Consistently hovering in the bottom quarter of AKC breed registrations is the Harrier, a breed with a long history dating back to 13th century England. There, the breed appeared in a hunting pack known as the Penistone Pack established by Sir Elias de Midhope in 1260. Remarkably, the line endured for 500 years!
This antiquity makes the next factoid all the more surprising. The English Kennel Club had not recognized the breed since 1971 because English Harrier owners preferred to hunt with their dogs over showing them at dog shows. To our knowledge, the last time Harriers were shown at an English Kennel Club show was in 1915. We found many respectable sources on-line reporting that with zero entries after so many years, the English Kennel Club dropped the Harrier as a recognized breed, and yet we found the breed standard listed on the Kennel Club’s current website.
Is the breed recognized in its country of origin or isn’t it?
We discovered that the truth was in the middle. A group of Harrier enthusiasts had “revived the British breed and established a new pedigree lineage,” and on January 1, 2020, the Harrier was (re) recognized as a breed by the Kennel Club. This allowed the hounds to appear at Crufts that same year, the first time since the late 1800s.
In the duration, interest in the breed never faded in hunt country. There are eighteen Harrier packs in England, and in Ireland, the Harrier is the most popular hound for hunters as evidenced by the 166 registered Harrier packs. Harrier studbooks were always maintained by the Association of Masters of Harriers and Beagles (AMHB) and the Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFA).
It’s a different story in the United States. Though the breed arrived in North America sometime during the 1700s, it never gained traction as a popular breed with families or hunters, and this is a bit baffling. Harriers are friendly, outgoing and people-oriented dogs, and though it was one of the first breeds recognized by the AKC, only 949 Harriers were registered over the course of 110 years. That is a staggering statistic.
For more on the breed, read this to be surprised which famous figure was involved with the breed.
Image of a Harrier by ©Wirestock/Dreamstime.com
Wow, this is really weird. I took my dog over to the dog park just yesterday, Sunday, and lo and behold there’s a woman there with a dog called a harrier. I have never heard of the breed. Up until Sunday I have never seen the breed. But, it is a beagle on steroids. Her dog had to weigh 80 lb. What is a beagle’s weight I think 40 35 40 lb somewhere in there. Anyway, I enjoyed looking at the dog and I enjoyed reading this article.
Isn’t that funny, Charlie? We’ve experienced something similar: We hear a word we’ve never heard used before, and then out of the blue, we seem to hear it everywhere! Most people will probably never see a Harrier in person unless they attend a dog show, so that you spotted one in the park is amazing! Thanks for writing, we love hearing stuff like this!!!
lol a forty lb. beagle would be wider than long or tall. My skinny 15″ beagle was 17# My harrier tall and thin for the breed topped out at 48#