July Hound

Until the 1800s, the predominant type of fox in the Georgia area was the Grey Fox, a small, dark-colored fox that has hooked claws allowing them to climb up the sides of trees. The foxhounds and coonhounds of the time would chase them up into the trees to corner them and then call to the hunter to come bag their prey. Then the Red Fox migrated to the area from the northeastern United States, a faster fox who ran farther and bolted to their den or a hole in the ground rather than up a tree, and local hunters found that the hunting dogs they were using were unsuited to the task of tracking these new foxes down. One of the more prominent hunters in the state, a Colonel Miles G. Harris, searched throughout the countryside for dogs that would fit his needs. He finally found his treasure when he located a breeder in Maryland by the name of Nimrod Gosnell, in a pair of Irish foxhounds named Red Tickler and Leda. Mr. Gosnell gifted Colonel Harris a pair of pups from the union of Red Tickler and Leda and dubbed the Irish foxhound pups July and Mary. They had shorter ears than most of the hounds in the area and were ridiculed by other local breeders. The two dogs quickly became superior hunters, surprising the other hunters and breeders and their offspring became greatly desired. Mary, unfortunately, perished before she was able to have any puppies, and July became even more sought after, breeding with several types of female hound throughout Georgia and passing down his exceptional drive and stamina to his offspring.