About pharaoh hounds

A pharaoh hound touches in some way everyone who´s met it: you either love the breed passionately or then you just don´t “get it”. Some fall in love with its primitive and life exuberating looks and character; some just can´t stand the active and curious red nose sticking everywhere, always in the crowd and preferrably in the front. There is just something primitively and simply elegant in pharaoh hounds or PHs, as the breed nick-name goes, appearance – it just is a classicly unexaggerated beautiful dog. The smooth coat and the red colour that glows in the sun just adds the dogs stylishness.

General

The pharaoh hound is a bit bigger than the average dog and a bit longer in body than in height and above all it should be overall balanced. Nothing in PHs appearance should be exaggerated and the wholesome should be harmonic and eye pleasing. The breed standard describes the pharaoh hound like this: “Medium sized, of noble bearing with clean-cut lines. Graceful yet powerful. Very fast with free easy movement and alert expression.” This sums up well the appearance of the pharaoh hound and it should give the impression of a noble, great postured clean-lined hunting dog that moved effortless. The head and expression are a vital part of PHs look. Big mobile erect ears strongly indicate the pharaoh hounds mood and they´re always in the move. It is said that the pharaoh hounds gaze is timeless and wise – this is absolutely true and the amber coloured eyes are one of the most beautiful features of the pharaoh hound. Pharaoh hounds have two very human-like features: they smile and they blush. Smiling is a breed feature for the dog and they smile often to their owners and close ones when they´re excited and extremely happy. When blushing, the pharaoh hounds nose, eye rims and ears turn bright red. The PH blushes often when it´s excited. The pharaoh hound is not one of the easiest breeds and the owner of one has to be always one step ahead of the dog, otherwise soon the pharaoh hound will decide what to do and when. As a primitive and enterprising dog with strong hunting instincts one should always consider long before getting one. A working dog-like obedient individual it will surely never be because motivating the PH is difficult.

History

It is hard to estimate the age of the breed but we can say that there have been dogs of similar type living in the Mediterranian for thousands of years. Relative breeds include among other the Ibizan hounds. The breed comes from the island of Malta where it goes by the name of Kel tal-Fenek which means “the dog of the rabbit”. Actually the name pharaoh hound is incorrect because the PH is not the dog of the ancient Egyptians. Most likely it does descend from the similar dogs that Phoenicians brought to Malta in the ancient times. The pharaoh hound is still in its original use in Malta as a rabbit dog and an alerting guard dog. Sometimes it is also used for escorting sheep and goats to pastures and for retrieving birds. The Pharaoh hound hunts rabbit in the evening or at night in groups of two or three dogs and often the hunter has a ferret with him. The ferret is used to drive the rabbit out of its burrow if it hides. The Pharaoh hound uses its eye sight, hearing and scenting abilities when hunting which separates it from the actual sighthounds. The Pharaoh hound became the national breed of Malta in 1977. As the Maltese countryside is becoming more and more urban the traditional use of Pharaohs is becoming unnecessary and the numbers of dogs are decreasing in their native environment. The first Pharaoh hounds were brought to the Great Britain in the 1960s and into Finland in the 1970s. Now we have about three hundred Pharaohs in Finland and a few litters are registered each year. The breed has gained popularity in Finland and the registrations are at a rise.

Registrations in Finland 1994-2009

1994 26
1995 26
1996 16
1997 1
1998 20
1999 20
2000 10
2001 10
2002 6
2003 16
2004 34
2005 27
2006 20
2007 24
2008 36

2009 49

Temperament

The PH is a dog with a persona and all sort of different characters can be found. Some are more modest and calm sofa charmers; some boisterous happy clowns with a good sense of humor – many all of this. Happy, playful, active and always alert are good words to describe the breed – it is always ready to jump in action or play with its doggy friends. Specially when young the active and energetic PH can drive its owners nerves to the extreme but it will settle down with age and start thinking before acting at some stage... The pharaoh hound loves its family from the bottom of its heart and its an excellent dog with the children as well, although it is a quite of a “goofball” when young. PH trusts its owner completely and its owner should be worthy of that trust and show it the respect it deserves. What has to be noted is that even though the pharaoh hound is a special dog it should never be given a status of a human in the family. Normally Pharaohs are sensitive dogs and they need understanding from their owners. They don't respond to hard methods and they're normally very intelligent although they can hide it under fooling around. The reason why Pharaoh hounds aren't at their best in the obedience sports normally comes down to two things: the difficulty of motivating a Pharaoh and boredom. Some of the dogs are very greedy and they can be motivated with treats, some with playing or verbal praise. Most Pharaohs learn new things quickly and easily but they get bored of repetition and they lose focus when new things come on the side.

Maintenance

Maintenance is easy: the main words are ”when needed”. The smooth short single coat is washed maybe two to four times a year and brushed occasionally. Ears and eyes are cleaned when needed and the only regular thing is clipping the constantly growing nails once in a week or two.

Health

Most pharaoh hounds live over ten years and visit the vet only for vaccinations. The results of examined dogs are mainly excellent and the possible changes have normally been slight. There have been cases of allergy, extra eye lashes and structural eye anomalies. There are also missing teeth, karies, chryptorchism, ramdom cancer tumors on older dogs and skin problems.

Excercise

As an active and energetic hunting dog the best excercise for the pharaoh hound is definately running free with another dog. Walking in a lead in the city is much less inspiring than sniffing after mice and moles in the fields and forests. It is vital for a young Pharaohs growth and to the adult dog's mental health for the Pharaoh hound to let run loose off lead. The owner of a pharaoh hound doesn´t have to be an athlete but inthusiasm for roaming in the nature and for an active way of life is a great asset.

Terveys

Vuonna 2005 faaraokoirakantaa on kartoitettu terveyskyselyn muodossa ja rodulta ei ole löytynyt suurempia terveysongelmia ja suurin osa faaraokoirista elää yli kymmenvuotiaiksi käyden eläinlääkärillä vain rokotuksissa. Tutkittujen koirien tulokset ovat pääasiassa erinomaiset, mahdolliset muutokset ovat olleet lieviä. Rodulla on todettu lieviä muutoksia lonkissa, kyynärissä sekä polvissa. Lisäksi koirilla on ollut silmissä ylimääräisiä ripsiä, sikiöaikaisia jäänteitä sekä MRD:tä. Lisäksi rodussa tavataan ajoittain allergiaa, herkkävatsaisuutta, hammaspuutoksia, hammaskiveä, kivesvikaa, satunnaisia syöpäkasvaimia vanhemmilla koirilla sekä iho-ongelmia mm. heikentynyttä karvapeitettä, hilseilyä ja hormoniperäisiä ihosairauksia.

Hobbies

The main hobbies for pharaoh hounds are dog shows and track and lure coursing. Also there are agility, obedience, tracking and therapy pharaoh hounds.