The Posavec Hound

This breed was initially bred in 20. century on the territory of former Yugoslavia, especially Slovenia, and became a Croatian indigenuous breed by final conclusion of the FCI General Committee in November, 2003.

(FCI-Standards No.154) The origin and history of the Posavec Hound are closely related to those of the Istrian Hound, as both originate from the Mediterranean (or, aecording to Laska, Central-European) Hound or, to be precise, in the central Balkans. If we judge from texts written by dog experts, then Bosnia and Herzegovina is the homeland of the Posavec Hound, as dogs of nearly identical appearance to the Posavec have been described in various texts, which is why H. Zimmerman in his Das Lexikon der Hunde freunde mistook it for the Istrian Hound. A prominent Slovene dog expert, Dr Lovrenčič, stated in his 1949 paper that apart from the Istrian Hound there were quite a few other types of hound in Istria which in appearance seem to have resembled today's Posavec.

The breed characteristics of the Posavec were first published in 1939 in the Yugoslav Hounds brochure. The Posavec was registered in 1955 with the FCI under Standard No. 154 as the Karst Hound, even though the breed ywas recognised internationally in 1948 at the FCI convention in Bled as the Posavec Hound. In 1959 it was once again renamed the Posavec Hound; the standard valid today was published on 17 January 1973 as FCI standard No. 154 b. The first Posavec in the register of breeds was Riko ( JRB 19 ), born 1924, of unlisted parentage, owned by dog breeder K. Kicer of Trbovlje. The first Yugoslav register of breeds frorn 1938 had 20 entries of Posavec Hounds, all of them from Slovene towns and bred by Slovene breeders. The number of Posavec Hounds further increased after the Second World War; there are at least 1470 of them today.

Appearance and charaeteristics
The distinguishing characteristics of the Posavec Hound are the colour and slightly stronger head.

Brief description
Sturdy, medium-sized hound of reddish-brown, wheatish yellow or fawn colouring, often with a white collar and white patch on the breast, down the middle of the head, on the lower section of the feet and on the tail tip. The head is of medium length (20 to 24 cm) with a slightly protuberant forehead, with moderate stop.

• Teeth: scissor-bite, dentition perfect.
• The ears are set wide, slightly above the eyeline and hang flat against the jowls, and are rounded at the ends. A quietly lively, but persevering hound, best for rabbit and fox hunting.
• Height at the withers: 46 to 58 cm; the ideal being 50 cm for males, 48 cm for females.
• Weight: 16 to 24 kg.
• Length: height plus 11 to 13 per cent.