Bosnian Foxhound

This breed is unfortunately extinct today and is one of the widely forgotten dogs of the Balkans. Rooted in ancient times, the Bosnian Short-Coated Hound was a valued hunting dog commonly found in the region as a pack hunter of foxes and hares, but also oftentimes employed for trailing wild boars and even bears. Directly descended from the old Pannonian Hound and the Balkan Hound, but infused with some blood of west-European gundogs imported form Italy and Austria, the Old Bosnian Foxhound was one of the progenitors of the modern Bosnian Rough-Coated Hound breed.

During the 1800's, this powerful hunter's popularity was slowly declining in favor of other breeds and by the turn of the century only a handful of dogs survived. Some believe that the Bosnian Short-Coated Hound influenced many European hunting breeds, in particular the foxhounds and bloodhounds of France and Britain. There were reports of possible revival efforts in the late 1980's, but the Yugoslavian civil wars of the following decade effectively put an end to those plans. Even today, litters of the Bosnian Barak sometimes contain a number of short haired puppies, showing the remnants of the great Bosnian Foxhound breed.

The coat is flat and short, traditionally fawn in colour with a black "saddle" on the back, with or without white markings. Average height is around 23 inches.