Coat, Ears & Tail

AKC Hound Group · No. 59 in 2025

How to identify a Bloodhound

The Bloodhound is a large scent hound, ranked No. 59 by the AKC in 2025. Its thin, loose skin falls into deep folds over the forehead and face, and its extremely long ears hang low in folds. The coat is black and tan, liver and tan, or red.

Photo of a Bloodhound
Photo: Cleanboot (talk) (Uploads) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Field marks

These four marks are the ones the game gives you as clues. They paraphrase or briefly quote the AKC Bloodhound standard.

  1. Loose skin that falls “into loose, pendulous ridges and folds” over the forehead and face
  2. Ears “extremely long, set very low,” falling “in graceful folds”
  3. Black and tan, liver and tan, or red
  4. Long, tapering stern carried high; a big hound at 23 to 27 inches

Tell them apart

Bloodhound or Basset Hound?

Check the legs. Both have long, low-hanging ears and loose, wrinkled skin, but a Basset stands under 14 inches on short, heavy legs. A Bloodhound is a tall hound at 23 to 27 inches, with even deeper folds on the face, and it’s black and tan, liver and tan, or red.

Bloodhound

Bloodhound

  1. Loose skin that falls “into loose, pendulous ridges and folds” over the forehead and face
  2. Ears “extremely long, set very low,” falling “in graceful folds”
  3. Black and tan, liver and tan, or red
  4. Long, tapering stern carried high; a big hound at 23 to 27 inches
Basset Hound

Basset Hound

  1. “Extremely long,” velvety ears that “fold well over the end of the nose”
  2. Loose skin “falling in distinct wrinkles over the brow”; eyes show “a prominent haw”
  3. Short, heavy-boned legs, with height under 14 in
  4. Hard, smooth, short coat in any hound color

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