A Eurohound (also known as a Eurodog or Scandinavian

hound A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey. Description Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. T ...

) is a type of

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

bred for

sled dog racing Sled dog racing (sometimes termed dog sled racing) is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sled dogs tha ...

. The Eurohound is typically

crossbred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

from the

Alaskan husky The Alaskan husky is a breed of medium-sized working sled dog, developed specifically for its performance as such. Alaskan huskies are the most commonly used type of dog for competitive sled dog racing, both in short-distance sprint racing as wel ...

group and any of a number of

pointing breed Pointing dogs, sometimes called bird dogs, are a type of gundog typically used in finding game. Gundogs are traditionally divided into three classes: retrievers, flushing dogs, and pointing breeds. The name ''pointer'' comes from the dog's in ...

s ("pointers").

History

A Eurohound is a cross between an Alaskan husky and

German Shorthaired Pointer The German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP) is a medium to large sized breed of pointing dog developed in the 19th century in Germany for hunting. A versatile hunting breed, being an all-purpose gun dog suitable for both land and water, they are streaml ...

. Scandinavia was the first to use Eurohounds in competitive sled dog racing. The Eurohound is not

purebred Purebreds are "cultivated varieties" of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be "pedigreed". Purebreds breed true-to-type which means the p ...

, and is not a

breed of dog A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slight ...

, but a

crossbreed A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

, its parents being deliberately crossed in order to produce progeny with specific traits. The Eurohound need cooler weather to run, the European Canicross Championships is held from September to May to avoid heat.

Crossbreeding

Rather than inbreeding similar-looking dogs in order to create a new breed with a consistent appearance, Eurohound racers crossbreed for specific working traits and health. Crossbreeding includes breeding between two established

breeds A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slight ...

, with two tightly bred but unrelated gene pools, and breeding the first generation cross back to one of the

breeds.Crossbreeding in cattle
Crossbreeding is also done for the purpose of

heterosis Heterosis, hybrid vigor, or outbreeding enhancement is the improved or increased function of any biological quality in a hybrid offspring. An offspring is heterotic if its traits are enhanced as a result of mixing the genetic contributions of ...

(hybrid vigor). The dogs most often used for Eurodog crosses are purebred German Shorthaired Pointers (and

English Pointer The Pointer, sometimes called the English Pointer, is a medium-sized breed of pointing dog developed in England. Pointers are used to find game for hunters, and are considered by gundog enthusiasts to be one of the finest breeds of its type; h ...

s), other pointers, and Alaskan huskies (Gareth Wright lines primarily) from tightly bred sprint dog lines used for racing. A first-generation Eurohound cross (fifty percent pointing breed, fifty percent husky) have short coats, suitable for sprint races, which don't involve resting or sleeping on the trail. When the first-generation cross is crossed again with the Alaskan husky, the resulting generation can have thicker coats, suitable for longer-distance teams. Most distance mushers prefer the pointer genetics to only be 1/8 in a dog for maximum performance. This then reduces the Eurohound influence, and dogs should be termed Alaskan Husky crosses or mixed hounds. The Eurohound is sleeker than a husky and can hit speeds of 25 miles per hour. The term "Eurohound" was coined by Ivana Nolke, to distinguish the European racing dogs being imported into Alaska. Greyhound crossbred with German Shorthaired Pointers are known as "greysters" and popular for dryland racing, and limited-class snow racing.

Appearance and breeds

Fairly common features of fifty percent crosses are half-dropped ears, black with white blazing as shown in the photo, or solid with patches of spots. Some completely spotted dogs appear as well. Once the percentage of pointer drops, the dogs start to look more like Alaskan huskies. The dogs have a similar coat to German Shorthair Pointer and looks like standard hunting dogs. The Alaskan husky sprint dog has been bred for performance, not appearance. The German Shorthaired Pointer and English Pointer gene pool too were bred for performance particularly hunting; the Scandinavian pointers from which the first Eurohounds came had been used historically for sled dog racing and hunting. The Eurohound was good for

mushing Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most commonly ...

and became widely used.

References

External links

Personal observation of some of the newer sled dog mixes
{{Norwegian dogs Sled dogs Dog breeds originating in Norway Dog crossbreeds