PRESENTED BY
THE DOMESDAY BOOK OF DOGS
American Staghound
American Lurcher. Longdog of the Prairie.
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| End of a coyote. Forest and Stream. 1918. P567. |
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| Old Bill. Forest and Stream. 1918. P519. |
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| Custer and his dogs. |
The dog that won The West, the Staghound is essentially the American version of the Lurcher or, more precisely perhaps, the British Longdog, but whereas a Longdog is used to chase hares the American Staghound is used for coyote and wolf control. Like its parent breed, the Greyhound, the Staghound is also one of the most physically perfect breeds in existence being free from any congenital disorders.
Wolf-coursing was popular in parts of Minnesota, Wisconson, Michigan, Western Canada and also those states lying between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Preferred breeds to use in wolf hunting which eventually morphed into the American Staghound were described by Harding (1909) as foxhounds, bloodhounds (presumably the Cuban variety), greyhounds, wolfhounds and staghounds of various types, and crosses of these dogs. Harding goes on to say: "the greyhounds are the swiftest of dogs and a pair of them are
invariably to be found in a pack, the balance being some heavier and
fiercer breed of dog, such as the bloodhound, foxhound or a cross of
the two. It is the greyhounds that run the game down and hold it until
the arrival of the balance of the pack, the heavier dogs doing the
actual fighting ... no matter what kind of dogs are used they must be good tonguers and good fighters, and must have an abundance of strength and endurance".
Harding supplies a description of a wolf hunt from a hunter: "On the open plains of the west, wolves are often hunted with large swift running dogs, grey hounds, stag or wolf hounds or their crosses. The hunters go on horseback and the wolves are usually roused out of some coulee or draw. Sometimes trail hounds are used to start the game, on breaking from cover and being sighted by the running dogs the race is on. Wolf, dogs and horsemen, race across the often rough and dangerous ground at breakneck speed. The wolf, manoeuvring to gain the coulee or cover of some sort and get out of sight of the dogs (the running dogs have only slight scenting powers and depend entirely on their sight). The lighter and swifter grey hounds, as a rule, are the first to overtake the wolf and by coming up alongside and snapping at his flanks, force him to turn and face them, thus giving the heavier and fiercer wolf hounds a chance to close in and grapple with and kill the wolf. Unless the dogs are well trained and very courageous, a large timber wolf often proves more than a match for the bunch of four or five dogs."
R. H. Winslow also writing in Harding's book, Wolf and Coyote Trapping, has this to say: "There are on the ranch many imported wolf-hounds, two grey hounds and two blood hounds. It comprises about a million acres and these dogs are allowed to roam over it at will ... these hounds are perfectly trained, though, and understand quite well the ways of a wolf ... in a pack of a dozen dogs, say, there are generally two greyhounds used as 'tripping' dogs; that is, they run ahead of the main body and trip or throw the wolf, sometimes twice — so the others have time to come up and jump on. Generally they do no fighting themselves."
Gradually over many generations the several distinct breeds of dog used in the wolf hunt, the catchers, the holders and the fighters would have been interbred together in an attempt to blend the best points of those many breeds into the one wolf-hunting breed; this breed became known as the American Staghound.
A report of a Canadian hunt from the same book: "First, we put a box on the sleigh big enough to hold our dogs and then hook up a lively team, and strike across the country, leaving the dogs run along side. When a wolf is sighted, we get the dogs into the box and drive as close to the wolf as we can — that's usually from three to five hundred yards — then turn the dogs loose and cheer them to victory. The dogs usually run down the wolf within a mile, and we follow as fast as horse flesh can take us. When the leading dog gets alongside, the wolf stops, and in a second the dogs form a circle around him and he is a goner. Some hunters just turn the dogs loose, not knowing when they are ever going to see them again. That plan would not work with me. Good hounds are too expensive to monkey with that way. I have found that letting one or two dogs on a wolf trail spoils them, because one wolf will give two dogs all they can handle, and sometimes a little bit more, especially if they are young dogs. It takes two old dogs at least, to handle one wolf, and I have seen them get the hard end of it. The wolf perhaps would take to running into the scrub and then it wouldn't be long until a pair of wolves would be slashing your dogs or 'fleecing' the stuffing out of them." This report seems to be from a later date than the previous two as the author mentions the dogs as if they were all of the same breeding. The author appears to breed his own dogs so it could be that this might describe a hunt by the emergent American Staghounds, bred from a meld of maybe half-a-dozen breeds, mainly sighthounds, over several generations.
--- Explore further ---
See Lurcher
See Strathdoon Dingo Killer
Wolf and Coyote Trapping, Compiled by A. R. Harding, 1909
Harding supplies a description of a wolf hunt from a hunter: "On the open plains of the west, wolves are often hunted with large swift running dogs, grey hounds, stag or wolf hounds or their crosses. The hunters go on horseback and the wolves are usually roused out of some coulee or draw. Sometimes trail hounds are used to start the game, on breaking from cover and being sighted by the running dogs the race is on. Wolf, dogs and horsemen, race across the often rough and dangerous ground at breakneck speed. The wolf, manoeuvring to gain the coulee or cover of some sort and get out of sight of the dogs (the running dogs have only slight scenting powers and depend entirely on their sight). The lighter and swifter grey hounds, as a rule, are the first to overtake the wolf and by coming up alongside and snapping at his flanks, force him to turn and face them, thus giving the heavier and fiercer wolf hounds a chance to close in and grapple with and kill the wolf. Unless the dogs are well trained and very courageous, a large timber wolf often proves more than a match for the bunch of four or five dogs."
R. H. Winslow also writing in Harding's book, Wolf and Coyote Trapping, has this to say: "There are on the ranch many imported wolf-hounds, two grey hounds and two blood hounds. It comprises about a million acres and these dogs are allowed to roam over it at will ... these hounds are perfectly trained, though, and understand quite well the ways of a wolf ... in a pack of a dozen dogs, say, there are generally two greyhounds used as 'tripping' dogs; that is, they run ahead of the main body and trip or throw the wolf, sometimes twice — so the others have time to come up and jump on. Generally they do no fighting themselves."
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| Late nineteenth century Staghounds with their haul of wolves. |
Gradually over many generations the several distinct breeds of dog used in the wolf hunt, the catchers, the holders and the fighters would have been interbred together in an attempt to blend the best points of those many breeds into the one wolf-hunting breed; this breed became known as the American Staghound.
A report of a Canadian hunt from the same book: "First, we put a box on the sleigh big enough to hold our dogs and then hook up a lively team, and strike across the country, leaving the dogs run along side. When a wolf is sighted, we get the dogs into the box and drive as close to the wolf as we can — that's usually from three to five hundred yards — then turn the dogs loose and cheer them to victory. The dogs usually run down the wolf within a mile, and we follow as fast as horse flesh can take us. When the leading dog gets alongside, the wolf stops, and in a second the dogs form a circle around him and he is a goner. Some hunters just turn the dogs loose, not knowing when they are ever going to see them again. That plan would not work with me. Good hounds are too expensive to monkey with that way. I have found that letting one or two dogs on a wolf trail spoils them, because one wolf will give two dogs all they can handle, and sometimes a little bit more, especially if they are young dogs. It takes two old dogs at least, to handle one wolf, and I have seen them get the hard end of it. The wolf perhaps would take to running into the scrub and then it wouldn't be long until a pair of wolves would be slashing your dogs or 'fleecing' the stuffing out of them." This report seems to be from a later date than the previous two as the author mentions the dogs as if they were all of the same breeding. The author appears to breed his own dogs so it could be that this might describe a hunt by the emergent American Staghounds, bred from a meld of maybe half-a-dozen breeds, mainly sighthounds, over several generations.
--- Explore further ---
See Lurcher
See Strathdoon Dingo Killer
Wolf and Coyote Trapping, Compiled by A. R. Harding, 1909
