Bavarian Mountain Hound Breed description: Character & Co

Character and temperament of the Bavarian Mountain Hound

Your BMH is calm and balanced. When it is working, it is completely alert and concentrated with an absolute will to track. As a hunting dog it has a strong hunting instinct.

They are affectionate towards their owner, yet rather reserved towards strangers. At the same time they don't show aggression or impulsiveness. If they are well trained and allowed to work sufficiently, they are good-natured family dogs in their 'free time'.

Having said that, they have a need for work.

Fields of application: above all sniffing out prey

The BMH is a highly specialised hunting dog. It is bred especially for tracking work, for which it can use its excellent sense of smell. Classically, the Bracke is mainly used for tracking or finding game such as hares or foxes, which tracks they follow while barking until the hunter has shot or caught the animal.

Scenthounds are also often used for late tracking, they can often still follow a trail days later, which can lead to an injured animal or even a human. 'Scenthound' and 'Bracke' are often used synonymously by laymen. Nowadays, tracking especially is more important than ever since conditions are more difficult due to traffic, but also due to weapons with a longer range. Hunters provide so-called 'search teams', which can be requested by the police, for example.

Training of a Scenthound

The BMH is not demanding in terms of training alone. It wants to be guided and educated and is an eager learner.

However, since it is a working dog willing to perform, it should be trained as well as further trained as a scenthound. Furthermore, you should be able to let them work in their profession later on, so that it is kept busy and as a result happy. This also means working night shifts or in bad weather.

Breeding: in the hands of the club

The BMH breeding is completely in the hands of the clubs for BMH. This has the advantage that it is very closely monitored that only healthy and really efficient dogs are used for further breeding. This strict control has kept the BMH as fit and efficient as the breed presents itself to be today. But it also has the consequence that you can only buy a Bavarian Mountain Hound if you are a member of the club and complete the dog handler courses offered there. A usual price for a Bavarian Mountain Hound does not really exist, but you can expect to pay around 1500 Euros for a Bavarian Mountain Hound puppy.