Wounded game, a steep slope and yesterday’s trail: a lighter tracking hound was developed for precisely this situation after 1870, because the Hanoverian proved too heavy for mountain terrain. The Bavarian Mountain Scent Hound (Bayerischer Gebirgsschweißhund) still works wherever the search begins after the shot.
| FCI | Group 6 (Scent hounds and related breeds), Section 2 Leash (scent) Hounds, Standard No. 217, with working trial |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Size (height at the withers) | Males 47 to 52 cm, females 44 to 48 cm, no tolerance |
| Weight | ideal: males 20 to 30 kg, females 17 to 25 kg |
| Life expectancy | no reliable study figure found (N/A) |
| Coat | dense, close-fitting, moderately harsh and with little shine; harsher and longer on the belly, legs and tail |
| Colours in the standard | deep red, deer red, reddish brown, reddish yellow, pale yellow to biscuit, reddish grey, also streaked or dark-ticked; dark muzzle and ears; a small light chest patch permitted |
From Hanoverian to mountain specialist
According to the standard, all leash and tracking hounds descend from scent hounds; the Hanoverian Scent Hound (Hannoverscher Schweißhund) developed from them at the end of the 18th century. Hunting changed after 1848: stalking and stand hunting needed a dog after the shot. The Hanoverian was too heavy in mountain hunting grounds, so Baron Karg-Bebenburg crossed it with red mountain scent hounds. The Bavarian Mountain Scent Hound Club was founded in 1912, described by the standard as Germany’s only recognised breed club for this dog.
Quiet at home, fearless on the tracking leash
The dog should be calm and even-tempered, affectionate with its person and reserved with strangers. The requirement is a steady, confident and responsive dog, neither shy nor aggressive. Its build is agile and muscular, slightly longer than tall.
Without tracking wounded game, the essential purpose is missing
According to the standard, working ability must be demonstrated through performance tests; its purpose is difficult tracking of wounded hoofed game. This means following a blood trail on a long tracking leash, often hours after the shot and through rough terrain. Tracking or mantrailing can preserve these skills, but only partly replace the real job. Ask the breed club particularly about the conditions under which puppies are placed.
Red coat, tough pads
The dense, moderately harsh coat needs little: brushing once a week, more often during shedding. After every working outing, paws, ears and skin matter more. Small injuries from thorns and scree can hide on the heavy ears and between the pads.
What studies know about the breed
No reliable life expectancy can be given: McMillan and colleagues list the breed in their longevity analysis but could not calculate it. In 2009, Voges and Distl analysed pedigrees for 3231 dogs born between 1992 and 2004. The mean inbreeding coefficient was 4,5 %, effective population size 72,7, and the ten most important ancestors contributed 54,4 % of the genes. In 2007, Flegel and colleagues described three unrelated dogs aged 18 to 20 months with slowly progressive cerebellar disorders; the authors call the breed Bavarian mountain dogs. Ectropion and entropion are disqualifying faults in the standard.
Who should handle this dog
It belongs with people actually tracking wounded game: professional hunters, foresters and hunters with hunting grounds or links to a tracking-hound station. Someone seeking a calm companion without hunting cannot meet its needs, however relaxed it seems at home. An owner should be ready to set off in the middle of the night when a call comes about wounded game.
Check whether such a specialised hunting dog fits your life with the breed quiz; the book “Welcher Hund passt WIRKLICH zu dir?” (book in German) helps you weigh things up. For the first weeks, there is the Puppy Starter Pack. Its red coat looks particularly good on a magazine-style canvas, with more ideas in our dog portraits.
Further reading
- Weimaraner: the beautiful hunting dog that never clocks off
- The socialisation period: why “as much as possible” is the wrong advice
- Is my dog overweight? How to check body shape and ideal weight
Sources, accessed on 20.10.2026: FCI-Standard Nr. 217 Bayerischer Gebirgsschweißhund (fci.be, German and English versions dated 22.09.2017, valid original standard dated 22.08.2017); McMillan KM et al., Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death, Scientific Reports 2024 (breed listed but not analysed); Voges S, Distl O, Inbreeding trends and pedigree analysis of Bavarian mountain hounds, Hanoverian hounds and Tyrolean hounds, Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 2009; Flegel T et al., Cerebellar cortical degeneration with selective granule cell loss in Bavarian mountain dogs, Journal of Small Animal Practice 2007.
The links to our books are affiliate links. Buying through them supports us at no extra cost to you.
