Estonian Hound

FCI standard Nº 366

Origin
Estonia
Translation
Maris Siilmann and Katrin Raie
Revised by Renée Sporre-Willes
Group
Group 6 Scent hounds and related breeds
Section
Section 1.2 Medium-sized hounds
Working
With working trial
Acceptance on a provisional basis by the FCI
Wednesday 04 September 2019
Publication of the official valid standard
Wednesday 04 September 2019
En français, cette race se dit
Chien courant d'Estonie
Diese Norm ist in deutscher Sprache sichtbar
Estnische Bracke
En español, esta raza se dice
Sabueso de Estonia
In het Nederlands, wordt dit ras gezegd
Huidige hond van Estland
In his country of origin, his name is

Eesti Hagijas

Usage

Scent hound used for hunting the hare, fox and lynx.

Brief historical summary

Like with many Scandinavian scent hound breeds, the East- and West European as well as British scent hound breeds form the base of Estonian Hound breed. Significant measure in breed development was a lower height at the withers to protect the bovine animals and to prevent from big hounds that might track game too fast. Thousands of hounds were summoned, evaluated and registered to be called the Estonian Hound, as the breed standard was officially approved in 1954.

General appearance

Proportionate hound of medium size, strong and dry build. Strong bone, feet and well-developed muscles. The white markings are clearly visible and help to see the dog better when working in the field. Sexual dimorphism is well defined.

Important proportions

Length of body exceeds clearly the height at the withers.
Females can be slightly longer than males.
Length of legs is about 50% of the height at the withers.

Behaviour / temperament

Even-tempered, agile and friendly. Very well-developed sense of scent and detection of game and a pronounced passion for hunting guarantee good results in finding prey and tracking in difficult terrain. Resonant voice helps to locate the dog at long distance.

Head

Cranial region

Head
Seen from above, forms a blunt wedge, wider at the back and slightly tapering towards the muzzle.
Skull
Moderate width, slightly curved. Superciliary arches well developed but not protruding. 
Stop
Moderately pronounced, never steep.

Facial region

Nose
Broad, totally black. Dogs with coat colour that has gold or tan patches can have lighter coloured nose, never liver brown.
Muzzle
Long, straight and in proportion to skull.
Lips
Dry, tight, not overhanging, no flap in the corner of mouth. Rims of lips totally pigmented.
Jaws and teeth
Teeth are white and big. Jaws normally developed with full set of 42 teeth and a complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to jaws. Level bite due to aging and wearing down of incisors undesirable.
Cheeks
Flat.
Eyes
Slightly slanting, dark brown, rims dark.
Ears
Thin, hanging, set medium high, lying closely to cheeks, rounded edges and covered with short hair. When pulled towards the nose, reaching about half the length of muzzle.

Neck

Medium long and set moderately high, round in cross section, muscular, skin dry without folds.

Body

Withers
Rising above line of back.
Back
Level, broad and muscular.
Loin
Short, broad, arched and muscular.
Croup
Broad, of medium length, muscular and slightly sloping. Height at the croup 1-1.5 cm less than at the withers.
Chest
Oval, long and capacious, reaching down to elbow. Well-developed ribs.
Underline and belly
Breastbone is long and belly only slightly tucked up.

Tail

Saber form, thick at base, tapering slightly towards the end and reaching to the hocks. Active wagging when moving, base of tail must never be lifted above line of back.

Limbs

Forequarters

Generality
Dry, muscular with strong bone. Seen from front forelegs are straight and parallel. Length of legs is about 50% of the height at the withers.
Shoulders
The angulations at the shoulder joint is 115-120 degrees.
Elbows
Strong, close fitting, neither turning in nor out, but firmly laid back.
Forearm
Oval bone of medium length. Sturdy in relation to the body, i.e. neither fine nor too heavy and completely straight.
Pastern
Broad, supple and almost straight.
Forefeet
Arched, oval and tight. Nails strong and turning downwards. Thick pads.

Hindquarters

Generality
Dry, muscular with strong bone. Seen from behind the legs stand straight and parallel and seen from the side they are well angulated.
Upper thigh
Approximately of equal length to lower thigh.
Lower thigh
Approximately of equal length to thigh.
Stifle
Strong, moderately bent and turning neither in nor out when moving.
Metatarsus
Of medium length, very strong and upright.
Hind feet
Arched, oval and tight. Nails strong and turning downwards. Thick pads.

Gait and movement

With good drive, free, straight-line, i.e. singletracking, flowing and smooth.

Skin

Tight, but elastic and without folds.

Coat

Hair
Short, even, harsh and glossy. Moderate undercoat. Tail is covered with even dense hair in the whole length and therefore the tail looks thick. On tip of tail hair is somewhat shorter.
Colour
Typical colour is black patches with tan markings and vivid white markings (tricolour). The size of the patches is not limited. Lemon to golden-tan patches with no black is also allowed (bicolour). The patterns could be of various sizes and also form a saddle. The black, tan, or lemon coloured patches, with or without rich tan coloured rims, contrasting well to the white. The white markings should be on head, on the throat and chest stretching on to the belly. All feet and the tip of the tail must be white. All colours must be as bright as possible.

Size and weight

Height at withers
Males: 45 – 52 cm. Females: 42 – 49 cm.

Faults

• Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog and its ability to perform its traditional work.
• Faults listed should be in degree of seriousness.

Serious faults

 Shy or over agitated.
 Too light or too heavy in build.
 Too short or too elongated in body, high in the rear.
 Coarse in head, flat or domed skull, rounded cheeks.
 Insufficiently pigmented nose, eye- or lip rims.
 Slightly overshot bite where incisors are not in contact.
 Ears too short or too thick, set on too high, not lying close to head or covered with long hair.
 Narrow chest, flat ribcage.
 Weak topline, steep croup.
 Tail too long (reaching more than 3 cm below hocks) or too short, carried upwards from base.
 Splayed toes or too long feet (hare-foot).
 Clearly wavy hair, lack of undercoat.
 Overmarked with white, evident black or tan ticking on white areas.

Disqualifying faults

 Aggressive or overly shy dogs.
 Absence of sexual dimorphism.
 Size over the limits indicated by the standard.
 Overshot by 3 mm and more, or undershot bite.
 Odd-eyed or white (blue) eyes.
 Small, pricked or semi-pricked ears.
 Bent, or defect tail.
 Overmarked with black or tan colour, ie lack of white markings.
 Brown or coffee-coloured patches with liver pigmented nose.

NB :

• Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
• The above mentioned faults when occurring to a highly marked degree or frequently are disqualifying.
• Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
• Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed typical conformation should be used for breeding.

Bibliography

https://www.fci.be/

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