Poitevin

While the Poitevin is certainly loyal to its family, it is not an affectionate dog. This breed shows little interested in human company and instead, prefers to be a part of a pack of dogs.

Despite being rather aloof, the Poitevin Hound can be playful and enjoys sports and setting its clever mind on puzzles and games.

Providing it’s had enough exercise, the Poitevin is gentle and kind within the home.

This is a highly intelligent breed who will easily become bored in a domesticated setting. The Poitevin requires plenty of mental stimulation, benefiting from puzzle feeders, agility sports and obedience training.

The Poitevin is an incredible hunter, originally bred to bring down wolves and ‘nuisance’ wildlife. However, this means the breed brings the risk of chasing and even killing small animals such as cats and even livestock whilst out and about.

Very sociable, the Poitevin fears no one and is never aggressive without reason.

Want a truly independent dog? The Poitevin Hound is a great match! This dog is strong-willed, stubborn and independent, highly capable of making their own decisions.

The Poitevin Hound is a pack dog and won’t cope well with being left alone without other humans or dogs for hours. This breed is likely to become bored, restless and destructive when lonely.

With an independent nature and strong prey drive, it should come as no surprise that the Poitevin Hound isn’t the easiest of dogs to train. Ideally, this breed should be matched with a highly-experienced handler who understands how to (fairly) set boundaries.

Although an experienced trainer may be able to improve the Poitevin Hound’s barking tendencies, new owners should be aware that this breed is known to be a barker.

This breed has an extreme prey drive and will run away without consideration if it spots prey.

While the Poitevin is calm and gentle when content, it may quickly become destructive if under-exercised, bored or lonely.

Treats are a good reward during training.

This is exclusively a hunting dog.

The Poitevin Hound needs a large amount of space to roam around. It will become bored and destructive in a flat or apartment setting.

As a tireless hunter by nature, the Poitevin has an extremely high exercise requirement. In order to thrive and act calm within the home, it requires at least two hours of vigorous exercise per day, as well as plenty of playtime. However, it possesses the stamina to run for hours on end and will happily be out and about for several hours in one session.

Without sufficient exercise, this breed is likely to become destructive; barking, howling, scratching and digging due to pent up energy and sheer boredom.

The Poitevin Hound is large and will require a van or large car for comfortable transportation. Due to its high exercise requirements, it will struggle with long journeys.

This dog gets along well with cats that it has been with since a very young age, but that does not mean that the Poitevin tolerates the presence of all outdoor cats.

The Poitevin Hound is a pack dog and thrives living in the company of other canines. However, since it has a huge prey drive, the dogs in its company will need to be of a fair size. The Poitevin may chase smaller (especially toy size) dogs.

Friendly and affectionate, this dog generally gets along well with children, if they respect him.

An elderly person will need to be able to keep up with the Poitevin’s significant exercise needs.

This hound dog should in no way be adopted only as a pet dog by novices simply attracted by the physical beauty of the breed. It is primarily a working dog that should be considered as such.