Basic exterior characteristics of Bulgarian scent hound.

The aim of the current study was to determine the basic exterior traits of Bulgarian scent hound. A total of 36 dogs ranging in age from 1 to5 years old (21 males and 15 bitches )were used for measurements,. All measurements obtained from eight variables were compared by student-t test at level P<0.05 for gender. Means were as follows; withers height (WH) (53.10±0.57 cm), back height (BH) (51.24±0.54 cm), loin height (LH) (52.21±0.53 cm), chest circumference (CC) (63.03±0.50 cm), body length (BL) (62.75±0.72 cm), head length (HL) (23.78±0.17 cm), skull length (SL) (13.97±0.14 cm) and nozzle length (NL) (9.55±0.12 cm). There were significant differences between male and bitch dogs for the means of WH, BH (P<0.01) and LH (P<0.05). In conclusion, more studies of these dogs on all features needs to be done, and systematic breeding of Bulgarian scent hound must be established regarding body structure standards.