From every viewpoint the Otterhound is a large dog with a truly rugged appearance. Built to gallop when on land, his main function has always been to spend his working day in water. It is generally felt that his ancestry includes a French influence combined with original English hound strains.

His rough double coat is extremely weather-resistant, but this means that he can bring a deal of the countryside into the home when he returns from the long rambles he enjoys.

He is a kindly fellow with a typical loud baying call, which he can use to good effect when he needs to indicate that he has found a prey that interests him, though today his primary purpose of hunting otters is banned.

A dog for the energetic, but not for the house-proud.