Plott Hound
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General Description
The Plott Hound has a face full of cute expressions. The breed’s rounded head has a long rectangular muzzle which ends in a large black nose. Small round eyes show off this dog’s emotions. Large floppy ears hang down past their bottom lip. On their muzzle, their upper lip is loose and hangs past their bottom lip, too. A muscular neck usually with a dewlap leads to their broad shoulders and deep chest. From their body stretches long muscular legs that end with small, webbed feet. Their stomach should be sunken in and their tail is long. Sleek fur covers their body and resembles the coat of a Great Dane. Coat colors can be brindle - which is most common, blue slate, or buckskin; they also commonly have black covering their back. User added info
This is the state dog of North Carolina. The black covering on this breeds back is commonly known as a saddle. Some buckskin dogs have been found with no brindle in their coat at all. The colors ranged from sandy red, red fawn, yellow orche, cream, a dark fawn, and a gold tan. True old time Plott's were not near as 'hound like' as they are today. There is great debate between Plott breeders and hunters. This debate is centered around the name Plott hound and the hound like appearance todays breed has, their large floppy ears for example. The original Plott's were bred with a mix of Swisser, Mountain Cur and Leapord Dogs. This created a game hunting dog with short non- hound ears that did not droop and in fact can become slightly erect. Through the years, many Plott breeders wanted a more hound like, longer legged dog. This is why some Plott's look more like the longer legged English bred hounds as compared with the medium legged, shorter eared old time Plott.
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Character
The Plott Hound can be a sweet family dog and a serious hunting dog all in one day. Family is important to this breed that loves attention from the family. Around children this dog is affectionate and calm. The Plott Hound is intelligent, learns quickly, and is courageous. They make a great family dog for someone who also hunts, because they can be “switch hats” easily.
Size
20 – 24 inches
Weight
46 – 55 pounds
General Health
The Plott Hound does not get many diseases, but they eat quickly which means some diseases are common. The most common two are twisting of the stomach and gastric torsion also more commonly called bloat. The most deadly is the twisting of the stomach. Their life expectancy is between 12-14 years.
History
The Plott Hound comes from non-British hound stock. In the 18th century, seven generations of the Plott family started breeding their hounds to improve the stock. In fact, they are such amazing hunters that they could even track bears. The breed was recognized in the mid-1940’s, but the Plott family still keeps a tight leash on the breed and rarely makes puppies available to the general public.
Maintenance
Brushing should be done to the Plott Hound once every week or two. Most important is cleaning out their ears often because their ears will get dirty quickly. Exercise is extremely important to the Plott Hound as it is to all hunting dogs. Running off leash should be allowed often, and they would enjoy being able to hunt as well because that is good mental and physical exercise. One important thing to remember is to not let them exercise after eating a lot because that can cause twisting of the stomach.
Ideal Environment
The Plott Hound is great for family activity as well as for hunting. This dog is friendly and social with children and family members, but they are sometimes not friendly around strangers. This dog is intelligent and needs a firm owner for training. The Plott Hound should be allowed to run off leash which means an apartment is not a suitable living condition. A sturdy fence is required to keep this dog in. An important thing is to be careful while feeding to prevent bloat and the twisting of the stomach.*
Plott Hounds are scent hounds, which means they follow game with their nose. They should only be let off a leash or be able to run free in open areas with no traffic. Plott Hounds tend to wander off due to their curious nature.
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Ask a QuestionPlott Hound Q&A
my 4 year old female plott hound seems to have acid reflux, and has lost energy. any comments? She burps a lot and wakes up and has to sit up.
Sounds like her diet??
Our rescued Plott seems to be an escape artist. Any tips on how to keep her in her crate (indoors) while we're gone?
A cage with a top on it and extra locking device is a must for a Plott hound. My sister had a similar problem with her border collie and had success with that. I do want to share the same frustration. I am a volunteer at the local Humane Society and often take training classes with the shelter dogs. My current foster dog is a three-year-old female Plott Hound, and she has escaped from the shelter three times, twice over a six-foot fence with volunteers and staff standing right there. She has also squeezed under the fence because she is so agile. Orders are for all of us to keep her on a leash. She has a harness for training class and even tries to roll around and take it off--hence her nickname Houdini. For a shelter dog, she gets lots of walking and jogging with me: four times a week for 1-2 hours. Despite exercise, Stella is not to be trusted with sticking around. My husband and I would like to adopt her because she is cute and so good with people and children, but we cannot deal with constant worry of escape. We would have to redo our four-foot fence totally to prevent that. Good luck! jioc
Can Plott Hounds be good around resident cats?
Mine is great around my 3 cats. 2 are 12+ in years and the other 2 year old cat plays hide and seek!! Can be very respectful.
Maybe Plott/cross bred. but my dealing wih true Plotts, bred in the mountains of North Carolina, ex: Crockett's, Blevin's, Ferguson's, Cables, will not tolerate house cats. These dogs have been bred for hunting big game.
We have a three year old plott, who by the way is the best dog ever, and he does fine with our declawed cat. It took a bit of time but now they lay on the same bed together
how a dog is scocialized as a pup makes all the diffirence in how<br />
a dog will treat other animals.My " true plott " is good with other animals in the home. However if my cat was to get outside she would be spending a lot of time in a tree.He is gentle with pets and <br />
children in the home. but once he get his nose to the ground its time to hunt.He is not so much friendly with the cat as he is indiferent.
My Plott and cats don't mix at all.
I cannot get my three-year-old female Plott hound to perform a "Down" in Basic Manners class. She has learned the other basic commands but this one frustrates both me and the instructor, who cannot get her to do it either. We are using the method of doing a Sit first and then down with holding the treat to the nose and slowly bringing it to the ground. She gets up from the sit position to stand.
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