# Schweizer Laufhund

Also known as: Swiss Hound, Chien Courant Suisse, Swiss Running Dog, Swiss Scenthound
- **Group:** Scent Hound (FCI group 6)
- **Size:** Medium
- **Origin:** Switzerland
- **Height:** 47–59 cm
- **Weight:** 15–20 kg
- **Life expectancy:** 10–14 years
- **Temperament:** Independent, Passionate, Agile, Friendly, Enduring
- **FCI standard:** No. 59

The Schweizer Laufhund is a family of Swiss scenthounds, in four varieties, bred to follow a scent tirelessly and independently over rough ground. Gentle at home, driven in the field.

## Overview

The Schweizer Laufhund, or Swiss Hound, is a group of overlapping scenthound varieties from Switzerland. The four varieties are the Bernese, Jura, Lucerne and Schwyz hounds, and they share the same basic character.

They are skilled, independent trackers that work hares, roe deer and foxes, and sometimes boar, with great stamina and a famously fine nose.

## History

Hounds like these have lived in Switzerland since at least Roman times and appear in mosaics from Roman Avenches. From the 15th to the 18th centuries French and Italian hunters prized them for hare hunting, and French scenthounds probably shaped them further.

Before the 1880s they were seen as one varied breed. In 1881 a Swiss cynologist identified seven types, and standards followed in 1889. The Thurgovie hound had vanished by 1933, so a single standard was written for the remaining four.

## Appearance

The Laufhund is a medium-sized hound, with males 49 to 59 cm and females 47 to 57 cm tall. The head is noble with a soft, friendly expression, the chest deep and the legs strong. The ears are long and hang down, and the tail is carried low at a walk and a little higher when running.

The coat is short, smooth and dense; some wire-coated dogs exist but are not preferred. The Bernese is white with black and tan, the Jura black and tan or brown, the Lucerne blue-speckled, and the Schwyz white with orange-red patches.

## Temperament

These are passionate, fast and agile hunters with a superb nose and the independence to work a trail without constant direction from the hunter. They are friendly and gentle in manner.

Like most scenthounds, they follow their noses first and are happiest with a purpose.

## Care and exercise

This is a working hound that needs plenty of daily exercise and a securely fenced garden, since a good scent can lead it far away. Best suited to active homes, ideally with hunting or tracking work.

The short coat needs only occasional brushing, and the long ears should be checked and cleaned regularly.

## Ratings (1 to 5)

- Energy: 4
- Exercise needs: 4
- Grooming: 1
- Shedding: 2
- Trainability: 3
- Barking: 4
- Good with children: 4
- Good with other dogs: 4

Page: https://techtools.cz/tools/dog-atlas/schweizer-laufhund
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweizer_Laufhund · https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q38975
Photo: Pleple2000 (CC BY-SA 4.0), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Go%C5%84czy_szwajcarski_2009_pl2.jpg
Profile written by an AI model from the sources above.