A Magnificent Hound

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100 – February, 2026

By Lee Connor

Have you ever seen a wild otter?

Despite being born and growing up in the land that brought us such classics as ‘Tarka the Otter’ (a master class of exquisitely beautiful writing, and a book that has never been out of print since first being published in 1927) and ‘Ring of Bright Water’ (which documented Gavin Maxwell’s life in the wilds of Scotland, and his close association with several wild otters–and it is also considered a literary masterpiece), I hadn’t actually seen a wild otter until I visited Vancouver back in 2017.

My close-up encounter with that huge dog otter was quite extraordinary, occurring on a busy city sidewalk in broad daylight, the otter padding along, just doing his thing!

I was immediately struck by the sheer size and power of these beautiful animals and (being of a doggy mind) I then thought about the strength and sheer bravery of any dog willing to face such a formidable foe.

Of course, there is one breed whose history and very “raison d’etre” is inextricably linked to this marvelous mustelid.

I am, of course, talking about the Otterhound.

Otter-hunting was one of the oldest of English sports and, for a lengthy period of time, enjoyed considerable royal patronage. King John is reputed to have kept a pack of “Otter dogges” and William Twice (grand huntsman to Edward II at the beginning of the fourteenth century) left us with an illuminating description of the different types of game hunted in his day which included:

Click here to read the complete article
100 – February, 2026

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