Most hounds will at some point been used for hunting. They have a strong background in hunting and can be broken down into two groups, sighthounds and scent hounds. Scent hounds, such as blood hounds and Beagles use their scenting skills to follow a trail and hunt down prey. They have the best sense of smell of all the dog breeds and help hunters to find prey. Sighthounds such as Greyhounds are extremely fast and hunt down their prey using their excellent eyesight. It's because of their insatiable need to chase after prey and follow scents that many hounds need to be kept on a lead. They will run off if they catch a scent and sometimes have problems with recall. Hounds have been encouraged over the years to act independently when they are working, so they sometimes tend to have a mind of their own. Although many hounds have smooth, short coats some have longer coats such as the Afghan Hound and the Norwegian Elkhound has a thick, double coat. As are used to running around and chasing after prey they need quite a lot of exercise. The quicker sighthounds only need short bursts whereas the scent hounds tend to have more endurance. There are quite a few different breeds of dogs in this group with a diverse selection of characteristics. They range greatly in size from the miniature daschund to the enormous Irish Wolfhound. Lots of hounds can be fairly vocal and aren't afraid of expressing themselves. The Hound group includes the following breeds:
- Afghan Hound
- Azawakh
- Basenji
- Basset Bleu De Gascogne
- Basset Fauve De Bretagne
- Basset Griffon Vendeen (Grand)
- Basset Griffon Vendeen (Petit)
- Basset Hound
- Bavarian Mountain Hound
- Beagle
- Bloodhound
- Borzoi
- Cirneco Dell'Etna
- Dachshund (Long-Haired)
- Dachshund (Miniature Long-Haired)
- Dachshund (Miniature Smooth-Haired)
- Dachshund (Miniature Wire-Haired)
- Dachshund (Smooth-Haired)
- Dachshund (Wire-Haired)
- Deerhound
- Finnish Spitz
- Foxhound
- Grand Bleu De Gascogne
- Greyhound
- Griffon Fauve De Bretagne
- Hamiltonstovare
- Ibizan Hound
- Irish Wolfhound
- Norwegian Elkhound
- Otterhound
- Pharaoh Hound
- Portuguese Podengo
- Rhodesian Ridgeback
- Saluki
- Segugio Italiano
- Sloughi
- Whippet