First, scroll down for a little mood music:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who doesn’t love that song?  So maybe we include it as a flimsy excuse to hear Bruno Mars sing it again, but more likely, it’s a tortured segue to a post about a different Bruno, this one called the Bruno Jura Hound.

You’d be forgiven for mistaking the Bruno Jura Hound for a Coonhound or Bloodhound mix. The same thing happens all the time to the St. Hubert Jura Hound, and this is because both these breeds are descended from the St. Hubert Hound, the grand daddy of the Bloodhound. Both, however, are purebred dogs that have been known since the Middle Ages.

The Bruno Jura is one of the four varieties of the Swiss Hound, the other three being the Bernese Hound, the Lucern Hound, and the Schwyz, or Swiss hound.  The Jura is distinguished from the other hounds by its broad head and heavy wrinkles, the head having been influenced by the French hounds in its ancestry. This makes some writers believe that the breed is French in origin, but as written earlier, cynologists regard it as a Swiss breed.  In fact, the dogs can be found on the both sides of the French-Swiss border.

Not surprisingly, the Bruno Jura has a wicked sense of smell, and its prowess at picking up faint scents makes it highly valued by local hunters when hunting in the rugged terrain of the Jura Mountains.  It is also a marvelous companion dog for hikers and outdoorsy types as these dogs love to explore new places where they’ve never been before. It is that aspect of the breed’s personality that earned it the nickname, “Little Adventurer.”

The breed isn’t recognized by the United Kennel Club or the American Kennel Club, and the majority of registries, such as the FCI, treats the breed as a variety of Schweizer Laufunds, or Swiss Hounds.

Image: By © Slowmotiongli/Dreamstime.com