Dossier No. 14 · England, 13th c. (hare-hunting packs)
Harrier
Sporting estates and active rural households with land to roam.
- Stature
- Medium
- Coat
- Short dense — tricolor or red & white
- Temperament
- Merry, pack-oriented, inexhaustible outdoors
- Origin
- England, 13th c. (hare-hunting packs)
I
History
Hare-hunting packs of medieval England — the harrier predates the foxhound by centuries and gave Trollope's hunting novels their soundtrack. The breed remains rare in America, kept chiefly by a small number of enthusiasts devoted to the preservation of the breed.
II
Personality
Merry, sociable, and pack-oriented to the marrow. They are inexhaustible in the field and equable at home. They sing, rather than bark — a melodious bay that carries beautifully across open country.
III
To Live With One
Rural property, sporting households, and ideally another dog for company. They are not apartment dogs. Given a good garden, a job, and companions, they are among the easiest hounds to live with.
IV
Notable Companions
The harrier has always belonged to the English sporting squirearchy rather than the throne or the screen. Trollope immortalised their music in his hunting novels, and they remain the private passion of a small, devoted circle of American sporting families who prefer tradition to trend.