Tracking Hound

		Tracking Hound
		He is not recognized by the F.C.I.


Origin			Middle Ages
Translation			Francis Vandersteen
En français, cette race se dit			Chien pisteur
Diese Norm ist in deutscher Sprache sichtbar			Spürhund
En español, esta raza se dice			Sabueso de rastro
In het Nederlands, wordt dit ras gezegd			Speurhond
This breed is also known as			Limer Lymer Lyam hound Lime-hound

The *limier* was a type of hound used on a leash during the Middle Ages to locate large game before the pack was unleashed to pursue it. In medieval hunting practices in France and England, certain types of game were neither located nor hunted by a full pack, as is the custom in modern hunting; instead, they were first pinpointed by a *limier*.

At dawn, the handler would take his *limier* out on foot to identify—using droppings or tracks, for instance—where a large animal had passed during the night. He would then set the dog on the trail until it discovered the spot where the animal was grazing or resting. This task required a keen sense of smell, the ability to ignore any extraneous scents that might distract the dog, and the skill to track silently. This process was known as "détourner" (locating and marking) the game.

Several *limiers* might be sent into different areas of the forest. The handlers would then report back to their lord or the master of the hunt, who would choose the one "that seemed to have located the largest and oldest stag, and the one lying in the most favorable cover." The huntsmen would then bring in the pack of hounds, known as *raches*. These dogs might be stationed as relays along the animal's probable path—held in pairs—ready to be unleashed at the master of the hunt's signal. The game was then flushed out (or "raised"), and the pack pursued it on a hot scent until it was cornered and killed. If the game escaped the pack—perhaps wounded—or if nightfall interrupted the hunt, the huntsmen would mark the last place the animal had been sighted; The lords and ladies would then return to the hunting lodge or to tents pitched for them in the forest, either to sleep or to feast. The *limier* handler would then set out to locate the beast again, sometimes by following a blood trail; the wounded animal was then dispatched, or the hunt resumed.

The *limier* was a specialized tracking dog—highly prized and far less numerous than the pack hounds (or *raches*) in a lord's kennel, typically in a ratio of about one to twenty. While it might occasionally be released to pursue game alongside the pack, it generally did not take part in the *curée* (the ritual feeding of the hounds on the quarry's remains). According to hunting treatises, the *limier* that had located the beast was entitled to the first specific share of the carcass during the butchering process; this is illustrated here, where the leashed dog is offered the stag's head while the pack hounds wait impatiently for their share. It had a dedicated handler responsible for its care and guidance: the *valet de limier*.

To perform its task, the *limier* wore a collar—modern tracking harnesses being unknown at the time, even though the art of equine harnessing was fully mastered—and the leash had to be long enough to allow the dog to cast about for the scent.