It seems that it is particularly easy to mistake Deerhounds for some other dog breed... or even for something else. Here are a few examples gathered from past issues of the Scottish Deerhound Club of Finland's MaSkotti newsletter and some received by e-mail from Deerhound enthusiasts worldwide:


That must be...


  • an Irish Wolfhound
  • an Irish Wolfhound. But he is in a really bad shape ! Don't you feed him at all ?
  • a Russian Wolfhound
  • an Afgan Hound
  • an Airedale
  • a Bedlington Terrier
  • an Elkhound
  • a Greyhound
  • an "English Wolfhound"
  • a "Sottish Terrier"
  • a "Tibetian Llama Dog"
  • a high-class dog
  • a mongrel dog. What, is that really a breed ?
  • a Siberian wolf
  • a big and fat dog *
  • a terribly great big police dog (a Deerhound wearing a harness) *
  • an elk *
  • a muledeer
  • a Rat Dog (a wet Deerhound) *
  • a kangaroo (a Deerhound answering to nature's call) *
  • an anteater
  • a European Union calf
  • a living couch throw (couch pillow)

    * Children's guesses



    Lori H. wrote:

    I live in Mohnton, PA. I was walking my deerhound Chance in the neighborhood and there was an elderly couple sitting on their porch. As I walked by the man said to me "What kind of a dog is that!" I replied "A Scottish deerhound" he said "What? A beer hound." I said "NO a Scottish deerhound, my husband is the beer hound!" lol.


    Devi the Deerhound, who lived with her humans Mary and Trish in New Jersey, USA, wrote:

    I was visiting a local pet food store with my 'Greyhound friends' pals when someone came up to my humans and asked "What kind of dog is she?" "Why she's a Scottish Deerhound," proudly proclaimed Mary. At that pont the man turned to his wife and said, "That woman doesn't know what she's talking about. That dog is a Scottish Terrier!"


    Marja K. writes:

    When my first Deerhound was a puppy an elderly lady came to see her. She asked, "How come you bought such an ugly dog ?" Well, surely a Deerhound puppy can look like a rat or something, but I almost told her that she didn't look too pretty herself !

    Two little boys stared at my dog for a long time and then ventured to ask, "Hey, where are his ears ?"


    (Webmaster's note: Due to translation difficulties long ago the name of our breed now translates as "Scottish Elkhound" in Finnish. In Finland elks are mighty 900 kg (2000 lb) creatures which are hunted with elkhounds such as the Finnish Spitz or the Norwegian Elkhound. Elkhounds stand in the elk's way and stop it with their scary barking while a gun-armed hunter sneaks close enough to shoot. As you can imagine, this deerhound/elkhound translation difficulty is an endless source of confusion for most Finns. As we all know, Deerhounds are not good at barking or, for that matter, at stopping either)

    Marja continues:

    You always know that the other person will be confused when you tell him that your dog is a Scottish Elkhound. More than once the reaction has been "Oh, an elkhound ! I thought he was one of those sighthounds." And you can just see how he struggles as he tries to visualize your Deerhound barking at elks...


    Cara from Moormerland, Germany tells us that she was taking the family's two Deerhounds Granite and Brian and their minischnautzer Botolo out for a walk. A silly couple stopped to admire her dogs and asked if the large dogs were the parents of the nice little dog... Cara's comment: "Goodness !"

    Cara continues: If you want I could send these daily.

    1. We visited a little pub. Dogs were allowed but Rolf opened the door only a bit, just to look how much people were already inside. And of course both Deeries slipped in ! Oh-oh ! One guy said, how high they were. We went in, and now another said, "And sooooo long !"

    2. Just a few weeks ago, my daughter, our dogs and I went shopping in the city. A familyman looked, sized us up and asked: "Sorry, but I'm so curious to know... what are these ??"
    "Well," Katrin said, "What do you think they could be ??"
    "I cannot be sure, but maybe dogs ??"
    It was so funny, and I said, "Yes, you are right, they are Scottish Deerhounds !"
    He thought for a moment and then said "Sorry but they don't look like deer !"
    "No," Katrin said, "but they could hunt them."
    "Oh," he stammered, "Oh, but I'm sure that's strictly not allowed, isn't it ?" We couldn't stop laughing, tears came to our eyes, what nonsense !

    When some guy saw my Deeries he asked: "Where are their saddles ?"

    Some common questions I get:

  • Nice dogs, but too thin !
  • Are these KILLERDOGS ?
  • Are these very, very old animals ? Sooo grey already, it's a pity ! (Brian was three and Granite four years old)
  • Are you sure you can keep these monsters under control ? Usually I say, NO I could never with my hands, but sure I can with just words ! Ha-ha !
  • "Where do these giants live ?" Answer: as close as possible to us, preferably on our couches. "And at night ??" Answer: THE SAME ! "How can you close your eyes if they are free and without muzzle ??" Answer: I can't sleep if they are not there, and my dogs have never even seen a muzzle !"
  • People look at me, it's all right, I'm not slim. But is it really necessary to ask, "Are you sure, your dogs have enough to eat ??"


    Hilma K. was out in the yard with Hippu the Whippet and Roosa, then a two-month-old Deerhound. The neighbors' children like Hippu very much and soon they came running to pet her. One of the little girls pointed at Roosa and asked: "Is that a dog, too ?"

    Roosa at two months


    Once a very serious little boy asked, why Roosa has such long legs.

    Another time a haughty-looking young man sporting a pony tail and steel-shod boots was getting out of his car when Roosa got away from me and ran to greet him. I waited a bit anxiously for what was to come... he just said:"Go away, moose !"

    It was also funny when a little kid yelled to another: "Look, a gigantic dog !" From the perspective of a little boy she probably does look gigantic.


    Mervi P. writes:

    At the Kuopio dog show a little girl said to her mother: "Mama look, an Irish Wolfhound !" Mikko smiled and corrected her that Länkkäri (Sweetscot Lancelot) is a Deerhound. The girl's mother gave Mikko a hostile look and retorted: "MY DAUGHTER KNOWS ALL DOG BREEDS !"

    One of passerbys' all-time favorites is of course: "Look Ma, a REINDEER !"


    Kaisa H. remembers the following:

    I was out walking my now deceased Deerhound near the Ruskeasuo stables in Helsinki. Suddenly an excited child's voice was heard: "Mama, look, what a cute pony !" To this the mother tried to whisper to the girl so that I wouldn't hear: "No no, it's a dog..."

    It was a rainy night in Töölö harbor. A man in a black rain coat told me: "That dog is like something out of an English horror film ! You can walk out here with absolutely no reason to be afraid, I can tell you !" Just at that moment my dog was hiding behind me, legs shaking, peering at the man, obviously terrorized... so much for security.


    Katja writes:

    I noticed that your That Must Be One of Those... page is missing one neat story: My son saw his first Deerhound this summer at the Tampere Sight Hound Specialty. The Deerhound was lying on the ground and my son (then two and half years old) said to me: "Mama, look, a seal !" There was no way he would believe that what he saw was in fact a Deerhound and not a seal. Then to his great disappointment the seal stood up and he had to admit that unfortunately it was after all a dog.
    Look Ma, a seal !



    Kjersti in Oslo, Norway, and her Deerhound Tucker (Troon Kentucky Beau) write:

    I was trotting along the road with my recently groomed deerhound. We both felt great. Then I heard a voice saying "Look, a CAMEL !" I'm used to 'racehorse' and 'pony', but a camel !!!


    Cate F. from Richmond, Virginia, USA tells the following story:

    A friend was walking his Deerhound puppy and a workman said "I thought dinosaurs were extinct !"


    Tom F. writes:

    I was just at the Finnish Deerhound site and read with amusement some of the misidentifications of Deerhounds you have posted.

    I live with a Deerhound bitch named Bride, born in Feb. of 1999. We live in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. We often go to the dog park where Bride is routinely identified as an Irish Wolfhound. I tell these people that to make a Wolfhound you have to weld two Deerhounds together. But lately she has also been identified by three separate people as an English Elkhound and by two people as a German Wolfhound! Just today she was confidently identified as a Schnauzer! One horrified woman asked me what on earth I had done to my Afghan Hound's hair.

    I should not be surprised. I sometimes take my dogs to Scottish festivals here in the States as living displays. One time a man looked at my Rough Collie and asked indignantly what the heck I was doing with an Irish dog at a Scottish festival.


    Viivi writes::

    I noticed that one comment I've heard is still missing from this listing. My deerhound and I were on our way to a pet store in Myyrmäki when we came across two rather drunk men. One of them explained to the other: "No, that's not an elephant or such... it's a giraffe !" It stopped on my tracks, I had always thought that my dog was skinny even for a deerhound !


    We have received input from a great number of Deerhound enthusiasts. Thank you all so much and may your walks never be dull !

    Do you own a Deerhound ? We'd like to hear from you if you have had funny or not-so-funny experiences of people mis-identifying your dog's breed. Please send your recollections to Mr. Eero Juhola.


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