History

The Scottish Deerhound has been in existence since the 16th century, it has a bit of royalty attached to it, as it was then called the “royal dog of Scotland”. The name deerhound was given to this dog because it was a hound, which was skillful in the art of deer hunting.

Anyone who owned this dog in the early Scottish time was regarded with respect, thus no one with a rank lower than an earl was allowed to have possession 0f the Scottish deerhound. The dog made its first entrance into the US in the 19th century.

Temperament

They are very friendly, they like the company of adults and children. Even though they are generally trying to chase anything and they are natural hunters, the deerhound is not aggressive and they do well with strangers. They are okay with being petted and have little or no issues with being played with by children.

But, if you are going to leave an adult deerhound with children, kindly make sure that you are supervising them while they play with the dog. They are very warm and they do not like to be alone or away from their owners for too long so they are a tad clingy.

They have a tendency to be lazy but that is mostly dependent on their environment and age.

Because of their wild instincts, they need to be well trained to suit the domesticated lifestyle; this is quite an easy task as they are easy to train and also very intelligent.

The deerhound does not like cats or other small animals, remember that its natural instincts say “Hunt”. So, whenever anything that looks, smells, feels like a prey runs past a deerhound, brace yourself for a chase.

Environment

The deerhound is an outside dog, as they love to play, sniff, and pretend-hunt. They will not do well in an apartment or an enclosed environment. They should be kept outside most of the time, and more importantly, they should not be caged. A shed with a lot of space will be fine for them.

Their system is conditioned to want the wild, you will have to create a semblance of the wide in your backyard for them to be able to grow well enough, both mentally and physically. Any attempt to breed them in an enclosed space will give you a dog that looks like a Scottish deerhound but does not behave like one.

Exercise

The Scottish deerhound loves to play, loves to run, but might start becoming lazy as they grow. A daily running exercise will keep them from falling lazy. Take them on a jog, they will eventually outrun you, so make sure they are trained to answer to you. Play fetch with them in the yard as often as possible too.

Grooming

The coat of a Scottish deerhound is slick and should be brushed regularly. Wash as often as 3 times a week, as they do not need a lot of cleaning unless dirty and smelly.

Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions About the Scottish Deerhound