Spanish Hound

The Spanish Hound’s first written record can be found from the 1300's in the book Libro de la Monteria del Rey D Alfonso XI. The King of Castile writes about hounds with similar attributes of the Spanish Hound along with specific Bloodhounds. The Spanish Hound was also written about with various descriptions, but all referring to the same breed, in Spanish hunting treaties: Treaty of Monteria dated in the 15^th century, Discourse of Monteria dated in the 16^th century, and Origin and Dignity of Hunting dated in the 17^th century. It was during these times that hounds bred and born in Spain were used to mainly hunt wild boar and bear. These Spanish Hounds were used as blood dogs and could follow the scent of a wounded animal for miles. With the introduction of firearms to big game hunting, the population of the big game sharply declined and the need for the Spanish Hound decreased. The use of these hounds in the northern regions of Spain turned to small game, especially fox and hare. The Spanish Hound was still used in hunting roe deer and wild boar, which were very prevalent throughout northern Spain. Artwork documenting the breed depicted them in two varieties or sizes. The Great Spanish Hound was the larger built dog and the Spanish Lebrero Hound was the smaller, lighter built dog. The population of big game throughout Spain has since rebounded and the use of the Spanish Hound was re-introduced in the early 1980s. In 1982 the Spanish Hound’s breed standard was written and breeders began breeding to meet the standard. Even though the Spanish Hound is indigenous to the northern region of Spain possibly dating back to the late Middle Ages, their history is a bit muddied and it was not until the 20^th century that the breed was actually recognized and standardized. The Spanish Hound was recognized by the United Kennel Club in 1996.