All About the Breed: Cretan Hound

Also known as the Kritikos Lagonikos and the Kretahund, the Cretan Hound is an affectionate and friendly breed. But how do you know whether you are ready to purchase a pet and if this breed is right for you? This information is absolutely necessary in making the decision to purchase a pet.

History

The origin of the Cretan Hound can be traced back nearly 4,000 years to ancient Europe, through various artifacts and writings. Enthusiasts believe these dogs to be among the most ancient of all breeds, though this is yet to be proven scientifically or otherwise.

Throughout its history, the Cretan Hound has been most commonly used for scenting, tracking, and hunting game such as rabbit and fox, proving its superior abilities to work for hours on end while providing gentle companionship.

Today, while the Cretan Hound has attained an underground popularity as a hunting and companion dog, the breed remains extremely rare world wide.

Personality Traits

Best known for its energetic and outgoing nature, the Cretan Hound is full of character. These social dogs thrive on strong and dependable relationships with humans, and love to receive attention and praise. This breed is highly intelligent and generally easy to train. As a pet, the Cretan Hound is obedient, loyal, loving, and affectionate. The Cretan Hound is not suited for full-time indoor or apartment living, as it enjoys spending time outdoors, playing games such as fetch, and having plenty of room to roam, run, and play.

Train-ability

Due to its need for human attention and eagerness to please and impress its owner, the Cretan Hound generally responds well to basic training and commands. This bright breed has the ability to learn to perform most any task its trainer is willing to take the time to teach.

Establishing immediate trust and respect is key to successfully training the Cretan Hound. These dogs are known to be somewhat sensitive to criticism and respond best to positive reinforcement and reward-based training.

Benefits and Disadvantages of the Breed

There are many benefits to owning a Cretan Hound, such as its no hassle, low maintenance coat. This intelligent breed is obedient by nature, easy to train, and capable of learning to perform many impressive tricks and tasks. When properly socialized from a young age, the Cretan Hound gets along well with children and other pets, often making friends quickly due to its social nature, and known for its sweet and gentle approach to small children. These dogs are obedient, loyal, loving, and affectionate, making excellent hunting dogs, family pets, and companions alike.

Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages to owning a Cretan Hound. These energetic dogs require large amounts of daily exercise and room to run and play outdoors. Anyone wishing to purchase this breed lacking the adequate amount of time and space to dedicate to the dog is strongly advised against doing so. A Cretan Hound not receiving the proper amount of exercise and space will often act out by destroying property, chewing, digging, barking, whining, and ignoring basic training such as housebreaking.

The Cretan Hound has a strong instinct to hunt and will occasionally indulge in a good chase. When on the run, these dogs are rather quick, and may pose a threat to other animals, neighborhood pets, and small woodland creatures. These dogs must be leashed or properly secured at all times when outdoors.

This breed is known for loving to dig, and is quite good at doing so. It is not unusual for a Cretan Hound to dig a hole under a fence within the matter of only a few minutes. The Cretan Hound must be properly secured or supervised while outdoors.

As previously mentioned, the Cretan Hound remains very rare world wide and can prove quite difficult to obtain. Individuals seeking to purchase this breed often encounter such challenges as inability to locate a breeder, extremely high prices, and being placed on long waiting lists.

Common Health Concerns

While the Cretan Hound is typically known as a healthy and hearty breed, they do suffer from a few health problems, including: hip dysplasia, likeliness to develop cancer, distichiasis – ingrown eye lashes, chronic ear infection, cherry eye, sensitivity to anesthesia, and bloat.

Now that you know all about the breed, do you think you are ready to own a Cretan Hound? Remember, purchasing a pet is a big decision and should be discussed thoroughly and seriously with your entire family.

Sources:

http://www.heydogs.com/k/kritikos-lagonikos.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cretan_hound