In the mid 1800s,  small farmers in Kentucky had a problem: Red fox had begun to spread into their state and wreaked havoc with their flocks of chickens, ducks, and geese.  Local hounds, good at tracking grey fox through swamps and thickets, couldn’t seem to capture this new, wide running fox. A new problem called for a new solution, and that solution came in the way of two dogs with English bloodlines, “Rifler” and “Marth.” The dogs had been imported in 1857 by William Fleming, an English importer, and he, in turn, shipped them to William Jason Walker in Kentucky.

Bred with local hounds, Rifler and Marth created a new strain known for a cold nose, self reliance, and hustle. The new hounds were called, “Walker Hounds,” for the family that had been among the first to improve their dogs by keeping careful records. Over time, the hounds spread through social and geographical lines, and local rivalries between neighbors turned into regional and national competitions to hunt raccoons and fox. The Treeing Walker Coonhound would develop from those Walker hounds, and in 1945, Walker breeders asked the United Kennel Club to recognize their dogs as a separate breed. In 2012, the AKC did just that and accepted the breed often called ‘the people’s choice’ among all coonhound breeds, probably the same reasons that many also refer to it as the consummate hunting dog.

Treeing Walker Coonhound watercolor by Mike Theuer is available to purchase as a print here.