The Deerhound

THE DEERHOUND

DEERHOUNDS IN FINLAND

The first Deerhound was brought to Finland by Mrs. Aili Lindelöf of Kennel el Miharaja. She bred Afghan hounds and first saw a Deerhound at a dog show in Sweden in the beginning of the Sixties. Of that experience she later told an interviewer: When that dog ran it was as if her feet did not touch the ground at all, as if she was only skimming the surface - the way she moved was so fairylike. Mrs. Lindelöf imported the Swedish bitch Mountebank's Highland Lass, Lellu, from Karin Lindh's kennel in 1964. Unfortunately Lellu's promising show career was cut short when she broke her leg but in 1967 she was mated with her sire S & DK CH Gordon of Ardkinglas. The result were 6+3 baby Deerhounds, the first to be born in Finland.

It has never been too easy to find homes for Deerhound puppies in Finland but for this very first litter it was particularly difficult. There were numerous inquiries but all of them from hunters who thought Mrs. Lindelöf was selling elkhounds of some kind. Elkhounds stand in the elk's way and stop it with their scary barking while a gun-armed hunter sneaks close enough to shoot. If the dogs could not be used to hunt deer, then why did the ad speak of deerhounds, one outraged hunter demanded angrily.

Despite these initial difficulties, by the end of 1997 sixty registered Deerhound litters had been born in Finland and from those 138 males and 182 bitches had been registered. This is not a large number when one thinks of the decades which have gone by. Thus a high proportion of the Finnish Deerhound population consists of imported Hounds. 54 dogs were imported into our country between 1967 and 1997. Most were of Swedish origin, though almost always closely related to British blood lines, and twelve came directly from Britain.

At the moment there are an estimated 100 to 130 Deerhounds in Finland. The annual number of new registrations varies from a few to almost thirty. The Deerhound remains a relatively rare breed and is often confused with its larger and more popular cousin, the Irish Wolfhound. Happily, perhaps because of the popularity of the Wolfhound in this country, people have grown accustomed to the appearance of our breed.

Finland is a country of dog shows but only a few Deerhounds participate in them. Most often fewer than ten Hounds are present in a given show, while major shows may draw between fifteen and twenty Deerhounds. An even smaller but correspondingly more enthusiastic group of Hound owners enter their dogs in coursing competitions. Our breed is rarely seen at track meets or obedience trials.

The Scottish Deerhound Club of Finland was established in 1980. The Club is active in dog shows and hosts an annual Deerhound Specialty, at which Deerhound enthusiasts meet for an Open Show and various other activities.

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