It was the eyes that got us.

We visit a lot of sites in the course of research, and as we scanned a Pinterest page on dogs, this face jumped out at us because of those eyes.  Slightly tilted, and outlined as if someone had applied eyeliner to them, this dog’s eyes are warm, soft, and utterly intelligent. We got curious about the dog’s breed because our initial impression that this was a Foxhound didn’t hold up after further examination. The dog is, in fact, a Halden Hound.

We weren’t familiar with the breed, either.

Native to Norway, the Halden Hound, or Haldenstovare, was named after the town of Halden where it was developed in the early 1900s, a breed standard set in the 1950s. The breed created by crossing an indigenous dog of Norway called the Bissenberghund with English, German and Swedish scenthounds filled the vacancy for an extremely fast scenthound needed to hunt hare. A slim build, deep chest, weatherproof coat, and and high and tight feet with dense fur growing between its long toes enables the Halden Hound to navigate difficult snowy terrain like an energizer bunny. Little wonder that in Norway. Haldens are considered to be one of the best hunting dogs.

The Halden is smaller than the American Foxhound, and is the smallest of the Norwegian hare hounds. Unlike the Foxhound, the breed doesn’t hunt in packs and was bred to hunt alone with her master.

Image found on Pinterest and happily credited upon receipt of information