The Coonhound
The Coonhounds are the most highly-specialized, purely-American dog breeds found today.
The group consists of six distinct, purebred breeds:
the Black and Tan, Bluetick, English, Redbone, Walker and the Plott hound.
Treeing hounds were created out of necessity in the early days (1700's) of The United States.
The early settlers were faced with a multitude of game species that, when driven,
would simply climb a nearby tree to escape the danger of a trailing dog.
Early foxhounds and a variety of other dogs were first used,
but these dogs didn't have the treeing instinct or other necessary attributes required to produce reliable results.
The early settlers relied heavily on native game species for food and clothing.
They needed a dog capable of tracking and treeing these animals:
A dog that would stay at the tree and alert the hunter to its location.
Because of the type of game found in Europe, a treeing-type of hound had not been developed.
A brand new type of dog was needed:
A rugged, intelligent, trailing hound that that could handle the physical torture of this varied terrain.
A pack dog with the fighting ability, size and stamina to take on animals up to three times its size.
A dog with a terrific nose and the determination to track an animal tirelessly in the daytime,
but largely in the darkness of night.
The American Coonhound was born..... *
* from Coonhound's Central
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