Important facts about Lithuanian Hounds 

 

Weight- 60-75 pounds (27-32 kg)

Height- Height at wither for dogs 58 to 64 cm. Height at the wither of bitches 53 to 59 cm.

Average Lifespan- 12-14 years.

Activity Requirement / Exercise Need- Lithuanian Hound dogs need a lot of exercise. Long walks should be on a daily schedule. If you live an active life, this breed is the perfect choice for you.

Shedding Level- Lithuanian Hound dogs are low shedders

Good for First-Time Owners- Lithuanian Hound dogs are good for novice owners, due to their easy-going personality.

Intelligence Rating- Smart: The Lithuanian Hound dogs have great intelligence. The Lithuanian Hound is among the smartest dogs in the intelligence ranking.

Training Difficulty- Lithuanian Hound dogs are easy to train. They find out the association between commands and actions quite quickly.

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 Lithuanian Hound Breed Standards

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Country of origin: Lithuania.

The date of publication of the standard is 12.10.2019.

FCI classification (desired): Group VI, hounds and related varieties. Section 1.2 – medium-sized hounds. With working trials.

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General appearance. The coat is black with a dark, bright rust in the areas of muzzle, chest, belly, the inner thighs and eyebrows. Clear (distinct) boundaries between brown and black coat colours. Dogs with a pretty large and firm composition, with a solid and massive bone structure. The body is in a rectangular shape.

 

Characteristics/temperament. Even-tempered, credulous, highly resilient, excellent sense of scent and excellent voice dogs. Very active, energetic, agile and persistent. Smart, highly intelligent and well-oriented, cheerful and kind. Suitable for hunting with beaters and blood trailing of an injured animal. Stands out from other hounds' voice variation and well-developed orientation in the hunting area.

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Head. Wedge-shaped, large and rather dry, but not rough. The muzzle is a bit shorter than the forehead. The forehead is slightly longer than the width of the head.

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Cranial region. Skull: rectangular-shaped. The top of the head is slightly arched, shaped like a flat dome. Superciliary arches are prominent, but not high. The forehead is broad. The muzzle axis and the cranial axis are parallel. Stop: the stop is not steep, but prominent.

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Facial region. Nose: Nose is black, wide. Muzzle: The bridge of the muzzle is straight. The muzzle is slightly shorter than the forehead. The profile of the muzzle is broad and narrow when viewed from above. Lip: The upper and lower lips are slightly hanging, with flaps in the corners of the lower lip. The lip line is diagonal, slightly going upwards towards the corner of the lips.

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Jaw/teeth. White, well-shaped, big, closely located and healthy, with a prominent scissor bite. A complete set of 42 teeth is mandatory. If the dog is older than 7 years, the bite may be a pincer bite. Cheeks: Under eyes, a slight overlap between the cheeks and nose.

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Eyes. They should be dark (black, dark brown or brown), oval ( almond-shaped), medium-sized, and slanting. With lively and energetic expressions. Eyelids are slightly slanting (the inner corners of the eyes below the external corner). The eyelids are well-fitted and black.

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Ear. A slightly above the eye line. The ears are triangular-shaped with rounded tips and an average length. They are slightly longer than the length of half a head. The front part of the ears is lying close to the head (cheeks).

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Neck. Thick, muscular, round, without any dewlap or loose skin (there are no overhanging folds as in the case of Shar Pei). The neck smoothly and gently extends to the shoulder, slightly shorter than the head.

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Body. A dog has a strong body. Withers: broad, prominent, rising above the line of the back. The hair on the withers is slightly longer than the hair of the coat. Back: Straight, broad and muscular. Torso: tight and strong, muscular, wide and short. Croup: average in length, wide and muscular. Slightly sloping and round. Chest: prominent, broad and deep, reaching the elbows and below, arched and slender. Well-developed false ribs. Chest oval shape. The prosternum is prominent and well developed. Abdominal: slightly tucked up.

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Tail. Thick at the base, tapering, sabre form is desirable. Carried below the back line. When the dog is in high spirits, it is carried slightly higher than the back. The tail may be carried lifted at a lower angle than 30 degrees from the back line. When carried downwards, it reaches the point of the hock. Black-coloured, the inner side at the base is brown. The tail is covered in dense hair. Tail hair can be slightly longer than fur.

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Limbs

Forequarters. Straight. Viewed from the front, parallel. Dry and muscular. The length of the leg is slightly more than half the height of the dog, measured at the withers. Elbows: firmly laid back. Forearms: Short, medium width, slight angle between the forearm and the wrist. Forefeet: Round. Toes well-knuckled, nails always black and strong. Pads are black and well-developed.

 

Hindquarters. When viewed from the rear, straight and parallel. Without rudimentary toes. Tights: Muscle. hocks/point of the hock: strong. Hindfeet: Round, toes well-knit and knuckled. Pads are black and well-developed.

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Skin and muscles. The skin is tight, elastic, without folds. The muscles are well developed.

 Gait. The movements are firm but unrestricted, free and energetic. Good forward reach with strong drive from the hindquarters. The limbs move smoothly, straight and parallel to each other.

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Coat.

The hair. Dense and glossy. Longer up to 5 cm on the back, neck and tail. Short on legs and ears. The undercoat is the same colour as the coat (black).

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Colour. Black with a dark tan on the muzzle, eyebrows, chest, belly, inner side of the legs and tail (inside at the base). The scrotum is like brown spots over each eye, cheek, lips, lower jaw, and tail( from the inner side to the base). Tan in the form of patches is above each eye, cheeks, lips, lower jaw, and throat; two symmetric patches are on the chest, tarsi and metatarsi, and on the inner leg. There should be a distinct, well-visible boundary between tan and the black colours. The forehead, ears, back, external side of the legs and the tail must be black. The hair must be black from root to tip.

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Size. Height at wither for dogs 58 to 64 cm. Height at the wither of bitches 53 to 59 cm.

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Faults. Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered as a fault or defect, and the seriousness with which the fault or defect should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog and its ability to perform its traditional work.

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Slight deviations from the preferred type:

•Larger, up to 2 cm (height at the withers), than provided for in the standard of the breed.

•A very light tan of the coat.

•Long hair on the external of thighs, so-called ‘’trousers’’.                       

•Tan ticking instead of the black coat.

•Tan on the head, at the base of the ears.

•Black patches on the forelegs, in the area of the brown coat (tan).

•Yellow (hey colour) eyes.

•Sickle-shaped tail.

 

Serious deficiencies.

•Smaller height at withers than provided for in the standard of breed.

•Heavy, rough head. The length of the muzzle is too short.

•High-set, too short or too long ears, the front part does not lie close to the head.

•Partly depigmented (grey)zone in the middle of the nose (between nostrils).

•Poorly developed, narrow chest, which does not reach the elbows.

•Poorly developed, bent line of the back.

•Prominent or sloping loins.

•Forelegs are poorly developed, heavily turning out or in.

•Clearly visible light undercoat on the neck or close to the ears, overcoming the main colour of the coat.

•Too long coat on the tail - a feather.

•Too short a coat on the body.

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Defects.

 •Incorrect body shape - square.

•Crooked bridge of the nose.

•Not fully developed chest bone (defect in dogs aged 3 years and older).

•Indistinct boundary between the tan and the main colour - when tan-coloured hair is mixed with black hair and is widely spread.

Indistinct boundary

•When only the tips of the black hair are black, while and roots are grey or brown.

•There is a clearly visible undercoat on the whole body, overcoming the main colour of the coat. • A completely depigmented zone in the middle of the nose, except for the winter nose.

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Disqualifying faults.

•Aggressive character.

•Any tooth deficiency.

•Eyes of all other colours not provided for in the standard.

•Incorrect bite: overshot or undershot bite.

•White patches: a patch or a stripe on the chest or neck, patches on toes or feet, or other places of the body.

•Non-typical shape of the tail: very curly.

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NB Male dogs should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

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