Ibizan Hound - TOP 10 Interesting Facts

Appearance
The Ibizan Hound has elegant, athletic and lean appearance. The breed has the typical sighthound like narrow and slim body and long slender legs. The hallmark of this breed are definitely the large upright ears.

Officially there are two coat varieties of the Ibizan Hound – a smooth and wirehaired. The smooth coat is strong and shiny and the wirehaired coat should be very dense and hard. The wirehaired version typically have longer hair on rear of thighs, and underside of tail, sometimes they can also have beard, which is highly valued. You can find Ibizan Hound in white, red and white or solid red color.

The Ibizan Hound is a medium to large sized dog breed with average height between 56-74 cm, which is 22-29 inch and weight is typically between 20-29 kg, which is 45-65 pounds. Females are naturally little bit smaller than males.

One of the reasons why this breed looks so elegant, is its gait, which is quite high stepping. They also use to carry their tail fairly high while trotting. When they are running or jumping, they truly posses a deer like elegance.

Temperament
Just like with all the dog breeds, the temperament can be vastly influenced by early socialization and training, but the Ibizan Hound is typically a dog breed that is very lively, energetic, which is why they are best fit for active people and families who will provide them with enough exercise. But if you will provide it, than they are pretty calm and quiet indoors.

It can be longer walks or hikes, but this is extremely playful breed with high intelligence and problem solving mentality so you should challange their mind with some task oriented playtimes as well. Or you can try some dog sport with them, for example agility, lure coursing or obedience trials. Overall, the training is not the hardest with this breed, but they can be stubborn, so firm and patient trainer is needed.

This breed is known to be lets say clownish, mischevious and happy natured. And their clownich nature is quite contagious and you will definitely never be bored with the Ibizan Hound.

You should never forget, that this dog was developed to hunt and so they have high prey drive. They are just attracted by anything that moves and will run after cats, rabbits, or anything else that looks like it might be fun to chase. Because of this, they are not the best partners for other smaller household pets. The Ibizan Hound is also reserved with strangers, but dont worry, they should never be agressive without a reason.

History
The exact date of origin of Ibizan Hound or their ancestry is unknown, but there are several theories about their origin. There is a striking resemblance between them and the Egyptian god Anubis, which is why some people believe that Ibizan Hounds ancestry goes back to the ancient Egypt and that they were brought to Balearic Islands by Phoenicians traders in 8th or 9th century.

But recent genetic research has shown that the modern Ibizan Hound is recent reconstructions of an older type and don't actually have a lineage that stretches back thousands of years. As you can see, the history is mysterious and unknown.

But for sure, this breed was developed on Spanish Balearic Islands and they got their name after the island of Ibiza where they worked for centuries as skilled hunters. They were especially good at hunting rabbits.

Health and Grooming
I already mentioned earlier in this video that there are two coat varieties, the smooth and wirehaired. Great fact is, that both of them are fairly easy to groom and require only weekly brushing to remove any dead hairs and redistribute the oils on the skin.

This breed also does not need much bathing, only when it is really dirty. Just like with all dog breeds you should regularly check the Ibizan Hounds ears, eyes and nails and clip them or clean them if needed.

Great fact is that the Ibizan Hound is a healthy and hardy breed that rarely suffers from serious health problems. But of course, it can happen and they can suffer from hypothyroidism, von willebrands disease, hip and elbow dysplasia or cataracts. The average lifespan is between 12-14 years.