Breed Priorities – Scottish Deerhound

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340 – May, 2022

By Nikki Riggsbee

Author Sir Walter Scott owned Scottish Deerhounds and called them “the most perfect creatures of heaven.” The Scottish Deerhound is a breed of antiquity. The breed has had many names: Scotch Greyhounds, Rough Greyhounds, Irish Greyhounds, and Highland Deerhounds, as well as Scottish Deerhounds. It was used to hunt the large Scottish deer, singly or in pairs. It was always highly valued, usually owned only by high-ranking individuals.

As with many other large breeds, with less game to pursue, the break-up of large estates, and the increased use of guns, the Deerhound numbers were greatly reduced. The breed was restored in the nineteenth century, although it still is relatively rare. The original breed standard was written by Captain Graham who also wrote the original Irish Wolfhound standard. Both included a “List of Points in Order of Merit,” which are both still a part of their AKC breed standards. The Scottish Deerhound was one of the early breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club, admitted in 1886. The breed is currently ranked 158th based on AKC’s registration statistics for 2021.

We assembled the names and emails of thirty-two Scottish Deerhound experts to invite to take a survey on their breed’s priorities. Five declined; twenty-four accepted. Fifteen surveys arrived by the deadline. The contributors averaged more than forty years in the breed, many had more than fifty years involvement, which is less common when it is a large breed. Those who judge have done so for more than twenty-three years on average and have judged the breed’s national specialty and other Deerhound specialties.

Scottish Deerhound Virtues

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340 – May, 2022

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