The basic property of hounds is aspiration to prosecut an animal on a trace with a voice.

The hunt with hounds on hare and fox is the most distributed. Also they hunt with hounds on the hoofed animals: a lamb, boar, roe, noble deer. With packs of hounds they hunt on the wolves. Good pair of hounds, and may be one dog at times expose to a shot of the hunter even a lynx.

The hunt with hounds is distributed mainly in forest and forest - steppes zones, and also in the mountains: in autumn and at the beginning of winter, before fau of deep snow. To hunt with hounds in suburbs, where there are many brisk highways and iron roads is simply dangerous. Here they too frequently vanish or perish under the wheels of transport.

Russian hound.

Russian hound is an ancient and the most widespread breed. In ancient dog hunts these dogs played a subsidiary role, turning out from wood sites to an open place, foxes and wolves, which then were caught by greyhounds.

There were forty and more hounds up in packs that time. It was not required any special skill in prosecution of an animal. On the contrary hunters strictly watched that the dogs not pursue an animal farther than a border of the wood.

By the appearance ancient Russian hounds were very much heteroheneous. They were often named by an area of distribution or by a surname of the farmer. The first standard of the breed was formed in 1896. And already in 1925 the first All - Union kinologic congress worked out the final uniform standard of the breed, which in the basic features is kept up till now.

In Republic Mari El this breed of hounds is the most widespread. The hunt with it is basically on hare and fox.

Russian piebald or english - russian hounds.

Russian piebald hounds is rather young breed deduced in the second half of the last century by crossing russian and english hounds - foxhound. Instilling flowing to russian hounds the blood of foxhound, the founders of the breed aspired to give the posterity large growth, speed and an elegant, well appreciable on a hunt colour of glorified english hounds.

Russian piebald hounds, which up to 1951 were named english - russian, also were never numerous as our initial domestic breed.

In Republic Mari El they hunt with english - russian hounds on hare and fox.

Estonian hound.

The creation of this breed of hounds of low growth was caused by the necessity. In estonia there was the law forbidding the ordinary hunters to have hounds of the growth higher than 45 see. The dogs of the growth above this specified one were destroyed. With the help of instillation of the bluuds of the english breeds beagle and foxhound to finnish hounds the new dog of low growth with strong skeleton and strong paws was obtained. The truth is that the first estonian hounds did not have good voice. To correct this lack the blood of swiss hound was instilled them.

The obtaining of estonian hounds was the combination of two basic elements: selection among local dogs most suitable by growth, and fastening this attribute by instillation of blood of swiss hound or beagle.

In Republic Mari El this breed hounds is especially popular with the hunters living in the cities. As it is more suitable for the contents in an apartment.