obviously have a garden! Do you need to have a large amount of land and not work to have a deerhound or does that just make life with a hound a bit easier?!

I have also read quite a lot of different advice about deerhounds and young children - some saying children and deerhounds are best brought up together from young; some saying a deerhound is too bouncy for a small child. As I would not be happy to leave a puppy in the house alone at all, I am wondering whether getting a puppy as soon as we start a family would be an idea, as I am likely to be at home full-time for at least 9 months, and would not go back to work full-time after that. I'd be reluctant to get an adult dog who has an unknown temperament with children.

Does anyone here have experience of small hounds and small children and have any advice?

Thanks!

Hi Rachel, firstly I live in a semi detached house, 15 miles from central London in Hertfordshire, so no, you don't need acres of land, though I do wish I did have!!

What is around you is perfect for Deerhounds, long walks, though I must admit I don't take mine to parks, unless I am just walking through, I would keep him on a lead. I tend to go a bit more remote, where there are no other dogs/people about, but saying that, I did walk him up to the local dog park today, though he stayed on a lead. The reason for this, him being a big boy, he likes to go over and introduce himself, at full flight, alot of people don't take kindly to that and alot of dogs have had a go at him for dong so too! He is friendly, but with ALL intact males, of any breed, you have to be careful, plus also if an old lady was walking her small fluffy they could mistake for prey, they are sight hounds after all.

I would say to anyone wanting to get a dog with kids, raise them together, they grow together and learn together that way. A puppy is a must with small children, I wouldn't like an older dog if mine were still small. Deerhounds are good with children, but can be bouncy, but I wouldn't leave any dog with any child. Mine loves kids and babies, but caution needed. I have a 16 year old, he was 11 when we got Murph, so not too young.

I also work, but work early and get home early, my hubby is a driving instrcutor and is in and out all day between pupils. Anytime I have to be out all day, usually taking young son to golf somewhere in the country, I get my Mum to pop in to let them out, but I also have 2 older kids.

I hope I have been of help, I am sure there are others who will give you good advice, there are some real knowledgable people on this site, with years and years of experience. Good luck.

Hi Rachel and welcome to the site. Firstly I am interested to know why you have fallen in love with Deerhounds. I know this seems like a daft question as how could one NOT fall in love with them! I am just interested to know, did you see one and think WOW like I did or did you see a picture of one in a book?

I have 3 and also do not have acres of land. My cottage is not big either but they really dont take up much room - probably cause they each have a sofa and I have a hard chair I am lucky enough to live in Pembrokeshire, Wales and we are very close to some lovely dog friendly beaches but on a daily basis I take them out 3 times a day. Either a car ride to somewhere or I lead walk them to some woods not very far away and then they have off lead excercise.

I totally agree with Lurch - get a puppy to bring up with baby. Mine have grown up with my grandchildren and are fine with them but obviously never leave them together unattended.

My thoughts are that if you do your homework on the breed and are prepared to make the effort to meet their needs in terms of excercise then there is no reason why you shouldnt get a deerhound puppy.

I took mine to puppy training classes and their recall is really good (most of the time) but they will see small yappy dogs as 'fair game'. Do teach the puppy not to jump up at people as a fully grown hound launching itself at you is no joke.

Best of luck

Trisha and hounds

YOUR SCOTTISH DEERHOUND PRIMER; by Barbara Heidenreich, is a must to read.
www.fernhill.com

All the best,
Annette.

Hi Rachel, I live in a three-bedroom semi with a normal size garden with two dogs & one bitch at present, but I hope to increase that to two of each soon as my bitch is hopefully going to whelp my first litter in app three weeks time & I intend to keep a bitch puppy (God Willing).
I have always had dogs since I left my parents, but never four at one time. My hounds sometimes travel to work with me in my van & they are walked at least twice sometimes three times a day. They are allowed to free run whenever the opportunity arises (their safely comes first). Mine so look forward to walks even when they have had access to the garden for long periods. I would say that you do not need acres of land to own deerhounds but rather somewhere safe & secure as long as they receive adequate exercise in between long bouts of sleeping. On the subject of small children, I have 9 grandchildren from 21 years old down to babies in nappies & my hounds have always been very good with them (ground rules applied!)

Hi - thanks for the advice everyone!

Houndy - you asked why I love deerhounds..... Well I guess it sort of evolved from a love of greyhounds and wolfhounds. When I was a child a wolfhound lived round the corner from us and I always loved his friendliness and his shaggy size. We also had friends with a greyhound which I walked a lot - once you see them running you just think wow - amazing!

I think I first met a deerhound at a local dog agility competition - not, I realise, a typical deerhound activity! After a bit of research, my parter and I took ourselves off to Lodge Park deerhound day, met a few of the hounds and realised what a great breed they are, both in terms of personality, temperament, looks and athletics. I love their laid back attitude and their big puppy excitedness, plus the whole 30mph couch potato thing. Plus I'm sure they are cleverer than we think Since then we have been back to d/h day a few times and to Crufts to see the hounds, so yes, now we do think 'how could anyone not love them!?'

I have read quite a lot of deerhound info and cruised around on a lot of the breeder's sites as recommended on here: www.deerhound.co.uk/ but I will look into book recommended by Annette too - thanks!

Hi
I have a 16 month old toddler/ninjetta, and a 3.5 year old (who i wish you could all have seen last night playing at being a barbie princess with a gorgous dress up dress on and welding goggles).
Ella takes no notice of the deerhounds (1 bitch 7 months old and 1 dog nearly 2) except when she blows them kisses, or crawls under neath them. Sarah is much more interested in them and has at last learned their names (they used to be "the big one" and "the little one"). She likes to brush them and put leads on them, and talk to them. She also lets them in and out the house etc.
Both dogs arrived in July so both the kids and the dogs were intoduced at once ie no slow introductions or dogs first then kids born, or puppy grows up with kids. It was just one day no deerhounds, next day pup arrived then 2 days later dog arrived.
Dogs are fantastic with them, and see them as a useful extra source of protein (dropped snacks, I mean. Sarah has curled up on Jag for a sleep before and we all cuddle up on the sofa in the evenings, which is a squeeze but cosy.
Interestingly Jag is quite protective of the kids and will gently move them out of the way of things that he perceives could be a danger.
Only negative is all kids toys are seen to be the dogs by the dogs, and the dogs toys are seen to be kids toys by the kids. So there is much putting of things away in the evenngs before the dogs come in to the fireside. Also I do not let the dogs in the room while we are eating - too much temptation.
Hope this helps!!
Jenny

We have a toddler (he'll be three in Oct) with one deerhound and two lurchers though he regularly comes into contact with many more of the Cusidh hounds. Although not disagreeing with Lurch or Houndy re getting a puppy to grow up with your baby which has many positives the other alternative of older dog(s) then baby is also possible. I was off work for 6 months on maternity leave and had three lurchers then the youngest of whom was 4 years old the oldest 11. Having older dogs I think made my life easier as it is difficult to find the time to adequately train and devote to a puppy with a new baby around. However, I do realise other people are probably much more competent with babies than I am and therefore could well have more time. I took the dogs out most days with the baby and having reliable dogs made stopping for feeding/changing/picnicing more relaxing. Also walking with a buggy was easy for the dogs to master as they were already lead and traffic trained. The dogs weren't bothered with the new arrival and had plenty of time to get used to the new addition before he started to crawl and wanted to interact a bit more.

Now our son enjoys walking, feeding generally fussing and playing with the dogs. The dogs have a safe area to go to (which is a penned off area of the kitchen) if they need to get away from him for peace and quiet. Since the summer Banrigh, the deerhound, has been living with us and she is 4 years old and I don't think she has found it too tricky to get used to our son.

Regarding exercise my opinion is that you can have a deerhound without significant land area you just need to make more effort re finding them good places to run etc and doggy friends to let off steam with in safe places.

All the best. Elise

Hi Rachel, as a lot of other people have said, you don't need huge gardens to own a hound (though it helps lol) I went from an old farmhouse with an acre of land to a suburban semi with a largish garden when I got divorced, but my hound Leah is happy as she gets taken for walks every day and when we are both off we take her to the nearby park for a good run off lead, so although she doesn't have the running space she used to have, she gets good exercise (plus road walking is very good for them )

One of leah's girls went to a lovely couple in Windsor who only have a small house but she gets taken out to Windsor Park almost daily (she has seen the Queen too lol)

Myself and my partner also work full time, though as we work shifts it's not difficult having a Deerhound, it's easy to find the time and the space for these wonderful dogs

Let us know how you get on in your quest